PM leads new flood agency

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Govt wants unity in water management

Published: 8/02/2012 at 10:44 AM
Newspaper section: News

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra will head a new agency assigned to run an overall national water management system to ensure unity in tackling flood-related problems.

The formation of the new agency - the National Water Resources and Flood Policy Committee - was approved by the cabinet yesterday.

It will be responsible for formulating policies for water management efforts nationwide, with the Strategic Formulation Committee for Water Resources Management acting as its adviser.

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spiceman
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Discussion 47 : 11/02/2012 at 02:48 AM47
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Khun JohninBKK #46, judging from the amount of water discharged through the dams' emergency spillways for 14 days last November, I would say that the amount of rainwater entering the dam exceeded the dam's PREPARED storage capacity by slightly more than 1,000 MCM. Last year's flooding was so bad because of so much water (1,000-plus MCM) was being released within so little time (14 days), in order to save the dam itself.

Looking at the graph, I would say that the officials released too much water than they needed to in 2010, but again, they must have their reason to do so. Although, weather forecasting is not an exact science, but as we found out the hard way, that being on a safe side is a lot safer than playing watery Russian Roulette with the dams, agree?
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johninbkk
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Discussion 46 : 11/02/2012 at 12:00 AM46
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spiceman D45 - The fact that 200 people died of flooding in 2010, yet the dams were never full, disproves the theory that it was the mismanagement of dams that caused the flood (although it was a contributing factor). How could dams be full in a drought, anyway? If 2010 was a year of record rain, I'm sure the AG Minister would have made the same decision in 2010 to hold more water. In 2010, klongs weren't dredged, politicians had control decisions, flood experts weren't doing their job, industrial zones were built in flood plains . . . the 2010 strategy was what?

The BMA spent 11 billion baht over 10 years on giant water tunnels under Bangkok that don't even work (Google it). If they actually worked, flooding in BKK would not have happened, no?
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spiceman
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Discussion 45 : 10/02/2012 at 05:36 PM45
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Khun JohninBKK #44, have we ever had the number of flood-related deaths anywhere approaching 800-plus deaths of last year? And if the 2010 water management strategy was followed in 2011, would there be a flood of catastrophic proportion in Thailand last year? And why wasn't the 2010 strategy adopted, despite of the obvious rising trend in the amount of rainfall? I know why, because the AG Minister said so, "I want to hold water for the farmers." Never mind that his decision to do so, killed a bunch of them and devastated our Economy.
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johninbkk
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Discussion 44 : 10/02/2012 at 03:55 PM44
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spiceman D43 - " in the last 6 years or ever, there has been nothing close to last year's catastrophe"
Not true. Previous floods saw Hua Lampong train station and Victory Monument under several feet of water. Damage was only financially severe in 2011 because industrial zones and airports were built in flood plains. Yes, I do agree it's preventable as there were many failures by all parties and individuals, including but NOT limited to the dam issue which you are fixated on as the only cause.

"And judging from the number of deaths and damages to the Economy, the current Govt is the most broken, agree?"
Proper flood prevention takes years to do, it's not something you can do after the floods have already started. But yes, I agree that the military broke the government (again), and a poorly written constitution is severely constraining the current governments' effectiveness.
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spiceman
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Discussion 43 : 10/02/2012 at 08:50 AM43
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Khun JohninBKK #40, in the last 6 years or ever, there has been nothing close to last year's catastrophe, and given, its manmade nature (the AG Minister), it is clearly preventable. Does the Military put a Govt into power, or do the people? And can you think of a single Thai Govt that is not broken? And judging from the number of deaths and damages to the Economy, the current Govt is the most broken, agree?
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spiceman
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Discussion 42 : 10/02/2012 at 08:36 AM42
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Khun JohninBKK #39, looking at the graph, if 2010 strategy was repeated in 2011, there would exactly be enough room in the dam to hold that enormous increase in the amount of rainfall without resorting to the emergency spillways at all. Unfortunately, whoever ordered the disastrous AG Minister to hold up extra 4,000 MCM in the dam had no ideas of what was going on, and the rest is history.
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spiceman
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Discussion 41 : 10/02/2012 at 06:30 AM41
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Khun JohninBKK #39, yes, you're exactly correct that the water discharge increased, but it was, by no mean, keeping pace with the amount of water flowing into the dam. With the same AG Minister in charge, one would expect a repeat of 2010's strategy, when water was brought down just above the lower limit of the "safe zone" in July and August, to create a maximum storage capacity, instead of 4,000 MCM less in 2011 of the same period. Given the fact that the dams' emergency spillways were opened only 14 days in 2011, discharging about 1,000 MCM, an increase in discharging rate could significantly lessen the severity of the last year's flooding. Now, we know why the 2010 strategy wasn't repeated, in 2011, because the AG Minister, himself, confessed that he was the one who ordered to hold up water-about 4,000 MCM, "for the farmers." The fact that the same AG Minister is still being kept in his office, should say it all.
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johninbkk
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Discussion 40 : 09/02/2012 at 12:22 PM40
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spiceman D30 - We can also thank the military for giving us a government so broken that it was unable/unwilling to do anything remotely related to flood prevention for the last 6 years. So much infighting that everything else became secondary to the military version of democracy.

englishjon D31 - To be fair, the floods started two months before PTP became government. The Dem caretaker government did nothing about the floods. But we all expect PTP to be perfect and flawless on their first day? Who knows everything on their first day on the job? btw, That 'useless' football match ended a violent border war with Cambodia in mere days - a huge accomplishment passed over by the TS-haters.
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johninbkk
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Discussion 39 : 09/02/2012 at 12:09 PM39
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spiceman D28 - Have one more look at that graph. You'll notice that within days of PTP becoming government that the water release rates (not water stored) from the dams suddenly tripled. Unfortunately it was too late and the dams were already nearly full. The AG Minister was kept because the decision to keep him was made in late September. Fortunately, his powers to control water were removed with these new committees.
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med142
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Discussion 38 : 08/02/2012 at 06:50 PM38
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ok so we have all these committes now. May i raise one question, I would like to also see what other people think or know on the subject please.( thats if it is posted)
What about all the millions of baht that were raised to help the people who were affected by the flooding? Channel 3, Tnn. where has all the money gone? This is also an important aspect of this.
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