Royal Irrigation Department, Minister of Agriculture is confident that this year will be able to handle the flooding like in 2011, stating that there are immediate solutions. As for the flooding in Nakhon Nayok, the cause was heavy rain causing the overflowing tributary water, confirming that it was not the release of water from the Khun Dan Prakan Chon Dam.
Lt. Col. Thammanat Prompao, Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives, revealed the 3-year water management plan (2025-2028) that the National Water Resources Conservation Commission is responsible for the plan to be submitted to the Cabinet in August. The budget will be 500 billion baht. The reason for the 3-year water management plan is because in the past there were problems with the transfer of power, budget, and insufficient knowledge and expertise in such matters. The management of state land in order for the plan to reach its goals, there must be such a plan, which will have measures to reduce the steps in the irrigation system, such as Sukhothai,
which has a problem with repeated flooding, Chanthaburi, Trat, Ping, Wang, Yom, Nan, Khong, Chi, Mun, which are areas that repeatedly flood, which are included in the plan to reduce the steps of the operation.
Emphasize that the 3-year plan is not just about solving the flooding problem, but is about managing the entire system every quarter. Therefore, new projects must be added. Therefore, the 500 billion baht budget plan in the 3-year period may not be enough. However, I am confident that this year will be enough because it will be a solution to immediate problems. In addition, the amount of water this year compared to last year is 3-4% less than last year. In 2024, the overall amount of water stored nationwide will be 77%, compared to 79% last year. Therefore, I am confident that there will not be a major flood like in 2011.
‘This year, the water situation is more about flooding. There probably won’t be any flooding. This year, we’re already in control because we’ll have to solve immediate problems,’ sai
d Lt. Col. Thammanat.
In the case of the flood in Nakhon Nayok Province, where there were rumors that the Khun Dan Prakan Chon Dam released water, causing the flood at that time, Lt. Col. Thammanat explained that there was heavy rain last night, causing the tributary to overflow. He confirmed that it was not a release of water from the dam. As for the warning of the public, the meeting assigned GISTDA to send information to the warning agency to warn the public in a timely manner.
Mr. Chuchart Rakjit, Director-General of the Royal Irrigation Department, revealed about the water management at the Khun Dan Prakan Chon Dam in Nakhon Nayok Province that from August 1-5, the Khun Dan Dam released water at a constant rate of 3 million cubic meters per day. However, due to rainfall in the downstream area of ??108 millimeters, there was a problem of flooding, so the water discharge from the dam was temporarily closed.
Source: Thai News Agency