Floods drained, water enough for dry season, says RID

Floods drained, water enough for dry season, says RID

An aerial image, taken on Sept 6, of the Khwae Noi Bamrungdan dam in Phitsanulok. (Photo by Chinnawat Singha)
An aerial image, taken on Sept 6, of the Khwae Noi Bamrungdan dam in Phitsanulok. (Photo by Chinnawat Singha)

Floodwater has drained from the central provinces of Chai Nat, Sing Buri and Ang Thong as authorities assure there is enough water for next year’s dry season after two of the four main dams in the Chao Phraya basin were filled.

Thongplew Kongchan, deputy director-general of the Royal Irrigation Department (RID), said on Thursday the department had reduced the amount of water being discharged from the Chao Phraya dam in Chai Nat to 1,165 cubic metres per second, considerably down from a peak of 2,300 cu/m per second early this month. Less water was currently flowing through the dam at 1,582 cu/m per second, down from 2,000 cu/m per second.  

As of late Thursday morning, the level of the Chao Phraya river was lower than the river banks in Chai Nat’s Sapphaya district, Sing Buri’s Muang and In Buri and Ang Thong’s Chaiyo and Pa Mok. The situation in these areas had returned to normal, Mr Thongplew said.   

In Ayutthaya, authorities had increased the rate of water being drained out of flood-prone areas in Sena district, one of the province’s two worst-hit districts, into the Tachin river and water-retention areas. 

Mr Thongplew said the Khwae Noi Bamrungdan dam in Phitsanulok and the Pasak Jolasid dam in Lop Buri were full, while the Sirikit dam in Uttaradit and the Bhumibol dam in Tak were at 80% and 50% of their capacities. 

The four major dams, which service over 20 million people living in the Chao Phraya basin, were expected to store a combined 9.5 billion cubic metres of water by Nov 1. The amount would be sufficient for daily consumption, farming and preserving ecosystems through to the next dry season. 


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