The Strategic Committee for Water Resources Management has approved a budget of seven billion baht for short-term water management. Provinces in the lower part of the Chao Phraya River are slated to be floodways.
Minister of Science and Technology Plodprasop Suraswadi said the government and the Strategic Committee for Water Resources Management nodded to six programs for the short-term water management. The programs, worth seven billion baht, should be completed around June to July this year the latest.
The areas to be used as floodways covering up to 24,000 square kilometers will be announced within the next few months. The minister confirmed the floodways would be located in the lower part of the Chao Phraya River and there was a possibility that Chai Nat province would be a bypass floodway.
The six water management programs include effective management of reservoirs, floodways used when the reservoirs overflow, effective drainage systems, effective forecasting and warning systems, contingency plans for specific areas in time of flooding and establishment of an organization to handle holistic water management or “Single Command.”
Source: http://thainews.prd.go.th/en/news.php?id=255502020020
