SAKON NAKHON: The Nam Un dam in this northeastern province is now holding 534 million cubic metres of water, or 102% of its safe maximum capacity, necessitating continued discharge of water downstream as the dam is expected to take more inflow on Aug 14-17.
Officials said about 4 million cu/m of water flowed into the dam on Saturday following heavy rain, while the dam is discharging about 5 million cu/m of water per day.
It is necessary for the dam to release as much water as possible - through all channels including the spillway and irrigation canals - to take more inflow as several storms are expected to come before the end of the rainy season, they said
The Upper Northeast Meteorological Centre has predicted that between Aug 14-17 rain will blanket about 60% of Sakon Nakhon province. People have been warned of heavy rain, flash floods, overflows from streams and landslides.
Nam Un is among the country's major dams now under close watch as they are holding water beyond 80% of their capacities.