Water Management in The Chao Phraya River Basin during Drought Crisis

Abstract

The objectives of this Research are to analyse the minimum quantity
essential for utilisation in various activities, to evaluate the satisfaction out of
government relief measures to help the farmers affected by water scarcity and
to offer effective water management practices and relief measures for those
affected during the crisis, through the study and analysis of the processes, types
and characteristics of the national strategies and policies of Thailand’s
water management with focuses on clarity, specificity and capability in the
transformation of relevant policies into practices. The Research has gathered
secondary data on water resource development plan and water management,
in addition to the information received from in-depth interviews with water
management experts, responses of a questionnaire from 1,025 concerned
government officials and farmers in all 13 provinces under the responsibility of
the Regional Irrigation Offices 10, 11 and 12 by using statistical tools in an effort
to obtain the results of the Research.
The results of the study show that the minimum quantity of water
needed for various activities in the Chao Phraya River Basin is 18 million cubic
metres a day, in terms of 7, 8 and 3 million cubic metres respectively for public
consumption, ecological balance maintenance and agricultural purposes.
Therefore, the study suggests that a total of 3,258 cubic metres of water budget
should be reserved for overall utilisation during the dry season while an
additional quantity of 1,098 cubic metres is reserved for any dry spell during
May and June, totalling 4,356 cubic metres, as in 2017.
Regarding the relief measures for the farmers affected by water
scarcity in 2015, the study found that the affected farmers were very satisfiedwith the measures to allow debt payment delay or payment period extension for the
farmers who owe to financial institutions, to increase water budget, to increase the
efficiency of water utilisation and to create jobs in order to increase the income of
affected farmers. Most of the interviewed farmers believed the problems and
challenges in water management were due mainly to the lack of water reserves and
water budget resources, efficient water management, cooperation from the general
public and farmers and effective public relations. Meanwhile they also cited the
cooperation from the farmers and general public in following government regulations
and advice and the integrated efforts and cooperation among concerned government
agencies as the most important factors in water management during the drought
crisis. In addition, 93.46 percent of the farmers said they were fairly satisfied up to
most satisfied with the water management of the Royal Irrigation Department during
the drought crisis in 2015.
In order to achieve good practices in water management in the Chao Phraya
River Basin during the drought crisis, the study found that there should be certain
preparations in four major areas. For water management policies, there should be the
review and amendment of all concerned regulations and laws in relation to the reliefs
and aids for crisis affected farmers so that such reliefs and aids will be in harmony
with the government operations in affected areas and rendered to the affected farmers
promptly. For water budget management, the drought risk management system should
be developed at national and provincial levels, with an integration of a national disaster
related database and the development of appropriate tools and technology for water
management with a focus on information exchange and cooperation among related
groups of scientists. For water utilisation demand management, there should be an
agricultural zoning to be in line with projected quantity of water in the future and a
promotion of less water consuming plants of agricultural areas to replace dry season
rice growing. Also, for knowledge creation, public participation and public relations,
the knowledge on drought crisis and relief measures and related skills, as well as a
learning mechanism in all possible dimensions of crisis management systems, should
be promoted; the participation of government sector, private sector and public sector
should be encouraged while crisis warning systems and public information
accessibility should also be made with help from information technology and the
efficient public relations on drought crisis should be conducted to promote the
awareness and understanding among the general public for future adjustment and
readiness in the time of crisis.