Drought threat increasing as reserves fall

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Drought threat increasing as reserves fall

Provinces without irrigation most at risk

Published: 10/12/2011 at 05:00 AM
Newspaper section: News

Some provinces could be hit with drought next year due to dwindling water reserves, says Anond Snidvongs, the water management adviser to the Flood Relief Operations Command.

As the floods are receding, drought could emerge as a new problem hitting some areas next year especially in provinces which do not benefit from the Royal Irrigation Department's irrigation system, he said.

"The severe cold this year points to a drought crisis next year," Mr Anond said during the launch of http://www.GreenNewsTV.com, the web TV outlet of the Thai Society of Environmental Journalists (Thaisej).

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Writer: Pakawat Sunpituksaree

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padthai
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Discussion 8 : 10/12/2011 at 06:06 PM8
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This government has FROC-ed us once already, please get rid of them before they do it again.
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drake
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Discussion 7 : 10/12/2011 at 02:45 PM7
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D4:
The 'abnormally cold winter follows by drought' theory is only applicable to the cold months preceding the wet months of the same cycle, not a year or years in between.
As such, the cold nights of March 2011 hasn't got a thing to do with the wet season 2012 and we are just half way through winter 2011 - which isn't anything worth talking about so far.
Aight ?

Winter nights in the Central and near NE area regularly gets in the sub 17C range back in the 60s and while that was considered pretty darn cold it wasn't unusual.
The hills in the North and NE gets below freezing practically every year and that's normal.
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pointoffew
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Discussion 6 : 10/12/2011 at 12:58 PM6
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@ tommyle, discussion 5, max. temp. of 20 degrees in NE and Central Thailand IS indeed considered severe cold. Not Germany and neither in hills and mountains, but in NE and Central Thailand at altitudes around sea level, such temperatures in "summer" can be labelled severe cold.
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tommylee
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Discussion 5 : 10/12/2011 at 11:57 AM5
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@climate expert D4: Calling temperatures of 20 degrees Celsius "severe colds" can only come from someone who has never been outside his province in the tropics.
@Water management expert Khun Anond Snidvongs: His proposal will guarantee that Thailand will have annual floods even in “provinces which do not benefit from the Royal Irrigation Department's irrigation system (…he said).”
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pointoffew
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Discussion 4 : 10/12/2011 at 10:35 AM4
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Drake, discussion 1, may I refresh your memory: In March Thailand experienced two spells of severe colds, with max. temperatures (in the hot season) staying around 20 degrees, something that had not happened in recent history - the past 100 years or so.
However, I agree that not the drainage from the dams, but their present and future content (level) is what counts. Here Khun Anond seems to prove himself number blind.

Besides, Khun Anond's claim, that "the severe cold this year points to a drought crisis next year," seems without credible foundation to me. Unless he can produce scientific evidence to support his claim, it should be treated with the same scepticism as all previous incorrect predictions - they are NOT forecasts - which seem based on (mis)fortune-telling.
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banmebkk
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Discussion 3 : 10/12/2011 at 09:35 AM3
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Anything coming from the FROC is no longer credible. Bring in the real experts please!
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phileas
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Discussion 2 : 10/12/2011 at 08:48 AM2
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"Mr Anond said the country still lacks an adequate management system to retain water supply for all areas": I wonder why?

"State agencies have stressed the need to tackle encroachment on natural drainage systems. They say floods are "man-made" to some extent, as natural drainage passages and water retention areas are obstructed by the construction of housing estates, roads and hotels" : oh really? how come? Did someone not do their jobs? or, perish the thought, did money change hands to allow for those obstructions?
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drake
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Discussion 1 : 10/12/2011 at 07:22 AM1
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"The severe cold this year points to a drought crisis next year," ??
What severe cold ????
The officially published daily temperature had been running at or above average for the past 3 months in Central, North, and North-East part of the country.

What 'massive drainage' from the dams ???
Daily report from the dams still show the levels to be near maximum capacity.

See it for yourself -
Water level in Bhumibol Dam: http://www.kromchol.com/DailyUDQ/GIS/DamGraph/DGraph.asp?p1=1
in Sirikit Dam: http://www.kromchol.com/DailyUDQ/GIS/DamGraph/DGraph.asp?p1=2
Discharge rate at either: http://www.thaiwater.net/DATA/REPORT/php/rid_lgraph.php
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Drought threat increasing as reserves fall | Bangkok Post: news