ONWR revealed that it has discussed with various agencies to reduce the water discharge from the Sirikit and Naresuan Dams, which will help increase the Yom River’s water discharge capacity to alleviate flooding. As for the Ubonrat Dam, despite having a lot of water, it has reduced the discharge to alleviate the situation of the Chi River overflowing its banks.
Mr. Thanaroj Woraratprasert, Director of the National Water Command Center, Office of National Water Resources (ONWR), said that from the assessment of the situation together with the Meteorological Department and the Hydro-Informatics Institute (Public Organization) (HIT), it was found that Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai provinces still have a risk of heavy rain for another day. Therefore, it is necessary to continuously monitor and closely follow the water situation. In addition, people living along the Kok River are asked to prepare for the risk of overflowing riverbanks.
The water situation in the Wang River Basin, the water that previously overflowed
, has gradually returned to normal in almost every area, so the water from the Kiew Lom-Kiew Kho Ma Dam in Lampang Province, which has a large volume of water, has been accelerated to increase the space to hold water if there is more rain.
The Yom River Basin has the highest volume of water moving through Sukhothai Province, but Bang Rakam Field, which is a water retention area, has received water until it reaches capacity. Therefore, it is appropriate to reduce the water discharge from the Sirikit Dam and Naresuan Dam to increase the Yom River’s water discharge capacity, alleviate the Yom River’s situation that is still overflowing the banks in some areas, and continue to accommodate water discharged from Bang Rakam Field.
For the central region, there is still a need to drain water in front of the Chao Phraya Dam to accommodate the volume of water from the Nan and Yom Rivers that will flow downstream. Currently, the discharge rate is maintained at 1,899 cubic meters per second for the 6th consecutive day.
The water level downstream of the dam is stable. The Royal Irrigation Department has informed the ONWR that it will control the discharge to no more than 2,000 cubic meters per second. Due to the large amount of water flowing in at the Pasak Jolasid Dam, the volume of water in the dam has begun to decrease gradually.
It was confirmed that the water from the upper areas flowing down to the lower Chao Phraya River basin will not affect Bangkok and its vicinity. The rising water level is due to the influence of high tide conditions, but will not be higher than the estimated water volume of the Hydrology Department. Currently, the water level in Bangkok is 1.5 meters below the bank and all gaps have been filled to cope with the high tide situation.
In the Chi River Basin, although the Ubonrat Dam has a large amount of water, it is expected that there will be less rain during this period, so the water discharge from the Ubonrat Dam will be reduced to help with the situation of the Chi River overflowing its banks
. In the Mun River Basin, preparations have been made in Ubon Ratchathani Province by constructing temporary embankments in areas without permanent water barriers (gaps), increasing the water capacity from 2,300 cubic meters per second to 3,200 cubic meters per second.
The weather forecast for October 2024 found that during the first two weeks of the month, the North and Northeast will see less rainfall as the monsoon trough will move down across the Central region before moving down to the South after October 15, respectively. ONWR will continue to monitor the rainfall in areas along the monsoon trough, as well as monitor the risk of another storm that may occur, based on the average of 1-2 storms that have the opportunity to hit Thailand per year. The public will be notified in advance. In addition, water management in dams with a high volume will be considered, taking into account preventing overflows that may affect the public.
Source: Thai News Agency