A number of abandoned mines in the northern provinces of Chiang Mai and Lamphun will soon be turned into sources of water in a water-management project aimed at countering seasonal drought and flooding.
This is one of more than 7,000 water-management projects planned over the next 20 years, said Surasri Kidtimonton, secretary-general of the Office of the National Water Resources (ONWR).
These projects are primarily aimed at retaining 951 million cubic metres of water for use to supply 3.8 million rai in areas usually affected by drought in the dry season while protecting from flooding over more than 1.7 million rai of land often flooded in the rainy season, he said.
In Lamphun, for instance, 11 abandoned mines were found to have the potential to be developed into sources of water budgets for use in supplying farm areas nearby, he said. A test on the quality of the water in these mines shows it is safe and good enough for use in the agricultural sector, he said.
Two sizeable abandoned mines in tambon Dong Dam in Li district of Lamphun, for example, have a combined capacity to better serve farmers on up to 7,482 rai of farmland, which normally requires 9.3 million cubic metres of water per year, he said.
These old mines will next be turned into sources of water budgets in a pilot project to be implemented in Lamphun, while other such mines will later be included if the pilot phase proves successful, he said.
Water will be drawn from the mines using a solar-powered pump, Mr Surasi said. A 5-million-baht pump has been installed at Muang Li Mi Rak, one of the two mines, as part of the pilot project.
As part of a related project, a sluice gate called Mae Taman Gate will be built as a component of a system to divert more water into Mae Kuang Udom Thara Dam (Mae Kuang Dam) through the Mae Ngat-Mae Kuang water diversion tunnel in Chiang Mai's Mae Taeng district, he said.
The tunnel, which is almost complete, will help increase the volume of water into the dam by 160 million cubic metres each year, expanding the dam's capacity to serve up to 76,129 rai of farmland from just 17,060 rai at present, he said.