BANGKOK, 22 July 2015 – The Prime Minister has urged government agencies to reduce their water usage by 10 percent, and disclosed the initial water management plan will focus on water consumption management and flood prevention, the DWR chief says.
The Director-General of the Department of Water Resources (DWR) Jatuporn Buruspat has announced the outcome of the first National Water Resources Committee meeting, saying that the committee has received a three phase 2015-2026 water management plan from the Water Policy Committee, with the initial phase of 2015-2016 focusing on the management of water consumption and flood prevention in urban communities in the Greater Bangkok Area.
The Prime Minister is reported to have emphasized these issues, while four possible solutions have been put forward, namely a study of the usage of raw water from the western area as a substitute for water from the Chao Phraya River, suggested by the Royal Irrigation Department and the Metropolitan Waterworks Authority; the creation of a shortcut water course from the Chao Phraya River to Sum Lae water pump station where the salt content of water is examined; a study of the allocation of new raw water sources for tap water production in Nakhon Nayok; and a study of the potential use of the dead water stored in Bhumibol and Sirikit Dams currently running to about 7,500 million cubic meters.
The meeting also presented water usage statistics for the Greater Bangkok Area where the Metropolitan Waterworks Authority supplies 49 percent of water to houses, and the remaining 51 percent to government agencies, state enterprises, and the industrial sector, 19 percent of which is for water usage by government agencies.
On this matter, the Prime Minister has ordered government agencies to cut their water usage by 10 percent from today and report their water usage to the administrative sector in an attempt to become a water conservation model for the general public.
Discussions on the establishment of a sub-committee on issues such as water for consumption, a new water sources survey, and conservative water use have also taken place in this meeting
