WATER DIVERSION :
Experts against PM's int'l river water plan
APINYA WIPATAYOTIN
Bangkok Post 3 May 2008
Water authorities are not in favour of the prime minister's idea that efforts should immediately be made to divert water from international rivers for local consumption. Instead, they have suggested that the government focus on domestic water diversion projects. Among the potential projects are water diversion to the Bhumibol dam in Tak province and the Huay Luang-Lampao dam in the northeastern province of Kalasin, said Natural Resources and Environment deputy permanent secretary Siripong Hungspreug, who supervises the national water management scheme.
''The government should work on these two projects first because they can be implemented without negotiating with neighbouring countries [which share the international rivers,]'' he said.
According to Mr Siripong, the Bhumibol and Huay Luang-Lampao projects are part of the 144.6-billion-baht water diversion scheme, which aims to supply 6.23 billion cubic metres of water to more than five million rai of farmland each year.
The ministry believes the dusting off of the water diversion scheme to meet the short-term goals of the prime minister's policy to increase agricultural areas in the country would prove highly beneficial.
He said the diversion of water from the Mekong river, if possible, would be a boon for northeastern farmers.
But the ministry's water experts viewed that talks on the utilisation of water from an international river are a time-consuming and complicated process; thus, the government should focus more on using domestic water resources first.
Mr Siripong said the northern Yuam and Moei rivers, which are tributaries of the Salween river, had abundant water in them that could be channelled to the Bhumibol dam. The 60-billion-baht project could feed around 1.6 million rai of farmland.
''If we manage to channel more water into the dam, it will be able to feed larger areas of farmland and paddy fields in the Central region,'' said the water management expert.
For the proposed diversion from Huay Luang in Udon Thani province to Lampao dam in Kalasin, an additional 500 million cu m of water is planned.
Mr Siripong said water shortage problems would become more serious in the next decade due to the expansion of agricultural areas.
Lertsak Kumkongsak, a coordinator of the Ecological Culture Study Group, working on water management in the northeastern region, questioned the need for the Huay Luang-Lampao dam water diversion project.
He said Huay Luang is only a small waterway and is already being heavily exploited by people in Udon Thani and farmers living along the river banks.
''The dam's reservoir is always full while the downstream area usually gets flooded when the dam releases any water in the wet season. So I don't understand why they are undertaking this project,'' said the activist.
He noted that the northeastern region was not facing a water shortage.
''The problem is that the government can't find an effective way to manage water resources in each river basin,'' he said.
This could be solved by implementing small-scale water management projects suited to the particular area instead of introducing costly megaprojects, he said. |
