Water woes blamed on poor plans
Published on August 10, 2005
Aerial photographs have found the water shortage in drought-hit Rayong province was caused by poorly planned industrial settlements, new communities and roads built across waterways.
Such chaotic growth robbed the Dok Krai-Nong Pla Lai basin of about 70 per cent of its water-catchment areas, according to a report by the Water Source and Agricultural Information Institute (WAII).
Roryol Chitradon, director of the WAII, yesterday said the water shortage on the eastern seaboard, especially in Rayong and Chon Buri, had been caused by the construction of factories in the Map Ta Put Industrial Estate since 2002 and the expansion of farmland and communities in the area. Roads were also built across the watercourses and tributaries of the Rayong River, the report said.
“Rainfall at Nong Pla Lai reservoir was 600 million-700 million cubic metres per year, but it retained just 300 million cubic metres,” it said. The situation at the Dok Krai reservoir was similar. “Both reservoirs retained just more than 30 per cent of the precipitation. They should have retained more than 50 per cent,” Roryol said.
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