High dam water levels: Flood risk
With rainy season arriving in May, high dam water levels could lead to flood repeat.
With rainy season arriving in May, high dam water levels could lead to flood repeat.
Read a recent article on the same dam water level problem here (11-01-2012) and also infographic above. Read about last year's debate over the right water levels at dams: #1 and #2 and analysis from Bangkok Pundit: #1 and #2. Photo below of Bhumibol Dam.
Click button to listen to Dam High Water Levels to download
Water levels in dams 'scary', Discharges needed to avert floods, says expert by Lamphai Intathep
The amount of water held in many dams, especially Bhumibol and Sirikit dams in Tak and Uttaradit provinces, is much higher compared to this time last year.
"Officials should start releasing water in the dams right away as we have only a few months left before the rainy season arrives in May," Sombat Yumuang, director of Geo-Informatics Centre for Thailand (GISThai), Chulalongkorn University, said.
Mr Sombat made the call at a two-day International Knowledge Sharing Forum on Flood Management, held recently by the Office of the National Economic and Social Development Board, the Strategic Committee on Water Resource Management, and the Asian Development Bank.
Last year's floods in the North and the Central Plains were caused by unusually high rainfall brought by several storms and typhoons, he said.
On Friday, the Bhumibol Dam held a record 11.8 billion cubic metres of water or around 87% of its storage capacity of 13.5 billion cu/m.
On the same day last year, the dam held only about 7.8 billion cu/m of water in its reservoir.
On Friday, the Sirikit Dam, which has a capacity of 9.5 billion cu/m, was holding 8.2 billion cu/m of water or 86% of its capacity.
The water volume at the same time last year was 6.9 billion cu/m.
"The figure is very scary. We have to take water management seriously since we cannot control rainfall," he said.
Mr Sombat said he supported a suggestion from a Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) expert that water from the dam be released at twice the volume of last year to ensure the floods are not repeated.
Arkhom Termpittayapaisith, secretary-general of the National Economic and Social Development Board, said a monitoring process is needed to ensure the government's flood prevention master plan is implemented transparently.
Mr Arkhom said 25 organisations involved in water-related work are implementing the plan, drawn up since last year's floods. A committee should be established to coordinate their work, he said. He said the government should also produce a map showing the location of each project under the plan.
(Source: Bangkok Post, Water levels in dams 'scary', Discharges needed to avert floods, says expert, 23/01/2012, Lamphai Intathep, link)
Dam and Water Management Vocabulary
flood - a temporary covering by water of land not normally covered by water, an overflow of large amounts of water that puts normally dry land under water (submerges land) (See Wikipedia)
dam - a large barrier that stops the flow of water along a river, storing the water for different uses such as generating electricity (hydroelectricity), drinking water for far-away cities and for irrigation of crops during the dry season when there is no rain (See Wikipedia)
Bhumibol Dam - a concrete dam on the Ping River, a tributary of the Chao Phraya River, began operation in the 1970s "located about 480 km (298 mi) north of Bangkok and was built for the purposes of water storage, hydroelectric power production, flood control, fisheries and the management of saltwater intrusion downstream with its dry-season releases" (See Wikipedia)
Sirikit dam - a dam on the Nan River in Uttaradit Province, built for irrigation, flood control and hydroelectric power production, named after her Majesty Queen Sirikit of Thailand, finished in 1972, the electricity generating power plants of the dam came into operation from 1974 to 1995, "the Bhumibol and Sirkit Dams control 22% of the Chao Phraya's annual runoff combined. Both dams also help provide for the irrigation of 1,200,000 hectares in the wet season and 480,000 hectares in the dry season" (See Wikipedia)
water management - planning the use of water resources, fairly allocating water to competing demands for water; for agriculture this means storing water behind dams for use during the dry season when there are droughts and very little water, as this article points out if there is more than the expected amount of rain and water is not released in time from dams, disastrous flooding can result (See Wikipedia and also see the Wikipedia Water Portal)
National Economic and Social Development Board (NESBD) - the government agency that makes long-term plans for economic development in Thailand (See Wikipedia)
Asian Development Bank (ADB) - a bank founded in 1966 to help Asian countries with economic development (See Wikipedia)
Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) - the Japanese government agency involved in helping foreign countries (foreign aid) (See Wikipedia)
release - let or allow something to pass out from a place or go free (example: release the ater from the dam into the river, release the criminal from jail)
release water - allow water to go out from a place
dam releases water - when water allowed to leave the dam and travel down the river
timing - judging and deciding on the right moment in an activity to do something (example: The farmer's timing was perfect, he harvested his rice crop a month before the floods.)
water release from dams - allowing water to leave from dams and travel down the rivers
timing water release from dams - when all the dams work together to release water at times that avoid large amounts of river in the river and flooding
right away - now, immediately, without delays
start right away - start now, without delays
officials should start releasing water in the dams right away
discharge - an amount of water released from a dam
avert - avoid, prevent some bad thing from happening
avert floods - prevent floods from happening
discharges are needed to avert floods
inflows - something going into a place
new inflows
prepare for new inflows
water should be released from major dams in the North to prepare for new inflows
capacity - the total amount that can be contained ปริมาณสูงสุดที่จะรับได้
storage - an amount kept for use in the future, the putting and keeping of things in a special place for use in the future การเก็บ
storage capacity - the total amount that can be contained in a storage area (kept for future use)
record - the best or most ever achieved สถิติ
On Friday, the Bhumibol Dam held a record 11.8 billion cubic metres of water or around 87% of its storage capacity of 13.5 billion cu/m
On Friday, the Sirikit Dam, which has a capacity of 9.5 billion cu/m, was holding 8.2 billion cu/m of water or 86% of its capacity.
reservoir - a natural or artificial lake where water is stored อ่างเก็บน้ำ
on the same day last year, the dam held only about 7.8 billion cu/m of water in its reservoir
volume - the quantity or amount of something
the water volume at the same time last year was 6.9 billion cu/m.
scary - frightening, makes a person afraid or frightened
water levels in dams are scary
figure - an amount จำนวน
the figure is very scary.
informatics - the science of creating information systems, "the science of information, the practice of information processing, and the engineering of information systems. ...studying how to design a system that delivers the right information, to the right person in the right place and time, in the right way and is intimately tied to workflow discussions and standards" (See Wikipedia)
geo-informatics - the science of making information systems to watch and monitor important natural events happening on earth such as weather (storms, rainfall, etc), geology, earthquakes, river levels, etc) (See Wikipedia)
made the call - to say that something that might happen (warn) and that something should be done (suggestion)
storm - a severe weather condition "marked by strong wind, hail, thunder and/or lightning (a thunderstorm), heavy precipitation (snowstorm, rainstorm), heavy freezing rain (ice storm), strong winds (tropical storm, typhoon, hurricane, windstorm) or wind transporting some substance through the atmosphere (as in a dust storm, blizzard, sandstorm, etc.). Storms generally lead to negative impacts to lives and property, such as storm surge, heavy rain or snow (causing flooding or road impassibility), lightning, wildfires, and vertical wind shear which can cause airplane crashes" (See Wikipedia)
tropical - relating to the hottest area of the Earth, between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn ในเขตร้อน
tropical storm
typhoon - a big tropical storm
last year's floods in the North and the Central Plains were caused by unusually high rainfall brought by several storms and typhoons
take seriously - treat as very important, consider as important
we have to take water management seriously since we cannot control rainfall
ensure - to make certain that something happens or is done รับรอง ให้ความมั่นใจ ให้การยืนยัน
a suggestion that water from the dam be released at twice the volume of last year to ensure the floods are not repeated.
monitoring - watching ongoing activity or process closely and checking for problems (to check for problems or collect information) จับตาดู
process - a series of actions that you take in order to achieve a result แนวทางปฏิบัติ, กระบวน, วิธีการ
monitoring process - the actions of watching something happening and checking for problems
master plan - the highest level plan that provides the highest level goals (used to make more detailed plans to achieve lower level more detailed goals)
prevention - the act of stopping some bad event from happening
flood prevention
flood prevention master plan
implemented - when a plan is put into action, actually doing the things in a plan
transparently - openly; having nothing hidden or secret อย่างโปร่งใส
plan implemented transparently
a monitoring process is needed to ensure the government's flood prevention master plan is implemented transparently.
implementing - turning a plan into a functioning system นำมาใช้จริง
implementing plan - putting a plan into action (making sure the goals of the plan actually get achieved)
draw up plan - create a new plan, write a new plan
25 organisations involved in water-related work are implementing the plan, drawn up since last year's floods.
established - created
coordinate - work together to achieve a goal, organizing activities so that people can work together efficiently (See glossary)
a committee should be established to coordinate their work