Farmers suffer as reservoirs dry up

[Lite Beer]

DROUGHT
Farmers suffer as reservoirs dry up
THE SUNDAY NATION

A reservoir in the province of Phetchabun is drying up, as many parts of the country are hit hard by the severe drought.

BANGKOK: -- PRAYUT UNVEILS SIX GOVT STRATEGIES TO ALLEVIATE WATER SHORTAGES

WITH the North and Northeast suffering from severe drought, rice fields in Roi Et's Suwannaphum district were parched yesterday as water levels were far too low in four local reservoirs for irrigation. Also, farmers outside the irrigation area have already sown seeds for a third crop and are hoping for rain.

Provincial governor Somsak Jangtrakul led a team of officials to inspect the farms and come up with a plan to handle water shortage. The team found that the water level in reservoir Nong Tha Jok was very low compared to previous years. This reservoir can hold up to 1,190 million cubic metres of water and supplies irrigation via four canals to 60,000-rai of rice fields during the dry season. Yesterday, Nong Tha Jok was only 1 per cent full, while levels in other reservoirs were also too low to irrigate farms.

Since rice fields have another 20 days or so before they start withering, Somsak said he hoped it would start raining soon to alleviate the situation. He has called on officials to have pumps and other equipment ready to supply water as well as getting ready for rain-making operations.

Panitan Sunarak, Suwannaphum district chief, said tens of thousand of rai of rice fields were affected and that sowing for a third crop would be a waste, much like the previous two sowings.

Meanwhile, Nakhon Ratchasima agriculture official Somboon Saram said the province's 25 districts had been declared disaster zones and 800,000 residents, especially rice farmers, were badly affected.

In Buri Ram's Satuk district, more than 4,000 rubber trees in Tambon Nikhom have withered away due to the lack of water. So village headman Prasit Traengyodram is calling on the authorities to provide aid to affected rubber growers.

Farmer Ratree Mai-ngam said the damage to her two-year-old rubber trees had seriously affected her family and they were now all in the red.

In his weekly "Returning Happiness to the People" televised address, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha revealed six strategies the government has drawn up to handle water challenges across the country. These strategies include preparing raw water for tap water production in 7,500 rural villages and 700 urban areas nationwide, which will be implemented from now until 2017, while the 9,000 existing water-supply systems would be made more efficient.

To ensure water security in the production sector, the government will build 369 new water-storage systems and excavate 50,000 ponds in farmland and 1,285 artesian wells, as well as help 895 natural water resources to recover, Prayut said.

The government would expand irrigation areas by 2.2 million rai next year, and hopes to increase this by 10 million rai over the next decade or so.

As for his government's three-year water-management-and-flood-control plan, Prayut said the authorities would improve the main water routes and 30 tributaries, covering more than 75 kilometres in total. Some 13 embankments would be raised to prevent soil erosion and flooding.

In terms of water quality, the government will develop 36 wastewater-treatment plants and remove solid waste and weeds from 399 water sources nationwide, he said.

Lastly, the government will reforest a combined area of 25,000 rai and grow vetiver grass on 645,000 rai of land - which would be completed by the end of September - in order to conserve and rehabilitate watershed forest areas and prevent soil erosion.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Farmers-suffer-as-reservoirs-dry-up-30263263.html

-- The Nation 2015-06-28

[ezzra]

Farmers of Thailand, go ask your government to buy squander their money on buying several

more submarines Thailand doesn't need rather than invest in long lasting water resources

managements and innovations to serve everybody and to put an end to this reoccurring problems....

[trogers]

Global warming and deforestation combine such a lengthy drought. Live with it. This weather pattern would be permanent.

[arfurcrown]

Now perhaps if the funds ''invested'' in the Rice Pledging scam scheme by a previous administration had been used to initiate a basic irrigation scheme the results for the farmers, the local community the economy and the country would have been after time a much more beneficial matter as opposed to a gargantuan loss of monies or diversion of said monies involved in the rice pledging scam scheme.

[somo]

Global warming and deforestation combine such a lengthy drought. Live with it. This weather pattern would be permanent.

Not so. This year is largely down to the El Nino effect.

[somo]

Now perhaps if the funds ''invested'' in the Rice Pledging scam scheme by a previous administration had been used to initiate a basic irrigation scheme the results for the farmers, the local community the economy and the country would have been after time a much more beneficial matter as opposed to a gargantuan loss of monies or diversion of said monies involved in the rice pledging scam scheme.

Boring, Time to move on - if you can?

[bamnutsak]

In his weekly "Returning Happiness to the People" televised address, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha revealed six strategies the government has drawn up to handle water challenges across the country. These strategies include preparing raw water for tap water production in 7,500 rural villages and 700 urban areas nationwide, which will be implemented from now until 2017, while the 9,000 existing water-supply systems would be made more efficient.

Amazing that the Military Junta let such a crucial resource go un-managed for over a year.

[thaibeachlovers]

I visited the reservoir north of Chiang Mai yesterday and was shocked at how low it was. Can they not divert some of the River Ping flow into it?

It's time for farmers to be assisted to build more local reservoirs to collect rain water when it does fall.

BTW, how many readers have a back up supply in case of water mains disruption?

[arfurcrown]

somo post # 6

Boring, Time to move on - if you can?

The truth is that it is perhaps it is you who should move on from the denial of the facts concerning the total mismanagement of state monies which I said '['could and should have been put to better use..''

A lot of talk concerning flood management and water conservation some years back, but we are still waiting to see if any ground was or is broken regarding the issue in the water management scheme time frame before the last change of administration

[billd766]

Farmers of Thailand, go ask your government to buy squander their money on buying several

more submarines Thailand doesn't need rather than invest in long lasting water resources

managements and innovations to serve everybody and to put an end to this reoccurring problems....

You are bquite right to blame this government for not fixing in one year what previous governments over the past 20 or 30 years have ignored.

Why blame previous governments who willfully sqaundered government money (think rice scam for example or the plans of the PTP to fix the floods by draining the dams down) when you can blame this government for buying submarines that have not yet been budgeted for or ordered yet.

Too easy isn't it.

[billd766]

In his weekly "Returning Happiness to the People" televised address, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha revealed six strategies the government has drawn up to handle water challenges across the country. These strategies include preparing raw water for tap water production in 7,500 rural villages and 700 urban areas nationwide, which will be implemented from now until 2017, while the 9,000 existing water-supply systems would be made more efficient.

Amazing that the Military Junta let such a crucial resource go un-managed for over a year.

Almost as amazing as previous "elected" governments let the situation go un-managed for 20 or 30 YEARS.

[billd766]

I visited the reservoir north of Chiang Mai yesterday and was shocked at how low it was. Can they not divert some of the River Ping flow into it?

It's time for farmers to be assisted to build more local reservoirs to collect rain water when it does fall.

BTW, how many readers have a back up supply in case of water mains disruption?

I have storage facilities of 40,000 litres of water in 27 ongs. It does help but as we have had NO government water since mid January we have been relying on the local fire truck once every 5 or 5 weeks or buying it at 200 baht for 4,000 litres.

[trogers]

Global warming and deforestation combine such a lengthy drought. Live with it. This weather pattern would be permanent.

Not so. This year is largely down to the El Nino effect.

Great! We would see swings between severe droughts and floods. The last great flood was in 2011...

[The Beguiled]

Why are the water reservoirs in Thailand so shallow?

Why build another 50,000 ponds?

It is any wonder that Thailand has a mixture of floods and then droughts with the storage systems being so shallow.

Amazing Thailand!

Why wouldn't the army, with the manpower and the machines, do a little "exercise" and go out and deepen these existing reservoirs?

The evaporation rate would not change but the time to dry up would certainly take longer and may just save many a farmer and or village from drought.

On the other hand it would again save farmers and villages during high rainfall and runoff as the deeper storage facility would take longer to fill and slow the downstream flooding as the water could be both held back fore longer and released over a longer period.

Sounds simple enough to me.

How does it sound to you?

[trogers]

Why are the water reservoirs in Thailand so shallow?

Why build another 50,000 ponds?

It is any wonder that Thailand has a mixture of floods and then droughts with the storage systems being so shallow.

Amazing Thailand!

Why wouldn't the army, with the manpower and the machines, do a little "exercise" and go out and deepen these existing reservoirs?

The evaporation rate would not change but the time to dry up would certainly take longer and may just save many a farmer and or village from drought.

On the other hand it would again save farmers and villages during high rainfall and runoff as the deeper storage facility would take longer to fill and slow the downstream flooding as the water could be both held back fore longer and released over a longer period.

Sounds simple enough to me.

How does it sound to you?

Too deep and you hit rocks. Those are on hilly terrains and not like the soft marine clay of Bangkok.

[Bosse137]

One farmer said,that her family was in the red because their 2 year old rubbertrees had been damaged. Sorry to hear what has happened to the trees,but I can not see the connection between this and beeing in the red.What did they get out of these trees? Or expected to get NOW? It takes at least 6-7 years before they start to produce!

[Guest]

Why are the water reservoirs in Thailand so shallow?

Why build another 50,000 ponds?

It is any wonder that Thailand has a mixture of floods and then droughts with the storage systems being so shallow.

Amazing Thailand!

Why wouldn't the army, with the manpower and the machines, do a little "exercise" and go out and deepen these existing reservoirs?

The evaporation rate would not change but the time to dry up would certainly take longer and may just save many a farmer and or village from drought.

On the other hand it would again save farmers and villages during high rainfall and runoff as the deeper storage facility would take longer to fill and slow the downstream flooding as the water could be both held back fore longer and released over a longer period.

Sounds simple enough to me.

How does it sound to you?

If the statement, "The evaporation rate would not change" is true, I am at a loss to understand "but the time to dry up would certainly take longer"

One might argue that the water of the soaked earth (mud) cast aside, would result in the pond actual dry faster.

one might also woder if muddy water, from mucking about in it, and stirring up sediment, absorbs the sun's energy faster, and therefore dries out an area more quickly.

One of the ways to get someting to evapoarte more quickly is to stir it. Try this experiment on your own. Put two identical bowls out in the sun, leave on alone, stir the other...which do you think will empty first?

Lastly, if manpower and money is available to be used for digging, new methods to cathe the rainfall and transport it are needed .. not a deeper (empty) hole.

[TPI]

I visited the reservoir north of Chiang Mai yesterday and was shocked at how low it was. Can they not divert some of the River Ping flow into it?

It's time for farmers to be assisted to build more local reservoirs to collect rain water when it does fall.

BTW, how many readers have a back up supply in case of water mains disruption?

Those of us in the country generally have a well/bore or two, it wouldn't hurt city people to invest in one either!

[TPI]

Why are the water reservoirs in Thailand so shallow?

Why build another 50,000 ponds?

It is any wonder that Thailand has a mixture of floods and then droughts with the storage systems being so shallow.

Amazing Thailand!

Why wouldn't the army, with the manpower and the machines, do a little "exercise" and go out and deepen these existing reservoirs?

The evaporation rate would not change but the time to dry up would certainly take longer and may just save many a farmer and or village from drought.

On the other hand it would again save farmers and villages during high rainfall and runoff as the deeper storage facility would take longer to fill and slow the downstream flooding as the water could be both held back fore longer and released over a longer period.

Sounds simple enough to me.

How does it sound to you?

If the statement, "The evaporation rate would not change" is true, I am at a loss to understand "but the time to dry up would certainly take longer"

One might argue that the water of the soaked earth (mud) cast aside, would result in the pond actual dry faster.

one might also woder if muddy water, from mucking about in it, and stirring up sediment, absorbs the sun's energy faster, and therefore dries out an area more quickly.

One of the ways to get someting to evapoarte more quickly is to stir it. Try this experiment on your own. Put two identical bowls out in the sun, leave on alone, stir the other...which do you think will empty first?

Lastly, if manpower and money is available to be used for digging, new methods to cathe the rainfall and transport it are needed .. not a deeper (empty) hole.

Dear BE, Water evaporation usually measures approx 12.5mm per day, if the water is shallower it can rise to over 25mm! The deeper the water the cooler it is, the cooler it is the slower the evaporation. Digging out the existing dams makes a lot of sense, it's cheaper than building a new one, the results are immeadiate and the expected flow and enviornmental effects are well known!

There is nothing that can be done for this year, the drought is on us and all we can do is live with it! Next year is a differenrt story, with the accumulated silt out of the dams the total storage could be up to 50% at minimum cost to the nation as the Army is already paid for!!

[DeepInTheForest]

Am waiting for a poster to demand why the Dutch aren't being invited in to offer expert water advice, which would solve everything because they have 1700 years of experience.

Where are the lovers of Dutch engineering? Have you fallen asleep? You are missing your cue...

[whaleboneman]

Why are the water reservoirs in Thailand so shallow?

Why build another 50,000 ponds?

It is any wonder that Thailand has a mixture of floods and then droughts with the storage systems being so shallow.

Amazing Thailand!

Why wouldn't the army, with the manpower and the machines, do a little "exercise" and go out and deepen these existing reservoirs?

The evaporation rate would not change but the time to dry up would certainly take longer and may just save many a farmer and or village from drought.

On the other hand it would again save farmers and villages during high rainfall and runoff as the deeper storage facility would take longer to fill and slow the downstream flooding as the water could be both held back fore longer and released over a longer period.

Sounds simple enough to me.

How does it sound to you?

If the statement, "The evaporation rate would not change" is true, I am at a loss to understand "but the time to dry up would certainly take longer"

One might argue that the water of the soaked earth (mud) cast aside, would result in the pond actual dry faster.

one might also woder if muddy water, from mucking about in it, and stirring up sediment, absorbs the sun's energy faster, and therefore dries out an area more quickly.

One of the ways to get someting to evapoarte more quickly is to stir it. Try this experiment on your own. Put two identical bowls out in the sun, leave on alone, stir the other...which do you think will empty first?

Lastly, if manpower and money is available to be used for digging, new methods to cathe the rainfall and transport it are needed .. not a deeper (empty) hole.

think of a glass half full and another glass full. which one will be empty first?

[oldsailor35]

Are there no underground water reserves.