The Ubon Ratana dam in Khon Kaen was under heavy pressure in last year's rainy season, and was forced to cut its discharge in order to ease flooding in the Northeast. (File photo by Jakkrapan Nathanri)

Thailand has now entered the rainy season from now until October. For the authorities, it is a challenging period because they need to take care of water management with the utmost care; providing enough water for farmers while simultaneously dealing with torrential downpours and the flooding they cause. Failing to strike the right balance can lead to catastrophes such as the epic flooding of 2011. That year, the authorities had stored too much water in reservoirs for farming and unusually heavy rainfall led to overflows and inundation.

The lesson was painful and costly. Governments and the authorities have tried to prevent a re-occurrence. The latest move to deal with flooding and water management has been the creation of a brand-new water management agency, named the Office of National Water Resources (ONWR). The agency was created in December last year by the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) which used Section 44 to expedite the new agency so it can deal with this year's rainy season. The ONWR takes care of water management planning and cascading policy and visions down through 20 state agencies. Previously, these agencies managed water individually and rarely coordinated.

The ONWR has 100 staff, 80% of them were brought in from the Royal Irrigation Department (RID). The agency has also spent over 60% of its 100 billion baht budget for water management in fiscal year 2018.

Somkiat Prajamwong, secretary-general of the ONWR said the challenge this year is stern yet manageable, thanks to the raft of measures taken by the government. Despite all its staff being highly experienced, now is the first rainy season being dealt with by the ONWR.

"The challenge this year is high. Despite expecting an average amount of rainfall, yet some major reservoirs are already at maximum capacity [of 80%] due to the excessive rain from summer storms in April. Now we have just two months to reduce these large volumes of water in the reservoirs. That too will take time because drainage pipes in some areas are too narrow. But most of all, we need to be very careful and avoid diverting floodwater from one area only for it to cause floods in another," said Somkiat Prajamwong, secretary-general of the ONWR.

The four major dams at maximum capacity are, according to the RID, Kraseaw dam in Suphan Buri, Srinakarin dam in Kanchanaburi, Nong Pla Lai dam in Rayong and Bang Lang dam in Yala.

But Mr Somkiat urged the public not to panic. "Fortunately, the two main dams -- Bhumibol dam in Tak and Sirikit dam in Uttaradit -- are only at 57% and 56% capacity respectively. So, there is still storage available for the rainy season," he said.

Mr Somkiet said the key to water management is preparation and planning.

In 2016, the authority introduced a water quota for harvesting. For example, in Phitsnulok's Thung Bang Rakam, farmers were told to harvest in July with the RID providing 550 million cubic metres of water to 360,000 rai of rice paddies. In the old days, farmers across the country harvested when the rain came and RID provided water when farmers demanded it. Now, harvesting across the country will be regulated by the RID.

The authority has also created natural flood retention areas to cope with massive deluges. Twelve large paddies -- 1.5 million rai, in Phitsanulok, Ayutthaya and Pathum Thani province -- will be kept in reserve until the end of harvesting in August. The owners of these paddies will receive compensation for lost farming opportunities.

Next year, the construction of 50 projects will start under the new water management strategy, including a 22 kilometre water-draining passage from Bang Ban to Bang Sai in Ayutthaya province, a water tunnel to divert water from Yuam River to Bhumibol dam, reservoir construction projects in the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) as well as water sources development in special economic zones in Tak and Sa Kaew province.

Mr Somkiat said his office is preparing a water management strategy covering 2018-2037 which should be submitted to the cabinet in October this year.