K-water eyes Chao Phraya River basin as possible future project

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K-water eyes Chao Phraya River basin as possible future project
Pongphon Sarnsamak
The Nation
Seoul



SEOUL: -- EVEN THOUGH the Korea Water Resources Corporation (K-water) has yet to sign a contract with the government, the agency has been closely studying the Chao Phraya River basin and the possibilities of restoring it.

Han Goo Lee, director of K-water's Southeast Asia Department, said his agency was studying to see what was needed to restore and develop the Chao Phraya River basin and had realised that it could be based on the Four Major Rivers restoration project.

The Four Major Rivers project was aimed at restoring South Korea's four main rivers - Han, Nakdong, Geum, and Yeongsan. The project also covered other rivers such as Seomjin River as well as 13 major tributaries. Waterways built under this project helped prevent flooding during the rainy season.

With an investment of US$200 million (Bt6.4 billion), K-water began this project in October 2009 and completed it in December last year. Under the project, two new dams and 16 multi-purpose weirs were installed to control the level and flow of water.

It also established 16 small hydropower stations in the rivers.

Lee went on to explain that this project can handle huge floods as it has the capacity to control as much as 920 cubic metres of water, as well as improve and restore the ecosystem along the river through the development of wetlands and readjustment of farmland.

Even though Thailand and South Korea are different geographically, Lee said this was not an obstacle as there are some similarities in the North.

"We hope this project will be able to improve the capacity of the Chao Phraya River basin both in terms of floods and drought," he said.

However, since the Four Major Rivers project started operating, there have been several concerns about the environmental impact, such as algae overgrowth in the area this year.

Lee said the algae overgrowth could have been caused by many factors, such as pollution and rising water temperatures, which were not related to the project.

Previously, algae overgrowth had taken place in 1996 and |2005, which has been the worst so far.

When asked about K-water's measures to monitor the impact of the rivers' flow or the migration of fish after the project was completed, Lee said the scheme had restored the rivers and now their eco-systems were friendly enough for fish to flourish.

Byung-hoon Yune, vice president of K-water's Overseas Business Division, said if his company's pact with the Thai government also covered the restoration of the Chao Phraya River basin, the two countries could team up and swap flood-management know-how in the future.


-- The Nation 2013-09-04

[lee b]

Go for it, why not !!!!!!!

[Thai at Heart]

Huh? Didn't this lot win the tender? No contract yet?

[Robby nz]

to restore and develop the Chao Phraya River basin

That one is a bit or a puzzle, restore it to what?

The flood plane that it was there before all the cities were built?

The flood plane that allowed the water to spread out over a large area to increase the soakage and evaporation that decreased the need for the water to run off into the sea.

The built up areas have got in the way of the natural flow of flood water and increased the runoff pushing water more quickly down the rivers which in turn impacts on places farther downstream.

And to develop, what does that mean?

Build more cities, more industrial areas?

If you are going to do that then you have to make it easier for the water to get to the sea which in this case is not easy as the whole Chao Phraya River basin is so low lying and BKK is in the way.

They are right that the whole thing needs to be looked at as an overall thing and comprehensive planning done.

The fact that there has never been a plan before makes that much more difficult.

[noitom]

Preposterous notion. The Korean guy must be getting a nice slice of the pie from both ends or he is totally nuts.

[tomross46]

Every time you see someone from the government coming around, and they tells you, that they are here to help you. Hide your money,

[Baerboxer]

Go for it, why not !!!!!!!

You are joking? Aren't you?

K-Water - check them out, particularly in their home country. This is the company that made a big fuss of welcoming a certain fugitive criminal Dr, Ex- PM. Nice photo shoot and welcome banner.

A Korean company, having a meeting with a criminal fugitive, on the run from a fraud conviction and facing more charges, whose sister happens to be in charge of a government wanting to place very large value contracts. An organization not too worried about the fact that EIA's haven't been carried out and that the government hasn't followed the law in tendering and trying to awarding contracts prior to EIA's and public consultations - which are now being rushed through.

Yes - go for it, good idea Einstein.

[Nickymaster]

Go for it, why not !!!!!!!

You are joking? Aren't you?

K-Water - check them out, particularly in their home country. This is the company that made a big fuss of welcoming a certain fugitive criminal Dr, Ex- PM. Nice photo shoot and welcome banner.

A Korean company, having a meeting with a criminal fugitive, on the run from a fraud conviction and facing more charges, whose sister happens to be in charge of a government wanting to place very large value contracts. An organization not too worried about the fact that EIA's haven't been carried out and that the government hasn't followed the law in tendering and trying to awarding contracts prior to EIA's and public consultations - which are now being rushed through.

Yes - go for it, good idea Einstein.

Yep. It's an instant classic.

For some reason this government is more interested in using the Koreans over the Dutch to manage their water issues. Anybody surprised...

[aguy30]

Go for it, why not !!!!!!!

I have absolutely no confidence in you and would be very wary of ANYTHING that you propose or support. You can't even write more than one or two simple sentences top express your self. Never Mr. Gump, but no than you.

[rametindallas]

Huh? Didn't this lot win the tender? No contract yet?

The court sais the government got the cart before the horse and Environmental and Human Impact Studies had to be completed and well as holding meetings for Public input (as per the Constitution) before contracts could be signed. They expect to sign contracts at the end of September.

[rametindallas]

K-Water sure has its BS down pat. They should be a good fit with this government.

[Thai at Heart]

Huh? Didn't this lot win the tender? No contract yet?

The court sais the government got the cart before the horse and Environmental and Human Impact Studies had to be completed and well as holding meetings for Public input (as per the Constitution) before contracts could be signed. They expect to sign contracts at the end of September.

So this is no new idea, the bidding was done ages ago.