Flood alert: Water released from Chao Phraya dam amid rising river levels

People living in Bangkok and ten central provinces have been advised by the Royal Irrigation Department (RID) to monitor the water level in the Chao Phraya River closely and to prepare for potential overflows, after the Chao Phraya Dam in Chainat province increased its discharge rate to 2,500m3/s at 3pm today, to ease pressure to the dam.

The quantity of water stored behind dam has been increasing steadily, due to heavy rains the from Bualoi storm. The volume of water flowing through the C2 water measurement station in Nakhon Sawan province at 6am today was between 2,700-2,900m3/s. Moreover, an additional 180m3/s of water, from the Sakae Krang River in Uthai Thani and other tributaries, are pouring into the Chao Phraya River, putting more pressure on the dam’s structure.

The RID said that, even though the upper reaches, behind the dam, have been designated as water retention areas and about 400m3/s of water is been diverted into a network of irrigation canals on both sides of the Chao Phraya River, it is still necessary to increase the rate of discharge through the dam in Chainat province.

The RID said, however, that increasing the rate of discharge through the dam is done step by step, to mitigate its impacts on farmland and residential areas.

People living downstream of the dam, in Ang Thong, Chainat, Sing Buri and Ayutthaya, have already been advised to move their valuables to higher ground.

Widespread flooding is currently reported in several central and northern provinces, including Phetchabun, Ayutthaya and Phitsanuloke.

The RID reports that volume of water stored in the country’s four major reservoirs, namely Bhumibol, Sirikit, Kwae Noi Bamgung Daen and Pasak Jolasid, is 22.423 billion cubic metres, or 90% of their capacities, and they have enough space to store another 2.448 billion cubic metres.

The Bhumibol Dam has halved its rate of discharge, to five million cubic metres per day, while the Sirikit Dam has increased its discharge rate to 25 million cubic metres per day.