Present at the meeting, held at Phuket Provincial Hall, were Phuket Vice Governor Supoj Rotreuang Na Nongkhai, Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Phuket Provincial Office (DDPM-Phuket) Chief Prapan Kanprasang and a host of other relevant officials.
The meeting held yesterday was called in response to a notice issued last Thursday (July 22) by the Ministry of Interior head office in Bangkok ordering every provincial administration throughout the country to take steps to help prevent any water shortage crises.
Governor Phakaphong explained that the notice specifically ordered provincial governments that they must:
1) coordinate with the Thai Meteorological Department and the Hydro and Agro Informatics Institute, and army camps in the area, to inform residents about water saving techniques and government help available for residents suffering from water shortages.
2) inspect and classify risk areas, such as water shortages for in-house use and water shortages for farming. The provincial administration must use equipment and water trucks to provide water to any areas suffering from shortages. The equipment and water trucks to be used can be provided by the provincial DDPM office. People in such areas are to be asked to prepare and store water as well.
3) report the water situation and the result of helping people to the Ministry of Interior by sending reports to the DDPM, so that the government can use the information to develop future campaigns.
According to a report of yesterday’s meeting by the Phuket office of the Public Relations Department, “The Phuket Government found that Phuket is facing a lack of rain, leading to low levels of water in the main reservoirs: Bang Neow Dam, Bang Wad, Klong Krata. This meeting was held to discuss and plan to effectively help people as ordered from Ministry of Interior.”
RISING WATER
The meeting comes as Phuket starts to enjoy the return of the annual rains brought by the southwest monsoon.
According to the Office of Natural Water Resources (ONWR) report today (Aug 1), Bang Wad reservoir in Kathu as of yesterday contained 1.4 million cubic metres (m3) of water, or about 13.68% if it 10.2mn m3 capacity. According to the ONWR report, 1.13mn m3 of the water now in store there is deemed usable.
Similarly, Bang Neow Dam reservoir in Srisoonthorn as of yesterday contained 0.66mn m3 of water, or about 9.11% of its 7.2mn m3 capacity. Of that, only 0.55mn m3 is usable, noted the report.
In contrast, the ONWR noted in its daily report for July 19, just two weeks ago, that Bang Wad reservoir contained 0.99mn m3, of which 0.72mn m3 was suitable for domestic use. Bang Neow Dam was reported as having 0.52mn m3, of which 0.41mn m3 was usable for distribution to households.
The water levels recorded then marked new record lows for Phuket’s main reservoirs, and affirmed explanations from Phuket water officials that rainfall on the island is either simply not finding its way to the reservoirs or it is diverted directly from canals that feed the reservoirs to provide water to houses and businesses across the island as a “need-to-now” solution. (See The Phuket News report here.)
SOLUTIONS
As an immediate solution to the ongoing water woes, Phuket’s main water authorities started turning to smaller privately owned ponds and lakes to ensure water supply remained adequate, and offering a slew of contracts totalling B277mn to private water source owners. (See story here.)
As a long-term solution, leading water officials revealed to The Phuket News earlier this month a B3.5 billion plan to have water piped across the channel from Phang Nga to resolve the island’s increasing water-supply woes. (See story here.)
DISASTER AVERTED
Phuket’s water supply infrastructure started getting high-level support only after the key tourism island narrowly averted disaster with water levels falling so low in April that officials estimated that the island had only about three weeks of water supply left.
By Apr 23, Phuket had enjoyed only 86.5mm of rainfall across the whole island since the beginning of the year.
That figure came as Phuket Governor Phakaphong Tavipatana ordered all local administrations to ensure that all residents had access to emergency household water supply, despite the Governor assuring that Phuket was not in a “drought crisis”. (See story here.)
Despite the Governor's assurance, the Army rolled out emergency water supplies to communities that had been without tap water for a month (see story here).
The island’s reservoirs had hit the lowest levels ever recorded and the water supply was continually being reduced in a bid to make what water was left in the island’s three main reservoirs lasted as long as possible. (See story here.)
Meanwhile, the supply of emergency water continued across the island with the Royal Thai Navy Third Area Command rolling out some 54,000 litres of emergency supply water to households in need in Wichit. (See story here.)