Bangkok: The Royal Irrigation Department has learned lessons from the water situation and organized a seminar on ‘Summary of Rainy Season Water Management in 2024 and Preparation for the Dry Season in 2024/2025’, pointing out that modern water management must cope with climate change. This discussion was attended by Mr. Somkuan Tonjan, Director of the Weather Forecast Division, Meteorological Department, who provided information on climate change. Currently, the ENSO phenomenon is shorter. In 2024, both El Niño and La Niña will occur, with both drought and heavy rain in the same year. The Meteorological Department is trying to forecast and forecast the weather by analyzing the factors of climate change to ensure accuracy and for water management agencies to use it to determine water management guidelines.

According to Thai News Agency, Mr. Thanet Sombun, Director of the Office of Water Management and Hydrology, Royal Irrigation Department, revealed that the water management for the rainy season of 2024 (May
1 – October 30, 2024) has now ended. Throughout the past period, the Royal Irrigation Department has managed water to its full potential, monitoring weather conditions and water flow situations to analyze and plan water management in line with the situation, along with storing water for sufficient use in the dry season. As a result, at the end of the rainy season on November 1, 2024, large and medium-sized reservoirs nationwide had a total water volume of 63,348 million cubic meters (83% of the combined reservoir capacity), of which 39,405 million cubic meters were usable, 2,511 million cubic meters more than last year, specifically the 4 main dams in the Chao Phraya basin (Bhumibol Dam, Sirikit Dam, Kwae Noi Bamrung Dan Dam, and the Pasak Jolasid Dam) have a total usable water volume of 21,688 million cubic meters (87% of the total reservoir capacity), of which 14,992 million cubic meters are usable, 3,907 million cubic meters more than last year. The overall water situation is good.

At present (data as of
11 November 2014), large and medium-sized reservoirs throughout the country have a total water volume of 63,606 million cubic meters (83% of the total reservoir capacity), of which 39,663 million cubic meters are usable water. The four main dams in the Chao Phraya River Basin (Bhumibol Dam, Sirikit Dam, Kwae Noi Bamrung Dan Dam, and Pasak Jolasid Dam) have a total water volume of approximately 21,933 million cubic meters (88% of the total reservoir capacity), of which 15,237 million cubic meters are usable water.

The Royal Irrigation Department has planned to allocate water for the dry season between 1 November 2024 and 30 April 2025, according to the water reserve of 44,250 million cubic meters to support water usage in all activities according to priority, divided into water for consumption, ecosystem conservation, agriculture, industry, and others, totaling approximately 29,170 million cubic meters nationwide, and approximately 15,080 million cubic meters reserved for use at the beginning of the next rain
y season (May-August 2025). So far, the whole country has allocated 909 million cubic meters of water (4% of the plan), with the Chao Phraya Basin alone allocating 147 million cubic meters of water (2% of the total water allocation plan of 9,000 million cubic meters).

In terms of crop cultivation results nationwide, currently 270,000 rai (3% of the planned 10.02 million rai) have been cultivated. In the Chao Phraya basin alone, 240,000 rai (4% of the planned 6.47 million rai) have been cultivated, which is in accordance with the plan.

For the southern region that is in the rainy season, the Royal Irrigation Department has prepared for the possible situation by planning 122 risk points/watch points in the southern region and has prepared 575 units of machinery and equipment in the southern region, divided into 120 water pumps, 108 water pushers, 11 water trucks, and more than 336 other units of machinery to be stationed in risk areas that are regularly flooded so that they can be immediately put to use when
the situation occurs in order to reduce the impact on the people as much as possible.

For the current management approach, we must also cope with climate change, such as during the past rainy season, when rain fell in a specific area, resulting in flash floods. Therefore, the Royal Irrigation Department monitored weather forecasts from the Meteorological Department and related agencies to analyze the data and plan water management in line with the situation, so that we can cope with changing weather effectively. We also comply with the drought response measures for 2024/25 that the National Water Resources Committee (NWRC) has approved, by predicting and preventing areas at risk of water shortages, planning water allocation and determining areas for planting dry-season crops, and managing water according to the priority of water use as determined by the River Basin Committee, increasing water efficiency to reduce water loss in all sectors, including monitoring water quality throughout the dry season, strengt
hening water management for communities, and publicizing and raising awareness of the water situation for the public to be continuously and comprehensively informed.