Farmers across Thailand begin combating drought

[webfact]

Farmers across nation begin combating drought

 

UTHAI THANI, 9 February 2017 (NNT) – Uthai Thani province officials have set up a project using solar energy to power water pumps, allowing farmers to be self-reliant as reports of detriment due to cold weather continue to surface. 

Lotus farmers in Phichit province have let on their crops are being impacted by the cool weather as well as dwindling water supplies. The conditions have apparently reduced the size of their flowers and undercut their value ahead of the opportune Makha Bucha period. 

Conversely, farmers in Nan province have said their decision to switch to planting corn, which requires less water, has allowed them to overcome weather and other obstacles. The local administration has lauded such farmers and encouraged more to switch to crops with low water requirements to generate immunity from drought. 

In Uthai Thani province, local administrators have introduced a solar powered water pump program to farmers to allow to be combat drought conditions on their own.

 

-- nnt 2017-02-09

[phycokiller]

strange, they have a dry season every year but it catches them by surprise every time

[elgordo38]

2 hours ago, phycokiller said:

strange, they have a dry season every year but it catches them by surprise every time

I think this year they are being caught with their pants down much earlier than normal. 

[Lingba]

2 months ago its floods...now droughts

[mick220675]

The dry season is essential to Thai farmers without it they could not set fire to everything they see.

[billd766]

10 minutes ago, elgordo38 said:

I think this year they are being caught with their pants down much earlier than normal. 

 

That is probably because despite all the rain in the last part of 2016 most of the dams never properly filled up.

 

After the drought I figured that it would take 2 or 3 years to completely fill the dams again.

 

This is the state of both the large and medium dams water level this morning.

 

http://www.thaiwater.net/DATA/REPORT/php/rid_dam_1.php?lang=en

 

http://www.thaiwater.net/DATA/REPORT/php/show_sm_dam.php?lang=en

[elgordo38]

Just now, billd766 said:

 

That is probably because despite all the rain in the last part of 2016 most of the dams never properly filled up.

 

After the drought I figured that it would take 2 or 3 years to completely fill the dams again.

 

This is the state of both the large and medium dams water level this morning.

 

http://www.thaiwater.net/DATA/REPORT/php/rid_dam_1.php?lang=en

 

http://www.thaiwater.net/DATA/REPORT/php/show_sm_dam.php?lang=en

What your saying then is we are on a downward slippery slope.Your figures sound right Rome was not built in a day and the dams need time to recover. Sounds like a future compounding problem. I want to die of natural causes not thirst. 

[billd766]

42 minutes ago, elgordo38 said:

What your saying then is we are on a downward slippery slope.Your figures sound right Rome was not built in a day and the dams need time to recover. Sounds like a future compounding problem. I want to die of natural causes not thirst. 

 

At midday out here in rural Khampaeng Phet it was 34C.

 

My fish/storage pond is dry as a bone and only reached about 60% full by the end of 2016.

 

The good news is that the government water supply is still running though it will run dry soon.

 

For 2016 it actually ran dry in December 2015 and for 7 months we were supplied by the local fire truck.

[jaltsc]

"Farmers across Thailand begin combating drought."

 

So, that must be the reason they started the burning early this year. Thailand needs to educate the rest of the world about the cause and effect between  burning everything in sight and preventing drought.

Edited February 10, 2017 by jaltsc

[DM07]

Great forwards planning...like every year! 

[Jeremy50]

The repetitiveness and futility of this place. 1000 years of relative civilisation in Thailand, and farmers have not yet learned how to prosper in one of the most predictable climates on the planet. In four months they will all be complaining about the floods..

[plachon]

2 hours ago, Jeremy50 said:

The repetitiveness and futility of this place. 1000 years of relative civilisation in Thailand, and farmers have not yet learned how to prosper in one of the most predictable climates on the planet. In four months they will all be complaining about the floods..

Another way of looking at it, could be a "1000 years of relative civilization in Siam" allowed farmers to prosper living close to the seasons and nature and then 60 or so years of a rapacious government bureaucracy that has profited on the backs of the farmers by endless state projects that have reduced their former independence/resilience as land and water managers, while never solving the underlying problems. This is manifested in turning predictable seasons of dry periods and wet periods into "crises" and "natural disasters" that  can then be used by politicians and state officials to leverage water resources development funds from the government that benefit these groups far more than they benefit the farmers, who are regarded as passive levers of resources in the game of development. It is repetitive and futile, but it is how hydraulic development proceeds in much of the erstwhile "third world" nations, now more commonly called "the developing world". This latter category should include the USA as well, by the way.  

[ripstanley]

4 hours ago, jaltscsaid:

"Farmers across Thailand begin combating drought."

 

So, that must be the reason they started the burning early this year. Thailand needs to educate the rest of the world about the cause and effect between  burning everything in sight and preventing drought.

They started burning early because there is a total fire ban in the north from 17/02/2017 until 17/04/2017

[brain150]

Rely on Governments and you are truly lost !!!

 

Lesson to learn:

Collect and store water when it rains on your own property and use it when it's dry.

Don't rely [or better: depend !!!] on Government water supply or you are hopeless and helpless.

Make yourself and your neighbours self sufficient and everything starts to work out just fine.

 

Governments are there to suppress the people, not to care about them.

Has been like this for thousands of years and never worked for the people but somehow

they still think that one day it might work.

Not gonna happen ... that's not what Governments do.

[jaltsc]

56 minutes ago, ripstanley said:

They started burning early because there is a total fire ban in the north from 17/02/2017 until 17/04/2017

So then we can expect no burning after 17 April, because we know how compliant Thais are with the law.

 

Also, what was their excuse for early burning during the previous years that continued up until the first heavy rains , well into June?

Edited February 10, 2017 by jaltsc

[ripstanley]

18 minutes ago, jaltscsaid:

So then we can expect no burning after 17 April, because we know how compliant Thais are with the law.

 

Also, what was their excuse for early burning during the previous years that continued up until the first heavy rains , well into June?

 

They will burn after the 17/04 but with the 2 month ban, which they had last year, the smoke will be not as intense. Where I live the smoke haze was gone last year before June. 

[Dumbastheycome]

6 hours ago, Jeremy50 said:

The repetitiveness and futility of this place. 1000 years of relative civilisation in Thailand, and farmers have not yet learned how to prosper in one of the most predictable climates on the planet. In four months they will all be complaining about the floods..

Stupid  comment! Go  ahead  and  predict  climate  variations  then ! SMDHE!

[Ulic]

Flooding, drought, repeat. Maybe they should bring in some outside consultants in.

May I suggest the Dutch.

[kannot]

19 hours ago, phycokiller said:

strange, they have a dry season every year but it catches them by surprise every time

and a  cool season and a  wet season and what difference do solar pumps  make if there isnt enough water anyway?

Surely  big   new dams would alleviate all of this............but those submarines are  better as maybe they can bring water to the farmers...after all they will be surrounded by it

[Sphere]

Is it too early to start cloud seeding?  

[jaywalker]

1 hour ago, Sphere said:

Is it too early to start cloud seeding?  

I suggest a rain dance.

[billd766]

21 hours ago, DM07 said:

Great forwards planning...like every year! 

It has been like that for decades even under elected civilian governments,

[DM07]

7 minutes ago, billd766 said:

It has been like that for decades even under elected civilian governments,

...and where did I say, it wasn't?!

[elgordo38]

23 hours ago, elgordo38 said:

What your saying then is we are on a downward slippery slope.Your figures sound right Rome was not built in a day and the dams need time to recover. Sounds like a future compounding problem. I want to die of natural causes not thirst. 

Often makes me wonder if we have passed a tipping point for dam recovery. Each year the tourist rate climbs by 15% (according to TAT) and that creates enormous pressure on the water supply. TAT could possibly be inviting in the means of our destruction. 

[rickudon]

Major Dams aren't low - many are still over 60 or even 70%. 2015, our dam was below 50% when the wet season ended. More large dams are not needed - more small ones are. The problem is water DISTRIBUTION, rather than retention. That is why some areas run out in a few months. Collect the water near where the users are (assuming there is enough to collect locally). I bet downstream of the worst drought areas their are dams with plenty of water - but they cannot (or more likely don't want to) pump it back uphill.

 

The other issue is cities and large towns. They are rapidly urbanising and water demand is always increasing. Big dams always supply the biggest (most powerful) users first. Small towns and farms get little unless close to the pipelines.

[anon4546543]

I wish I had an easy solution. There is not one. Cities, towns and villages are all expanding. Thailand depends on tourism. Tourists use far more water than the average Thai. But the priority of water supply is to tourists. 

Most farming is under pressure from low returns on their labour, increased costs resulting in increased demand to grow more. So they use more water in the dry months which depletes the underground water supplies. The situation is compounding. The farmers see city workers as thriving while they work hard for little improvement in their circumstances. And the long suffering farmers are slowly becoming disillusioned  

[DrTuner]

With the usual maintenance those solar panels will last two day, Somchai the Ultramechanic will "fix them" to work better, game over.

[jak2002003]

10 hours ago, rickudon said:

Major Dams aren't low - many are still over 60 or even 70%. 2015, our dam was below 50% when the wet season ended. More large dams are not needed - more small ones are. The problem is water DISTRIBUTION, rather than retention. That is why some areas run out in a few months. Collect the water near where the users are (assuming there is enough to collect locally). I bet downstream of the worst drought areas their are dams with plenty of water - but they cannot (or more likely don't want to) pump it back uphill.

 

The other issue is cities and large towns. They are rapidly urbanising and water demand is always increasing. Big dams always supply the biggest (most powerful) users first. Small towns and farms get little unless close to the pipelines.

I can relate to that... the other year when we had the big drought, the dam near our village had a good amount of water.  But the water was pumped away to supply the city, and the areas around the dam had their water cut off for days, and heavily restricted after that.  It was frustrating seeing all the water near to us, but unable to use it!!!

 

 

[elgordo38]

On 2/10/2017 at 2:44 PM, billd766 said:

 

At midday out here in rural Khampaeng Phet it was 34C.

 

My fish/storage pond is dry as a bone and only reached about 60% full by the end of 2016.

 

The good news is that the government water supply is still running though it will run dry soon.

 

For 2016 it actually ran dry in December 2015 and for 7 months we were supplied by the local fire truck.

I hit the like button but do not like your post scary. I feel for you brother but it is hard to see an logical answer with staying power. Looking out the window I see cranes all over the place. I truly wonder if prospective buyers really give water and of course sewage and garbage any thought.

[elgordo38]

1 hour ago, jak2002003 said:

I can relate to that... the other year when we had the big drought, the dam near our village had a good amount of water.  But the water was pumped away to supply the city, and the areas around the dam had their water cut off for days, and heavily restricted after that.  It was frustrating seeing all the water near to us, but unable to use it!!!

 

 

It was the same when I lived in Lake Chapala Mexico. It was terrible to watch the lake recede out to the horizon being sucked dry by Guadalajara.