Nakhon Sawan: Authorities are scrambling to divert water into Bueng Boraphet in drought-hit Nakhon Sawan as the declining water level threatens fish in the country's largest freshwater swamp.
Chief of Nakhon Sawan Fisheries Provincial Office, Wiwat Prarom, said on Thursday a dry spell caused the volume of water in Bueng Boraphet to fall to only 13 million cubic metres. The level was one metre below crisis point, he said.
Lotus flowers were seen perished in a broad area of the 132,000-rai swamp with stumps visible in various spots, he said.
Mr Wiwat said the drought and villagers' actions to siphon water into their rice fields were to blame.
"The heat is causing water in the swamp to evaporate quickly," Mr Wiwat said. "In the same period of last year, the water level did not drop as much as this."
Nakhon Sawan, in the country's Central Plains, is likely to be hit by the worst drought in a decade, according to observers.
Mr Wiwat said the rapid decline in the water level is menacing parent fish and fuelling risks that people could exploit the shallow water by catching fish in prohibited spots.
The Department of Fisheries is stepping up surveillance measures to protect these parent fish and prevent illegal fishing, he said.
He said large water pumps were being used to divert water from Nan River into the swamp.
About 9.33 million cu/m of water was pumped into the swamp last month and another 1.16 million cu/m of water into the marsh this month so far, he said.
Around 18.2 million cu/m of water has been pumped into the swamp since the beginning of this year, he said.
He said although the water is being pumped into the marsh, the level does not appear to be rising as villagers are still siphoning water out of the swamp for farming.
"We are also worried about 23 freshwater crocodiles in the area," Mr Wiwat said, adding the microchipped reptiles were released into the swamp by the department.
Meanwhile, Doi Tao Lake in Chiang Mai's Doi Tao district is also suffering from receding water levels within a 10-kilometre radius of a large field visible in the area.
Jarae Nantasan, an operator of tourist rafts, called on officials to help build a temporary water-retention area in the lake to keep the rafts afloat. He said the drought came early this year.