From crops to cargo, the fear of drought casts a wide shadow over the Chao Phraya

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DROUGHT
From crops to cargo, the fear of drought casts a wide shadow over the Chao Phraya
Business Desk


Chao Phraya Dam

BANGKOK: -- Angthong Provincial Irrigation Department and the Harbour Department have warnings for groups as different as farmers and cargo ship operators about the drought and low levels in the Chao Phraya River.

Speaking for the Irrigation Department yesterday, representative Pricha Punwa, said farmers planning to grow rice in the coming months should be careful about water usage.

"The amount of water in the four dams - Bhumibol, Sirikit, Kwainoibamrungdan, and Pasakchonlasit - is not enough for the next two months."

He added that the four dams have a total capacity of 1,500 million cubic metres - with the draining level of 60 million cubic metres per day, or around 30 days' usage. Now the department has decreased this to 30 million cubic metres per day - or around enough usage for 40 days.

Therefore, farmers who have not prepared for growing rice this season should reconsider well because of the low water capacity, Pricha warned.

Meanwhile, Vichian Pemanukornruk, director of Ayuthaya Provincial Harbour Department, said cargo carriers in the Chao Phraya and Pasak rivers should lower their carrying weights and take caution while travelling because some areas are so shallow.

"In some of these areas under water there are sand bars. Vessels carrying full capacity could crash the bars and cause accidents."

Because of the low water level in the Chao Phraya, many shipping companies have told their carriers passing Angthong to make regular interval stops. Many are using smaller carriers with a capacity of 5 or 6 tonnes to deliver goods, instead of the bigger carriers of 1,000 tonne capacity.

The C7A station at the Angthong 12th irrigation station in front of the city hall reported the latest water level of 0.64 metres from 9.32 metres at the riverbank. The level is lower than the same period last year following the consecutive draining and is expected to continually decrease. Also, the provincial government has already provided an assistance centre to help people suffering from drought.

Some Pathumthani farmers disagree with the government's two-month postponement of the rice growing period. They said the postponement would damage the crop following the two-months-delay harvest period. Also, many farmers did not have other jobs to earn income during the time.

On the other hand, farmers in southern Thailand are not affected by the drought due to highly available water resources.

Dech Lekvichi, director of the water distribution and maintenance project in Songkla's Ranodkrasaesin district, said the Songkla leak is 8,754 square kilometres in area - and one of 25 lagoons in Thailand. The amount of water in the leak still depends on sea water levels, and is a mixture of sea and freshwater in some parts. In order to continue efficiently growing plants, farmers should keep in touch with the Irrigation Department announcements, he said.

Meanwhile, Sansern Kaewkamnerd, Deputy Government spokesperson, said during the weekly press conference that the prime minister had instructed authorities to come up with immediate measures to cope with the drought situation.

These may range from switching farm crops to less water consuming crops, switching farm work to temporary laboring, and calculated use of groundwater. The authorities were instructed to draw plans and table them before the Cabinet meets again, he said.

In the issue of drawing groundwater for use, the level must be stored at certain points so that it and the surface level would not be affected, he said.

Boonyong Tansakul, CEO of Singer Thailand, said the drought impact is increasing on both farmers and others in the agricultural sector, apart from the low price of crop products.

The purchasing power of people in this sector would further weaken as the drought pulls down their income - affecting the Thai GDP this year as well, he said.

Agricultural clients account for 10 per cent of the total customer base at Singer Thailand. The drought has not affected the company much so far because in its debt collection programme it has increased installments.

The drought is seen as a short-term problem, unlike the decline in agricultural prices, which has seriously affected the income of people in the agricultural sector.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/From-crops-to-cargo-the-fear-of-drought-casts-a-wi-30262493.html


-- The Nation 2015-06-17

[Robby nz]

The water hyacinth build up behind the dam in the photo must be putting a tremendous strain on that dam. Should there be a lot of rain and the river rises and it will be forced down against the dam, the weight of that weed could easily breach the dam.

With the river level lowered the next thing we will hear is salt water incursion into BKK water supply and calls for the dams to be opened for the city dwellers. No way let them buy water from elsewhere and put the farmers first.

[halloween]

The water hyacinth build up behind the dam in the photo must be putting a tremendous strain on that dam. Should there be a lot of rain and the river rises and it will be forced down against the dam, the weight of that weed could easily breach the dam.

With the river level lowered the next thing we will hear is salt water incursion into BKK water supply and calls for the dams to be opened for the city dwellers. No way let them buy water from elsewhere and put the farmers first.

Your last sentence is very strange - you might want to rethink it. Starting with the concept of "elsewhere".

[robblok]

The water hyacinth build up behind the dam in the photo must be putting a tremendous strain on that dam. Should there be a lot of rain and the river rises and it will be forced down against the dam, the weight of that weed could easily breach the dam.

With the river level lowered the next thing we will hear is salt water incursion into BKK water supply and calls for the dams to be opened for the city dwellers. No way let them buy water from elsewhere and put the farmers first.

Still fair is fair.. farmers use far more as their share as city dwellers. So its reasonable they get their fair share of this limited resource too.

[Godders]

Imagine - a multi-billion baht Chao Phrayah River Walkway with no river.

Never mind, dear. We can always go shopping.

[oneday]

Sounds like Thailand actually needs a department (JUST ONE) that can control the water needs of the entire country both during drought and floods and then staff it with people who actually know what they are doing.

I know, I'm dreaming.

[Kasset Tak]

The water hyacinth build up behind the dam in the photo must be putting a tremendous strain on that dam. Should there be a lot of rain and the river rises and it will be forced down against the dam, the weight of that weed could easily breach the dam.

With the river level lowered the next thing we will hear is salt water incursion into BKK water supply and calls for the dams to be opened for the city dwellers. No way let them buy water from elsewhere and put the farmers first.

Still fair is fair.. farmers use far more as their share as city dwellers. So its reasonable they get their fair share of this limited resource too.

Yea, and the Bangkokians can eat the food they grow in Bangkok too...

[halloween]

The water hyacinth build up behind the dam in the photo must be putting a tremendous strain on that dam. Should there be a lot of rain and the river rises and it will be forced down against the dam, the weight of that weed could easily breach the dam.

With the river level lowered the next thing we will hear is salt water incursion into BKK water supply and calls for the dams to be opened for the city dwellers. No way let them buy water from elsewhere and put the farmers first.

Still fair is fair.. farmers use far more as their share as city dwellers. So its reasonable they get their fair share of this limited resource too.

Yea, and the Bangkokians can eat the food they grow in Bangkok too...

Have you considered what happens if a city of 8 million people runs out of fresh water?

And at the same time you are advocating diverting millions of litres to grow a crop currently returning a gross profit of B7 for every 5000 litres used by it.

[halloween]

Another newspaper is reporting that low flow is causing salinity of the water at the treatment works intake to increase. The figures quoted are 0.2 -0.3 mg/L with noticeably salty taste occurring at 0.5mg/L.

I checked with the EPA advisory, which recommends drinking water have a concentration of 30-60 mg/L of sodium. http://water.epa.gov/action/advisories/drinking/upload/2003_03_05_support_cc1_sodium_dwreport.pdf

Wildly disparate figures which indicate SNAFU, or I am completely misunderstanding something. Advice from drinking water experts appreciated.

Could the other paper's units actually be g/L??

Edited June 17, 2015 by halloween