Thailand - Public participation urged in Thailand flood mgmt

Thailand would be better prepared for another disastrous flood if management tools were modified and public participation in water management broadly enhanced, panellists said at a recent seminar.

Participants at a roundtable discussion hosted by Krungthep Turakij titled "Flood lesson: Water management", agreed that existing management tools were limited and aimed mainly at agricultural irrigation. All parties should share responsibility for water management, they said, to increase efficiency and reduce the burden on the government.

"There are many complete water-management plans. The government committees should look into them and change some to fit the new environment and clarify stakeholders' duties and rights," said Assoc Prof Chaiyuth Sukhsri, of Chulalongkorn University's Faculty of Engineering.

"Prioritisation of actions is vital, as it will suggest the cost involved. Inclusive participation is also vital, as all are affected," he said. "To limit the burden on the government, all parties should be informed of the conditions in their living areas and learn how to adapt their lifestyles accordingly."

Chaiyuth said if all parties had a say in water-management plans, which would involve sacrificing some land to construct a floodway, the loss burden would be fairly distributed.

He blamed poor communication for excessive damage in the recent floods, as poorly informed people had had to build barriers to protect themselves, which in turn blocked the overall drainage of water. And, despite political decentralisation, some local officials failed to take care of irrigation in their areas and left all responsibility to the central government.

Thongplew Kongjun, director of the Royal Irrigation Department's Hydrology Division, said that in engineering terms, anything was possible - building dams or investing in infrastructure to store and discharge water.

"However, social resistance and environmental concerns could pose major limitations," he said.

The panellists urged the government committee in charge of drawing up the water-management plan, led by Chaipattana Foundation secretary-general Sumet Tantivejkul, to look into regulations that pose obstacles to water management. For example, the irrigation system cannot pass through national forests, while the Royal Irrigation Department could be liable to lawsuits if it channelled water into non-agricultural areas. And enforcement of regulations must be tough concerning buildings that block floodways, they said.

"The existing tools are insufficient, and management of the existing infrastructure is difficult, due to the changing environmental conditions," Thongplew said.

Amid questions on whether floods of the scale seen last year would return this year, the panellists said it was better to ask how to cope with floods.

Thongplew said the current water-management system dealt mainly with water in dams and in rivers, while flash floods remain uncontrolled.

Thailand has 33 big dams and 367 medium-sized dams, controlled by the "U-curve" theory, according to which water is not allowed to exceed the upper levels of the U-curve during the rainy season and is not released below the lower end of the U-curve during the dry season.

Sluice gates and dykes are used to control water in rivers. But Thongplew said flash floods were most difficult to control, and no particular government unit was in charge of this.

In terms of tools, all were designed for agricultural irrigation, not for disasters. Water was directed from big channels to narrower channels, which slowed the flow. Infrastructure in Bangkok was also designed to handle rainwater, not floods, he said.

Vanchai Prapaisuwan, an executive at the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat), which is in charge of the Bhumibol and Sirikit dams, said that even if U-curve levels were adhered to, at times of heavy rainfall water channels below a dam could flood, regardless of the level in the dam. At the Bhumibol Dam, the upper and lower U-curve levels were 12 billion and 3.8 billion cubic metres, respectively.

"Dams should be regarded as reservoirs, not part of the water-releasing infrastructure," he said.

However, Egat plans to adjust the U-curve levels to take into account the mass of water that caused the flooding last year. Meanwhile, Vanchai urged the government to focus on areas that tend to flood at the beginning of the rainy season. These could be used as "monkey cheek" catchment areas, as it would be difficult to manage things if flash floods occur. With monkey cheeks, the situation would be controllable if Thailand floods again, Vanchai said.

Thongplew added that an insurance scheme could help ensure smooth management, while tools to gauge water mass and velocity must be upgraded.

"Water needs a place to stay. There must be places to slow water. As we can't build new dams, how can the water be discharged as soon as possible?" he asked.

Chaiporn Siripornpibul, deputy director-general of the Department of Water Resources, urged the adoption of a crisis-management plan for use if the phenomenon recurs. Under the plan, communication with flood-affected people must be handled by a single person, he said. That would keep them best informed and avoid confusion, Chaiporn said.

"How can people protect themselves if they don't know that a one-metre-high flood constitutes pressure of up to 1 tonne per square metre?" he said.

Moreover, the water-management plan must focus on water storage and release, he said. Local water channels must be modified, including those in Bangkok.

Chulalongkorn's Chaiyuth identified three options for handling the situation: adjust dams' capacity to cope with changes in water volume; adjust rainfall levels - which is difficult; or introduce an integrated floodway-management scheme and modify the loss-sharing scheme.

"We need integration. My concern is that the target for achieving the management plan within six months is politically driven. The idea is that the risks must be shared. For example, in Mississippi, the US federal government decided to reclaim some flood-prone land at a price based on future compensation. We're in need of a sustainable, fair and reasonable management scheme," he said.

Achara Deboonme and Chularat Saengpassa

The Nation

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