Shrinking Pattaya Reservoirs

[forcebwithu]

The Eastern Water Resources Dept released their 10 April weekly water situation report (link) and it's not good at all.

For the 3 April report I had some misgivings about the numbers reported as the numbers on one of their charts didn't make sense. As it turns out I think the report on 3 April that showed an increase of 11 MCM was completely wrong. That erroneous report is still on their website if anyone cares to look.

On 3 April the report that shows total water volume for three of the reservoirs listed 56.76 MCM for the total. The 10 April report total is 38.21 MCM, a decrease of 18.55 MCM! Those three reservoirs now only have 6.5 MCM of usable water left, about two weeks of water based on an avg consumption of 3 MCM/week. Anyone still believe the govt statement we'll have enough water to last us until June?

So now the question is what happened to this water diversion, "the government would extract 14 million cubic metres of water from old mining sites. The Royal Irrigation Department has also diverted 10 million cubic metres from a river in Chanthaburi province to replenish three reservoirs in Rayong and Chon Buri provinces". That quote is from a statement made on 19 March.

Edited April 14, 2020 by forcebwithu
estimate two weeks of water left, not three

[forcebwithu]

How 'bout that, with maybe two weeks of water left the PVA finally announces what they're going to do about it.

Pattaya begins water rationing

The Provincial Waterworks Authority has begun rationing tap water with faucets in most Pattaya-area homes only running every other day.

With the Mabprachan Reservoir now down to 5 percent of capacity, PWA Pattaya manager Suthat Nutpan said the utility is alternating service between low-lying and elevated areas, with service cut across the board from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m.

Those receiving water service on odd-numbered days are:

South Road, Thepprasit Road, Soi Wat Bunkachana and Soi Chaiyapruek 1, Soi Mabyailia 1-21 and Sukhumvit Soi 53 (5-9 a.m. and 4-8 p.m.)

Central Road’s southern side and Chaloemphrakiat Road (6 a.m. – 8 p.m.)

Soi Khao Noi (5 a.m. – 6 p.m.)

North Road’s northern side (6 a.m. – 8 p.m.)

Those receiving water service on even-numbered days are:

Pratamnak Hill (5 a.m. – 6 p.m.)

Central Road’s northern side (6 a.m. – 8 p.m.)

Sukhumvit Road near King Power, Soi Arunothai, Sois Sukhumvit 42-46/4 (6 p.m. – 8 p.m.)

Huay Yai Soi Chaiyapruek 2, Nong Heep and Khao Makok (5 a.m. – 6 p.m.)

Pong, Rung Ruang Village, Soi Mabyailia 6-18/1 (5-9 a.m. and 4-8 p.m.)

In other areas, water will run every day or nearly every day.

Soi Nernplubwan and Soi Tung Kom (every day 5-9 a.m. and 4-8 p.m.)

Naklua Sois 25-33 and Pattayaniwed (5-9 a.m. and 4-8 p.m. every day except April 15-16, 19, 23, 25, 27-28; and May 3-4, 7, 10-11 and 13).

Soi Photisan Soi 2-14, Naklua Sois 15-16 (5-9 a.m. and 4-8 p.m. April 17, 20-21, 24-25 and 28-30; and May 1-2, 5, 8-9, and 12-13.)

[dcfc2007]

No going for a tom tit unless it's an even numbered day.

[tommy dee]

3 hours ago, forcebwithu said:

The Eastern Water Resources Dept released their 10 April weekly water situation report (link) and it's not good at all.

For the 3 April report I had some misgivings about the numbers reported as the numbers on one of their charts didn't make sense. As it turns out I think the report on 3 April that showed an increase of 11 MCM was completely wrong. That erroneous report is still on their website if anyone cares to look.

On 3 April the report that shows total water volume for three of the reservoirs listed 56.76 MCM for the total. The 10 April report total is 38.21 MCM, a decrease of 18.55 MCM! Those three reservoirs now only have 6.5 MCM of usable water left, about two weeks of water based on an avg consumption of 3 MCM/week. Anyone still believe the govt statement we'll have enough water to last us until June?

So now the question is what happened to this water diversion, "the government would extract 14 million cubic metres of water from old mining sites. The Royal Irrigation Department has also diverted 10 million cubic metres from a river in Chanthaburi province to replenish three reservoirs in Rayong and Chon Buri provinces". That quote is from a statement made on 19 March.

i thought mid month, now maybe another week poss 2.  they claim to be drawing from the ban pakong river.. ancertainly are getting from somewhere but pressure is terrible, wont reach 2nd and 3rd floors.  and we have another 2 months to go

[dcfc2007]

4 minutes ago, tommy dee said:

i thought mid month, now maybe another week poss 2.  they claim to be drawing from the ban pakong river.. ancertainly are getting from somewhere but pressure is terrible, wont reach 2nd and 3rd floors.  and we have another 2 months to go

No garuntee the rainy season will deliver a bounty of water. Thailand is in a state of drought because last rainy season wasn't very, well, rainy.

[tommy dee]

even the water company now admits, the reservoirs are empty of useable water.  now 90% coing from rivers, hence the slow supply now

[forcebwithu]

18 minutes ago, tommy dee said:

even the water company now admits, the reservoirs are empty of useable water.  now 90% coing from rivers, hence the slow supply now

Is there a website with that info?

[tommy dee]

59 minutes ago, forcebwithu said:

Is there a website with that info?

see pm

[dcfc2007]

Different country altogether but the past six weeks here have been bone dry. My garden is dying for a bit of rain.

[code_slayer_bkk]

On 4/15/2020 at 9:04 AM, tommy dee said:

even the water company now admits, the reservoirs are empty of useable water.  now 90% coing from rivers, hence the slow supply now

Yea ... I watched Pattaya News the other day and they said that many, many 2nd story and floors above does not have sufficient water ( or any at all ) flowing out of the faucets ....

They alluded to it becoming a major - major problem ....

I would think so .. if I didn't have running water I would think it is a major problem .. for sure!

[forcebwithu]

It was back on 17 February I made the prediction based on current levels and water consumption rates the reservoirs would run out of water around 17 April. While it's one day early I figured I'd better get out there and get one last update in before Lockdown v2 goes live this afternoon. As it turns out that was a good call. Sometime in the last day or two they have turned off the pumps and given up on getting any more water out of Mabprachan Reservoir.

Where before there was the constant background hum of pumps running, today it was eerie silence.

Now we know what a reservoir with no usable water looks like.

But Flower Land still has their supply of water.

Thought I'd end this post with a picture of happier times. The dragon boat races back in August, 2019.

[Toy Boy]

Just shows that every cloud has a silver lining, imagine how much worse things would be if we still had half a million tourists in the city, and Songkran had gone ahead as usual!

[forcebwithu]

8 minutes ago, Toy Boy said:

Just shows that every cloud has a silver lining, imagine how much worse things would be if we still had half a million tourists in the city, and Songkran had gone ahead as usual!

One would hope that with the current water rationing common sense would have prevailed and the water throwing would have been seriously curtailed. But we all know there was a snowball's chance in Thailand of that happening.

[forcebwithu]

The Eastern Water Resources Dept has released the 17 April weekly water situation report (link). The report total is now at 37.15 MCM, a decrease of only 1 MCM from the previous week.

While the chart below lists the three reservoirs in the above chart as still having usable water, it could be the reality is they're now in the same condition as Mabprachan and they've stopped pumping there too.

 

 

[tommy dee]

much of it is the un useable water as you well know.  essentially the ressies are to all intents and purposes.. dry now.  you report that the pumps are now off, and I well believe it.  sadly.

[forcebwithu]

Saw this posted on another forum. A very good look at what Mabprachan looks like from the air.

 

[boydeste]

Looking at that lake, covid or not, there isn't going to be enough water to support the locals let alone thousands of tourists.

[Jambo]

There will be no bottled water in the shops soon as well as no bog rolls.

Find some water and food to put out for the Soi dogs.

 

[tommy dee]

no shortage of ground/well water Jambo.  and thats what the water bottling plants use before they process it.  water table isnt down yet.  certainly this region

[forcebwithu]

At least one region is looking into tapping the aquifer for water.

New study into use of huge aquifer in Isan

NAKHON RATCHASIMA: A new study will explore ways of bringing up water from a huge underground aquifer for use in four northeastern provinces - Nakhon Ratchasima, Chaiyaphum, Buri Ram and Surin.

The artesian basin stores about 16,000 million cubic metres of groundwater and was found relatively recently, a Groundwater Resources Department official said on Wednesday.

The Nakhon Ratchasima-based Zone 5 Groundwater Resources Office is responsible for groundwater use in the four provinces.

Office director Surat Buaphan said that if the groundwater can be brought up it would be a boon for farmers in the Northeast who rely on rainfall during the wet season for agriculture. Their land lies unused during the dry season due to lack of water.

Of the four provinces under his office, Nakhon Ratchasima, Chaiyaphum and Buri Ram have already been declared drought-hit zones this year.

Surin is not included as it has a sufficient supply of surface water, thanks to rain brought by former tropical storm Podul.

In Nakhon Ratchasima, artesian wells have been sunk at all villages so it was quite certain there would be sufficient water for consumption this dry season, he said.

Groundwater from artesian wells at more than 400 schools is being processed for use as drinking water, and can also be used by people from nearby communities, he said.

Of the estimated 16,000 million cubic metres of water in the aquifer, only about 11% of it is being pumped for use. The department study will explore ways of making the most use of it.

[forcebwithu]

Another article about what we've known about for months. I don't understand why there is no mention in the article they have stopped pumping from Mabprachan since about 15 April?

Pattaya Water Authority says Mapprachan Lake Reservoir now at critical level but will continue to ration water

[tommy dee]

pr darling 😉

[Evil Penevil]

Forcebwithu deserves everyone''s thank for his pics and analysis of the drought and shrinking reservoirs..  We're all occupied right now with the  COVID-19 pandemic, but the water shortage deserves a lot of attention, especially if it's a chronic shortage.

Evil

 

Some backgound:

Thailand’s Big Water Challenge 

Water shortages remain a huge problem for the Southeast Asian country.

By Kanokwan Manorom

Shortages of water are a huge problem for Thailand. The government’s attempts to promote industrial investment in the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) — Chon Buri, Rayong and Chachoengsao — has caused water demand in the region to rise drastically. This has diverted water away from farmers and local people creating an increasingly unfair distribution of water resources.

Thailand is currently facing its worst drought in 40 years. This drought will exacerbate Thailand’s existing economic pressures through damaging the agricultural sector, particularly Thailand’s main farming activities of sugar, rubber and rice. Based on Bank of Ayudhya’s Krungsri Research, the 2020 drought will cost the country 46 billion Thai baht ($1.5 billion), or 0.27 percent of GDP.

The Royal Irrigation Department (RID) has spent more than 15 million baht ($480,000) supplying water to the EEC by building water storage systems and reclaiming more than 32,000 hectares of land. This has sparked conflict between local people and the state. Water sources in two districts of the Nakhon Ratchasima Province dried up in early January 2020 requiring water from the Lam Ta Khong Dam to be diverted to supply farmers in the area.

Thailand has undergone rapid economic development over recent decades causing huge increases in water demand around the country in all sectors. Increased demand has been accompanied by more droughts and floods due to climate change and deforestation. The Thai government sees the country’s water shortage problem as also being caused by both increased human demand in rural and urban areas and water overuse in many sectors.

The Thai National Water Vision was announced in July 2000 envisaging that by 2025 ‘Thailand will have sufficient water of good quality for all users … that will ensure equitable and sustainable use of water resources.” Thailand will find the complexities and politics of water policy difficult to overcome in the next five years as water demand continues to increase, driven by a growing population and economic growth. Thailand’s adoption of integrated water resource management (IWRM) principles has also faced challenges in implementation, owing to overlapping mandates among Thai institutions.

(READ MORE)

Edited April 23, 2020 by Evil Penevil

[Doug]

I hope someone takes the time to take a few new pictures after the recent rain to see if it made any impact on the lake.

[tommy dee]

9 hours ago, Doug said:

I hope someone takes the time to take a few new pictures after the recent rain to see if it made any impact on the lake.

until it hits the rivers, it hasnt made any diff.  the lake itself gets pretty much NO water from rain directly.  I live out here near the lake and STILL rely on his amazing photos to keep me abreast of it