Shrinking Pattaya Reservoirs

[Toy Boy]

1 hour ago, forcebwithu said:

Just did a quick search and came up with a different outlook on the effects of La Nina for Thailand's predicted rainfall. 

La Nina may ease drought severity (7 May 2020)

Thailand may not encounter a severe drought this year as earlier expected, thanks to the influence of the La Nina phenomenon, but careful water usage is still needed especially among rice farmers who have been told to wait for the right time to start farming.

"The mild La Nina will bring a lot of rain to some areas," deputy Royal Irrigation Department chief Thawisak Thanadechophon said yesterday, referring to provinces in northern and eastern Thailand which will experience heavy rainfall between May and October this year.

The new forecast, announced by the Meteorological Department, alleviates fears of water scarcity which have gripped the country since late last year when water levels in major reservoirs sharply dropped, followed by low water flow in the Chao Phraya River, which is a source of tap water for Bangkok.
...

From what I recall the TMD wallah saying quite a while ago, he also thought the La Niña event would result in heavier rain than normal, but the wet season would be shorter. Maybe they're right if you live up north, but the rainfall down here in Pattaya's certainly nothing to write home about.

I remember last year I returned here from a break in the UK on 25th October. We had two or three days with some rain immediately after that, and then from the start of November until May we didn't have a decent drop of rain at all. I hope we're not heading for a repeat performance.

[Toy Boy]

It doesn't look much like the picture in that Pattaya News article, does it? <scratch head>

Maybe if you remove the clumps of vegetation? Not sure if they're floating or just sticking above the surface.

 

[forcebwithu]

7 minutes ago, Toy Boy said:

It doesn't look much like the picture in that Pattaya News article, does it? <scratch head>

Maybe if you remove the clumps of vegetation? Not sure if they're floating or just sticking above the surface.

 

I agree, it sure doesn't look like Mabprachan due to the lack of weeds in the PN pic. Think it's because of the low angle of the camera to the water, and the back lighting of the setting sun that the weeds aren't visible in the background of the shot

BTW, those are the tops of the weeds that grew when the reservoir was dry.

[forcebwithu]

Only one month left to the rainy season and water levels are still looking bleak for this time of year. From this morning, the current condition of Huai Chak Nok Reservoir.

Edited to add: No change at the @thegrogmonster land.

Edited October 6, 2020 by forcebwithu

[forcebwithu]

Over at Mabprachan Reservoir water levels are still down as well.

There's is a bit of water feeding into north end of the reservoir. Can just barely make out the stream amongst the heavy growth of weeds in this pic.

This is the source of that water. Mabprachan Park is off to the right.

[tommy dee]

2021 hot season is going to be a real tester.  neither has water worth talking about.

[Toy Boy]

The authorities should probably be glad there won't be any large numbers so foreign tourists coming this winter, not lamenting their absence.

Now, what are the odds that they'll cancel Songkran 2021, lol?

[thegrogmonster]

23 hours ago, forcebwithu said:

Only one month left to the rainy season and water levels are still looking bleak for this time of year. From this morning, the current condition of Huai Chak Nok Reservoir.

Edited to add: No change at the @thegrogmonster land.

Thank you kind sir for the photo of our block of land.

[Jambo]

On 8/31/2020 at 4:22 PM, Toy Boy said:

From what I recall the TMD wallah saying quite a while ago, he also thought the La Niña event would result in heavier rain than normal, but the wet season would be shorter. Maybe they're right if you live up north, but the rainfall down here in Pattaya's certainly nothing to write home about.

I remember last year I returned here from a break in the UK on 25th October. We had two or three days with some rain immediately after that, and then from the start of November until May we didn't have a decent drop of rain at all. I hope we're not heading for a repeat performance.

October is normally the last month of the rainy season for Pattaya as it is like throwing an off switch after the first few days of November. All the golfers (used) to return in droves in November but sadly no chance of that happening this year.

There certainly seemed to be less rain last year in October with very few, if any, of those periods when it rains non-stop for several days at a time. It is not looking good for the dry season's water supply.

[Toy Boy]

6 minutes ago, Jambo said:

October is normally the last month of the rainy season for Pattaya as it is like throwing an off switch after the first few days of November. All the golfers (used) to return in droves in November but sadly no chance of that happening this year.

There certainly seemed to be less rain last year in October with very few, if any, of those periods when it rains non-stop for several days at a time. It is not looking good for the dry season's water supply.

Last year I cam back on 25th October after 6 weeks in the UK. We had some rain for the next few days, but from 1st November right through to early May we didn't have a drop. Normally, the rain eases off at the end of October but you can still get a decent shower in November, and even beyond on occasion. A few years ago we even had rain on Christmas Day, I made it for Christmas dinner with some mates at Fraser's in Jomtien only half an hour after it had stopped. I just hope we don't end up with another super-dry dry season.

[fforest]

4 hours ago, Jambo said:

October is normally the last month of the rainy season for Pattaya as it is like throwing an off switch after the first few days of November. All the golfers (used) to return in droves in November but sadly no chance of that happening this year.

There certainly seemed to be less rain last year in October with very few, if any, of those periods when it rains non-stop for several days at a time. It is not looking good for the dry season's water supply.

A certain somebody says farangs do not take showers....So no water is not a problem for farangs....

[forcebwithu]

14 hours ago, Jambo said:

October is normally the last month of the rainy season for Pattaya as it is like throwing an off switch after the first few days of November. All the golfers (used) to return in droves in November but sadly no chance of that happening this year.

There certainly seemed to be less rain last year in October with very few, if any, of those periods when it rains non-stop for several days at a time. It is not looking good for the dry season's water supply.

Last year we were below avg for rainfall for the entire year, with a large fall off in the last qtr.

source: http://www.pattayaweather.net/Historical-Weather-Statistics.html

This year things are looking normal, but to make up the deficit from last year we really needed above normal.

source: http://www.pattayaweather.net/

[forcebwithu]

Now that rainy season is all but over, thought it would be interesting to compare the water level in Mabprachan Reservoir to what it was on this day one year ago. The photo update below has photos taken this morning followed by the photo from last year taken from the same point.

While the water level at the overflow outlet is only slightly lower than last year, you'll see in the other photos just how much lower the water level is across the reservoir compared to last year.

 

[forcebwithu]

Update of the water level at Huai Chak Nok Reservoir

Since there's no water on this end of the reservoir to float Krathongs, they made a pond.

[tommy dee]

I am pretty certain you have highlighted the elephant in the room.  the much flaunted NEW PIPING is being laid but i dont see any great influx of the wet stuff into our reservoirs at all.  at this rate, feb we will be back to mud.

[andycoll]

Just as well their are no tourists to use what little water there is. Is that the fabled Silver Lining?

[Toy Boy]

No water here yesterday, just one week into the dry season. That doesn't bode well, though it came back during the night and filled the water tank up. Hopefully, it was related to the new water mains they're running up from the Sattahip/Bang Saray area and we're not yet back to the one day water/one day drought routine yet.

 

 

Edited November 11, 2020 by Toy Boy

[forcebwithu]

38 minutes ago, tommy dee said:

I am pretty certain you have highlighted the elephant in the room.  the much flaunted NEW PIPING is being laid but i dont see any great influx of the wet stuff into our reservoirs at all.  at this rate, feb we will be back to mud.

I think the new pipes are to bring water into Pattaya from other sources.

Because of the closed borders, we should be able to squeak by again this upcoming dry season.

[tommy dee]

1 hour ago, forcebwithu said:

I think the new pipes are to bring water into Pattaya from other sources.

Because of the closed borders, we should be able to squeak by again this upcoming dry season.

maybe with pressure cuts and zoning for cut offs.  its a bloody nightmare like that

[forcebwithu]

A New Years update of the shrinking Pattaya reservoirs. First up is Huai Chak Nok Reservoir.

As you can see in the pic below the current water level is down by about 1m from the same time one year ago.

 

 

 

 

For @thegrogmonster, time to mow the jungle on your land.

 

Took a hard fall off my bike at this spot. It's a section of road I've ridden on many times in the past, and one that most of the year has a stream of water crossing the road. What I didn't account for was the algae build up. So when I crossed at about 20kph it was liking hitting a stretch of ice and down I went. Fortunately only a bit of road rash, a bruised hip and slight wrist sprain. More importantly, no damage to the bike. 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

[forcebwithu]

Mabprachan Reservoir is looking in slightly better shape compared to this time last year. I guessing, but the reason for this might be Pattaya's water supply is now coming from the new water pipes that connect to water sources to the north.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looks like they're building a new park on Mabprachan.

 

It pissed me off when I came around the bend and saw this. There was plenty of space for them to park on the other side of the trees. But noooo, they had to park in the shade on the bike path. Saw a Thai couple were sitting in the back of the pickup so they got an earful from me as I rode past.

 

 

[tommy dee]

maprachan has been pumping water in this last month and actually doesnt look half as bad as it did. many islands gone again too

 

[thegrogmonster]

A New Years update of the shrinking Pattaya reservoirs. First up is Huai Chak Nok Reservoir.

As you can see in the pic below the current water level is down by about 1m from the same time one year ago.

 

 

 

 

For @thegrogmonster, time to mow the jungle on your land.

 

Took a hard fall off my bike at this spot. It's a section of road I've ridden on many times in the past, and one that most of the year has a stream of water crossing the road. What I didn't account for was the algae build up. So when I crossed at about 20kph it was liking hitting a stretch of ice and down I went. Fortunately only a bit of road rash, a bruised hip and slight wrist sprain. More importantly, no damage to the bike. [emoji846]

 

 

 

 

 

Glad to hear you only suffered minor damage on your bike fall.

 

Thanks for the update on our block of land and I’ll talk to the finance minister about getting it trimmed. Land is for sale for 3 million baht if anyone is interested (subject to the finance ministers approval).

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[forcebwithu]

4 hours ago, thegrogmonster said:

Glad to hear you only suffered minor damage on your bike fall.

Thanks for the update on our block of land and I’ll talk to the finance minister about getting it trimmed. Land is for sale for 3 million baht if anyone is interested (subject to the finance ministers approval).

Too bad it can no longer be advertised as lakeside property. 

[forcebwithu]

17 hours ago, tommy dee said:

maprachan has been pumping water in this last month and actually doesnt look half as bad as it did. many islands gone again too

Are you sure they're pumping water into the reservoir. That would sound like a very inefficient way of providing water for the Pattaya area.

First you would have twice the energy expenditure for delivering the water to the Pattaya water distribution system; first pumping the water into the reservoir, then pumping it out again when needed.

There's also the loss of water in the reservoir through evaporation, seepage into the ground, and the considerable water uptake from all the weeds now growing in the reservoir basin.

I would think it would be much more efficient to let the reservoir level increase through normal storm runoff and in the meantime supply Pattaya's water needs directly through pipes from other sources.