Samak's plan to divert Mekong water panned
Isan scheme feasible, say experts, but costly
Bangkok Post, 5 Feb 08
Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej's ambitious plan to divert water from the Mekong river to feed the water-starved Northeast is ''theoretically possible'' but not worth the investment, state water management experts have criticised.
Veera Wongsaengnak, deputy chief of the Irrigation Department, said the prime minister's idea was not new as his department had conducted a feasibility of the Mekong river water diversion project years ago, but the scheme had never materialised because it cost a lot of money and it was unlikely to be economically viable.
''There are other alternatives cheaper and more effective than the Mekong water diversion to sustainably solve water shortages in the Isan region,'' he said.
These included building more reservoirs in the region to store water for use during the dry season.
Mr Veera also expressed concern over complicated procedures in utilising water resources from the Mekong, which is an international river.
The Mekong starts in China and flows through Burma, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. Water use for the lower basin, comprising Burma, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, is regulated by the Mekong River Commission (MRC).
The water management expert's comments came after the newly-appointed premier on Sunday floated the idea of building an underground pipeline to divert water from the Mekong river to the northeastern region.
Under the plan, water from the Mekong river would be diverted through underground tunnels.
Reservoirs would be built and water pipelines laid down to transport water to farmland.
Siripong Hungspreug, deputy permanent-secretary for Natural Resources and Environment, said: ''The project is technically possible, but the problem is whether it is worth the investment, while the project's environmental impact should also be taken into account,'' he said, adding that the ministry would update the government on MRC regulations about Mekong water utilisation so that policies would be in line with the regional agreement.
Montree Chantarawong, campaign coordinator of the Bangkok-based Towards Ecological Recovery and Regional Alliance (Terra), said the Samak government should learn from the previous Mekong-Chi-Mun water diversion project which aimed to divert water from the Mekong to the Chi and Mun rivers.
The project was shelved as it caused widespread soil salination.
The region has a vast area of salt deposits which would wreak havoc upon farmland in those areas near waterways or reservoirs.
Mr Montree suggested Mr Samak dust off the Thaksin government's one-village-one-reservoir scheme in which each village has at least one water reservoir.
He said the project was the right way to manage water resources but it has been poorly managed. |
