Riverfront residents of three provinces along the Chao Phraya River have been warned to brace themselves for a possible collapse of the river banks caused by soil erosion as water upstream of the Chao Phraya Dam keeps receding.
The warning applies to residents of Nakhon Sawan, Uthai Thani and Chai Nat.
Ekkasit Sakdeethanaporn, director of the Chao Phraya Dam project, said the water level upstream of the dam at tambon Bang Luang of Sapphaya district of Chai Nat dropped by 28cm to 15.33 metres above sea level on Saturday. The water level in downstream areas remained stable at 5.96 metres.
The dam was maintaining its current discharge rate at 75 cubic metres of water per second (cps), he added.
He said the small volume of water flowing into the reservoir was the result of continuing dry conditions. The water station in Nakhon Sawan measured the flow into the dam at only 262 cps, a sharp drop from 457 cps last week. This had caused water upstream of the dam to recede rapidly, he said.
As water continued to recede, he told residents living along the river in Nakhon Sawan, Uthai Thani and Chai Nat to be on full alert for a possible collapse of river banks caused by soil erosion.