Community Participation in Analyzing the Situation of Agricultural Water Resources in the Huai Tong Watershed, Mae Wang District, Chiang Mai

Abstract

This research aimed to analyze the situation of water resources in the agricultural sector with community participation in the Huai Tong watershed to provide an empirical database leading to integrated water management planning. This research applied geographic information technology and participatory research between researchers, community leaders, local scholars, farmers, and related government agencies by selecting 94 samples from 6 communities in the Huai Tong watershed to conduct community maps, surveys, and focus groups.

The results of the study found that the upstream forest areas were quite fertile and produced up to 3.17 million cubic meters of water per year, but there was a problem of encroachment and expansion of agricultural areas. As the amount of water resources in Huai Tong Reservoir has decreased, it is not sufficient to grow dry season crops. The water shortage is approximately 0.93 million cubic meters in agricultural areas of more than 2,280 rai. The traditional mining weir system that diverts water from the Huai Tong River into the rice fields is a wooden weir and is often damaged by fast and strong water currents in the rainy season. The amount of water in the creek is dry in the dry season, making it impossible to send water to the agricultural areas downstream of the mine. From the above situation, the Huai Tong watershed community has presented water management guidelines in terms of conservation and restoration of upstream forest areas and construction of water retarding weirs to increase the water production and storage potential of the forest, improving weirs and mine shafts to distribute water evenly, and creating prototypes of the use of technology and innovation for modern agriculture to promote the production of organic vegetables with a high price. Including the development of local groups to manage water at the watershed level to ensure the sustainability of water resources in the agricultural sector.