The Royal Irrigation Department is organizing water traffic between the Chao Phraya Dam and the Pasak Cholasit Dam, while the Chao Phraya Dam’s water discharge rate exceeds 2,000 cubic meters per second, reducing the discharge from the Pasak Cholasit Dam to reduce the impact on the lower Chao Phraya Basin.
Mr. Thanet Sombun, Director of the Office of Water Management and Hydrology, said that the Chao Phraya Dam was used to hold back water from the upper part at the front of the dam to control the release rate at 2,199 cubic meters per second for as long as possible, even though the National Water Resources Committee had previously approved an increase in the release rate to 2,500 cubic meters per second.
The water management plan at the Chao Phraya Dam is to maintain the water level above the Chao Phraya Dam not to exceed +17.40 meters above mean sea level (MSL). Currently, it is at +17.40 meters ML. The water flowing from the upper part into the Chao Phraya River in Nakhon Sawan Province is stable and has
decreased slightly at 2,359 cubic meters per second. However, there will be water from the Yom River that flooded Sukhothai Province flowing down to fill it in the next phase. If the water level in front of the Chao Phraya Dam is higher than the specified level, the discharge will have to be increased again. We will try our best not to exceed 2,400 cubic meters per second. At the same time, we have increased the water intake into the irrigation system on the eastern side as much as possible, which is dividing water from the Chao Phraya Dam upstream.
Mr. Thanet said that water traffic has been managed to reduce the impact on the lower Chao Phraya River by continuously reducing the discharge from the Pasak Jolasid Dam, which has been gradually reduced since last week. Today, the rate has been reduced from 200 cubic meters per second to 150 cubic meters per second. Then tomorrow morning, the rate will be reduced to 100 cubic meters per second and the rate will be maintained.
Water released from the Pasak Jolas
id Dam in Lopburi Province will flow through Saraburi Province to the Rama VI Dam in Tha Ruea District, Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya Province, then join the Chao Phraya River in front of Wat Phanan Choeng, Mueang Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya District, Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya Province, and flow to Pathum Thani, Nonthaburi, Bangkok, and the Gulf of Thailand in Samut Prakan Province. Therefore, reducing the water released from the Pasak Jolasid Dam will help alleviate the impact on the area from Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya Province down.
The current water situation in the Pasak Chonlasit Reservoir (October 7, 2024) is 670 million cubic meters of water, which is 69% of capacity.
For the Chao Phraya River flowing through Bang Sai District, Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya Province, the average is 1,990 cubic meters, which is still less than the river’s capacity of 3,500 cubic meters/second. Therefore, the water released from the Chao Phraya Dam will definitely not increase the Chao Phraya River flowing through Bangkok and its vic
inity. However, areas along the river or in areas with low bank levels will be affected during periods of high tide.
The Royal Irrigation Department is currently coordinating with Bangkok to manage water at connected points in accordance with the rainfall situation and water volume. In the past, the Royal Irrigation Department’s water pumping stations were used to draw water from Bangkok and then quickly drain it out to sea to drain water from Bangkok’s canals so that they have the capacity to accommodate water from rain that may fall in the area.
Source: Thai News Agency