Authorities are expediting dozens of projects involving wastewater management and reservoir rehabilitation to improve water storage capacity and limit costs associated with flood and drought disasters.
According to Surasee Kittimonthon, secretary-general of the Office of the National Water Resources (ONWR), the office’s 2018-2037 water management master plan should increase the nation’s water storage capacity by nearly 1.8 billion cubic meters while expanding irrigation zones by over 1 million rai.
The aim is to reduce flood levels while benefiting more than 1 million families through the establishment of area-based management.
Reservoir rehabilitation has meanwhile been taking place in the provinces of Nakhon Sawan, Phichit, Phitsanulok and Sakon Nakhon, with a flood mitigation plan being implemented in Nakhon Si Thammarat. Projects are also underway to increase water storage capacity in the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC). (NNT)