Germans push 'green' water projects for Thailand, not 'grey'

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Germans push 'green' water projects for Thailand, not 'grey'
PRATCH RUJIVANAROM
THE NATION

BANGKOK: -- LEARNING from mistakes made in Germany, a German institution has now recommended that Thailand adopts a greener approach while fighting floods and drought.

Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) made it clear at a recent dialogue forum that ecosystem-based water management projects in Germany are proving more effective than traditional solid irrigation infrastructure.

"What we try to promote here is to warn [Thailand] not to repeat the same mistakes as Germany," said Roland Treitler, project director of improved management of extreme events through ecosystem-based adaptation in watersheds (ECOSWat) of GIZ.

He was addressing Thai officials at a forum on German flood protection at the Eastin Grand Hotel in Bangkok.

Treitler said green irrigation projects in Germany had been successful and the institution intended to share this water management technique with Thailand.

GIZ has three pilot projects in Thailand - at Trang River Head in Nakhon Si Thammarat's Thung Song district, Tha Di River Basin in Nakhon Si Thammarat and Huai Sai Bat River Basin in Khon Kaen, which started last year.

"Because of climate change, flooding occurs more frequently and severely. In Germany, despite our investing billions of euros to build an extensive flood prevention system, we could not really protect the people. Therefore, we revised the whole strategy and came up with the conclusion that the involvement of more ecological infrastructure would help the overall system," Treitler said.

According to the example of the Elbe River Basin in North Germany, he demonstrated that the river used to have flood prevention dams, but they could not prevent flooding in urban areas.

"What we try to promote here is to warn [Thailand] not to repeat the same mistakes as Germany," he added.

GIZ consultant Hubert Lohr assured that green measures applied to irrigation systems would be successful in Thailand.

"Thailand benefits from its location in a tropical zone which allows the vegetation to do its service [to the ecosystem] all through the year - unlike in Germany which is situated in a temperate zone," Hobert explained. "The tropical zone is the best place to apply green measures."

However, he said, green measures alone cannot solve everything. The green measures and grey measures should be combined together for the best results in irrigation. (Grey measures refer to irrigation structures). "The grey measures are well situated in Thailand, so we are here to promote and foster green measures," he said.

"On the Thai official side, there are concerns about obstructions in the bureaucracy and whether the high ranks would accept this new water management approach.

"The main hindrance to the implementation of green measures in Thailand is that decision-makers do not understand the approach. They like a quick and immediate result from the original irrigation methods but ignore the ecosystem," Thongchai Roachanakanan, acting expert on architectural planning of the Public Works and Town & Country Planning Department, said.

Thongchai pointed out that the Thai bureaucratic system allowed politicians to have too much power, which diminished efforts to adopt green measures in the Kingdom, unlike Germany, which balanced power in the bureaucracy system very well.

Royal Irrigation Department's Water Management Division director Chatchom Chompradist revealed that green measures have never been practised to any extent in Thailand. He felt the new measures could boost the performance of future irrigation projects.

However, Chatchom suggested that to impart green values in the short term to officials used to the old ways of water management would be difficult. "We will have to take a lot effort to introduce the ecosystem-based water management to Thailand," he said.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Germans-push-green-water-projects-for-Thailand-not-30259781.html


-- The Nation 2015-05-11

[Fritzz]

It therefore requires the relevant politicians and water managers to travel to the Elbe River Basin in Northern Germany at the time of flooding to see for themselves. Perhaps the Germans have a point and a lot of money can be saved in Thailand. After all even if the flood dams are 200 m high or the pumps of the mother of all pumps type - the water will find a way around.

We need to tackle the flooding by getting nearer to fighting the cause of the problem. Not just go for the symptoms.

Bon voyage to N/Germany

[trogers]

It therefore requires the relevant politicians and water managers to travel to the Elbe River Basin in Northern Germany at the time of flooding to see for themselves. Perhaps the Germans have a point and a lot of money can be saved in Thailand. After all even if the flood dams are 200 m high or the pumps of the mother of all pumps type - the water will find a way around.

We need to tackle the flooding by getting nearer to fighting the cause of the problem. Not just go for the symptoms.

Bon voyage to N/Germany

His Majesty had told his people about the cheeks of monkeys.

[maidee]

thais listening for advice to anyone that is not thai ?

water to the sea ...

[Strangebrew]

Guess the Germans haven't visited any parks with ponds in BKK the greenest water I ever seen. Even so green turtles have layers of it on there shells.

[FangFerang]

In the West, new ideas are considered, looked at for economic and long term ramifications...then quietly shelved if introduced by the wrong people (political opponents) or those who do not share the hierarchy of needs of those in power (try preaching solar power to a petroleum board).

The problem is identical in Thailand, ideas are seen as a threat to the status quo, with a bigger social stigma that ideas can only come from the top. Thaksin was actually a symptom of this. By the time the old school caught on that there was big money in communications, Thaksin had already been first to the table, which earned him more spite than he can ever rid himself of.

I am not talking about guilt, politics, or blame. It is what it is: a social convention that prevents scientific and economic innovation altogether, and stifles and punishes new ideas and voices.

[jaiyen]

We all know that the water in Thailand is mostly green, black and grey. Not much of the pretty blue stuff around now.

[Local Drunk]

Almost anyone drunk enough to try can walk on water here.