The government will lay out a half-trillion-baht water management plan for the next three years in a bid to boost the nation's water security.
Following a meeting at the Royal Irrigation Department (RID) on Monday, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said he was very concerned about water security and urged all relevant agencies to come up with an effective water management plan.
Mr Srettha said that a significant part of the state's budget each year is used to assist and/or compensate flood victims.
He said the government has also opened up to foreign investments into new industries that consume large amounts of water, so increasing water security is of critical importance.
The premier said the Office of the National Water Resources (ONWR) will draft a three-year water management plan that includes projects designed to boost the nation's water security.
The plan is expected to be tabled to the cabinet for approval by August.
He also ordered the ONWR, the RID and the Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency (Gistda) to closely monitor flood risks during the rainy season and devise a thorough disaster mitigation plan for flood-prone areas.
The plan, which is estimated to cost the government 548.4 billion baht over the next three years, will see 4.5 million households get access to clean water.
The plan will also seek to link 12 of the 22 million rai of non-irrigated land across the country to irrigation channels, improving the country's resilience against droughts.
Furthermore, it will increase the country's total water reserves to 4.7 billion cubic metres, with water retention zones holding about 1.9 billion cubic metres.
To achieve these targets, the plan will incorporate projects that include the construction of new dams, improving irrigation channels in rural areas, rehabilitation of watershed areas, and the construction of new water retention zones.
Mr Srettha assured the public that there would not be a repeat of the 2011 floods.
The prime minister said the government has a comprehensive water resources management plan in place, which will help prevent and deal with natural disasters.
Agriculture Minister Thamanat Prompow said the water management plan is in line with the previous government's 20-year water management framework.
"We want to see results while we are still in government. We want the public to appreciate the government's solid performance on water management," he said, adding that some projects will be carried out under a public-private partnership (PPP) model due to budget limitations.