Dams emptied as Gaemi nears

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TROPICAL STORM

Published: 3 Oct 2012 at 00.00
Newspaper section: News

Officials are rushing to discharge water from major dams so they can handle new inflows from tropical storm Gaemi which is expected to batter Thailand from Friday.

The release was ordered by Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra after the weather office forecast heavy rainfall in the northeastern, eastern and central regions.

The National Water and Flood Management Policy Office yesterday predicted the Northeast, especially Ubon Ratchathani, would be hit by heavy downpours brought by Gaemi on Friday.

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spiceman
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Discussion 19 : 05 Oct 2012 at 03.0619
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Khun Nonsurprise #18, please, read the discussion #17. The water management officials already know how to do their job, and have been perfecting their skills for 40 years, but were prevented to do so by PM YS' dimwitted AG minister because he wanted to "hold water for the farmers" last year.
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nosurprise
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Discussion 18 : 04 Oct 2012 at 11.1318
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Spiceman D11

The point is that the dams should not have been allowed to fill up in the first place last year. It's a simple case of managing efficiently.
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spiceman
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Discussion 17 : 04 Oct 2012 at 07.4917
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Khun Mitrapaap #16, I don't think PM YS had anything to do with opening the dams' emergency spillways for 7 consecutive days last year. According to the director of Bhumibol Dam, there's a absolute maximum water level the dam can withstand, but beyond that we're risking a total collapse of the dam. I wish PM YS discovered her dimwitted AG minister's risky "hold water for the farmers" scheme, at least a month earlier, in order to avert last year catastrophe. It seems to me that the order coming all the way from Dubai telling the AG Minister to hold water at the dam went completely above her head. And she only discovered the catastrophic mistake when all hells were already breaking loose, like everybody else.
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mitrapaap
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Discussion 16 : 04 Oct 2012 at 07.1516
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spiceman D14: I agree with you. If it takes 30 days for the water to reach the ocean, we should be fine. I also agree that the officials of the dams know what they do and what should be done, I would never question their capabilities, but "The release was ordered by Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra..." and she has not 40 years of experience in water management. Last year keeping the water was ordered by one of the MP's.
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spiceman
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Discussion 15 : 03 Oct 2012 at 14.4415
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Khun Lungstip #12, the dam system was originally designed to work in conjunction with lust rain forests upstream which is no more. Now, without the rain forests acting like a giant natural sponge, absorbing and slowly releasing water into the dams' water reservoirs, the dam system is being stretched to its limit. However, without the dams, we will be at the total mercy of the storms each rainy season. What the dams can do is to lessen the effects of the storms, during the wet season, while ensuring the farmers of adequate water during the dry season.
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spiceman
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Discussion 14 : 03 Oct 2012 at 14.3014
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Khun Mitrapaap #10, according to the director of Bhumibol Dam, it usually takes about 30 days for the water from the dam to reach the Gulf of Thailand. So, obviously, your first choice seems a safer one, or risking being caught by surprise in case "Gaemi" dump more rainwater than expected. Besides the officials in Water Management should know best what to do, based on their 40+years of operational experience.
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dickemery
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Discussion 13 : 03 Oct 2012 at 14.2213
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playing with nature havent they learnt by their mistakes last year,who is exactly qualified to give the orders as shown last flooding, its was a fiasco many politicans and generals walking around giving conflicting opinions,anyways with all the flood prevention gone before some work had been done,it will always happen until they invest in a proper waterway system in thailand it will continue to be a big problem,remember pm words there will be no flooding ?
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lungstib
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Discussion 12 : 03 Oct 2012 at 13.1512
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Well, looks like dams do not stop floods. Still, we are told we need more.
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spiceman
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Discussion 11 : 03 Oct 2012 at 13.0811
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Khun Nonsurprise #6, it was the dams' directors who opened the dams' emergency spillways for a week last year, in order to prevent the dams from being toppled. Although, their secondary duty was to carry out the AG minister's direct order to "hold the water for the farmers," their primary duty was to ensure the safety of the dams. Thank to their quick action to release enough water just to save the dams, otherwise, if one or both of the dams toppled, the damage of last year's catastrophe would be unimaginable as all the provinces downstream including BKK would be absolutely wiped out by a massive manmade tsunami.
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mitrapaap
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Discussion 10 : 03 Oct 2012 at 13.0510
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"Officials are rushing to discharge water from major dams so they can handle new inflows from tropical storm Gaemi which is expected to batter Thailand from Friday."

I see two options: 1) rush to release water from the dams now, then the water level is eventually high in downstream rivers at the time Gaemi arrives and so the rivers will overflow and cause flooding. 2) let Gaemi fill the dams and after Gaemi has passed release the water from the now too full dams in a controlled manner, so the rivers downstream won't overflow.

Obviously, I don't know if Gaemi would bring the dams to overflow. Hope the government knows what they do.
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Dams emptied as Gaemi nears | Bangkok Post: news