Drought warnings as less rain bites
Thailand’s weather is already being influenced by a “mild” El Nino phenomenon, according to the Office of the National Water Resources (ONWR), which also called on all related agencies to help gear up in case the country suffers a drought.
The ONWR is Thailand’s command centre for water resource management.
Representatives from the Thai Meteorological Department, the Department of Water Resources, the Department of Royal Irrigation, the Department of Mineral Resources and the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat) yesterday attended a meeting on preparations for this year’s dry spell.
Boonsom Chonpitakwong, ONWR’s deputy secretary-general, said the Thai Meteorological Department told the gathering that this year’s rainy season had been far milder in turns of downpours than forecasts based on average figures in recent years might have led people to expect.
Mr Boonsom said even though the rainy season has now begun in Thailand, droughts have occurred in certain parts of the North and the Central Plains.
He said a representative from the Royal Irrigation Department told the meeting that water supplies are being readied according to the department’s water management plan along the Chao Phraya River basin.
“We are facing multiple El Nino-like weather systems, which will be upgraded to moderately serious between October and December.
“Our ONE MAP model predicted the volume of water held in 35 large-scale reservoirs countrywide will reach 46.177 billion cubic metres or 65% of total capacity.
“And we have less than half for utility, or 22.635 billion cubic metres, which is less than last year,” he said.
Mr Boonsom said that it needs a two-year water management plan as droughts are likely to extend until the middle of next year based on the Thai Meteorological Department’s data.
Earlier this month, experts came out to warn Thailand to brace for unusually low rainfall and droughts this year as a result of the El Nino weather pattern.
The Thailand Science Research and Innovation also launched an annual conference on water management in the face of El Nino.
The event was attended by researchers and officials from relevant agencies, who discussed ways to deal with climate change, water management and problems that may arise.