Thread: Isaan Water Reform Management or a Managed Shell Game?

Six decades of dam building, from the dawn of the Cold War to the tenure of the latest military junta are proof of the failure of water management in Isaan. It’s time to dismantle the dams and turn to sustainable approaches, writes environmental expert Chainarong Setthachua.

By Chainarong Setthachua


A challenging environmental issue in Northeast Thailand is the increasing occurrence of floods. These are caused by a long-standing water management policy that views the issue through the prism of engineering solutions. The fruits of this approach are dams, weirs and dikes, which have proven unable to hold rainfall in the rainy season and ultimately contribute to increasingly severe floods.
It is worth noting that many countries which used to lean on engineering solutions to address water management have reconsidered their methods. These include countries like the United States, which supplied engineering plans and construction plans for almost all of Isaan’s dams.
But the Thai government is still moving forward with outdated water management concepts, even as the countries which first tried them out have long since abandoned this approach.
Instead, Thailand should decommission its dams and preserve and restore wetlands, which would not be expensive.



The Isaan region is a large plateau on the right bank of the Mekong River. It covers the Sakon Nakhon and Khorat tributary streams, with the former mainly consisting of the Songkhram River as the main tributary, as well as the Loei and Kam rivers. The Khorat stream is where the Chi and Mun rivers flow before meeting the Mekong River in Ubon Ratchathani province.
When Isaan was incorporated into the Thai nation state, the government relied upon western water management know-how of the time, beginning in the reign of King Rama V in the 19th century.
Thai government initially focused on modern, engineering-based water management in the central region, which is an area that grows rice for exports. That led to setting up of the Irrigation Department, the country’s main water management agency.

Meanwhile, farmers in Isaan were still using traditional water management techniques to produce rice, including rain irrigation and water wheels which can still be found in the Phrom and Lam Takhong river basin areas.


Changes to water management in Isaan started in the 1950s. As the Cold War got into full swing, the country received support from various western countries, with the US chiefly among them. As the colonial era drew to a close with first Britain and then France’s departure from the region, US influence gained ascendancy.
Water resource development cannot be separated from the US influence in politics in the Mekong River basin because dam construction formed the heart of US support through its largest dam construction agency called the United States Bureau of Reclamation (USBR). Dam construction was expensive, often requiring developing countries such as Thailand to seek significant loans from the World Bank, an institution where US influence was prominent.
The USBR played a role in mapping out the construction of dams throughout Isaan. The USBR planned the construction of Pa Mong Dam in Pak Chom district of Loei province, with hopes that the dam would be larger than the Hoover dam–a monumental symbol of engineering prowess that was named as one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World–located on the border between the US states of Arizona and Nevada.
The US also planned the power grids of the Mekong River basin.
The planning and construction of dams in Isaan went hand-in-hand with the US war effort in Indochina.



This is because many dams were constructed at the same time as the creation of US military bases to provide water and energy for US forces. These include the Huai Luang Dam in Udon Thani province, Lam Takhong Dam in Nakhon Ratchasima and Lam Dom Noi Dam in Ubon Ratchathani, all of which hosted a large US military presence.
The construction of Lumpao Dam in Kalasin province in 1956 resulted in the relocation of over 5,500 families and contributed to the cancellation of the ambitious Pa Mong Dam project. The Pa Mong Dam would have been the very first dam across the Mekong River. Had it gone ahead, the Pa Mong Dam was expected to have displaced a quarter of a million people, a number that gave even the planners some pause for thought.

The US retreat from the Second Indochina War in 1975 finally drove the final nail into the coffin for the Pa Mong Dam, and many dam projects planned by the USBR were passed on to the Thai government. They include the Pak Mun Dam in Ubon Ratchathani province, Pong Khun Phet Dam in Chaiyaphum and most recently the Chi Bon Dam in Chaiyaphum that was approved by the 2014 coup junta, the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), at the beginning of this year.


Violating the rights of dam opposers
Those who oppose dams raise the issue of relocation as a problem. However, it was difficult for those affected to protest during the previous dictatorship periods. In the 1960s, there were serious human rights violations against locals opposing dams, such as the assassination of a leader who protested the Huai Luang Dam in Udon Thani province in 1975.
In the 1980s, the Khong-Chi-Mun water diversion project consisted of a plan to construct 22 dams worth 228 billion baht ($746 million USD), with a project duration of 47 years that aimed to solve the water shortage in 14 Isaan provinces. The Thai government approved the project in 1989, with the first phase consisting of the construction of 13 dams on the Chi and Mun rivers, while the later phases included the diversion of water from the Mekong River to the Chi and Mun river basins.
Locals in many areas said officials told them that rubber weirs would be built to store water for the dry season, when they actually ended up being large concrete dams.
The Khong-Chi-Mun water diversion project was promoted and used for vote canvassing by politicians ever since the government of General Chatichai Choonhavan (1988-91). However, it was opposed by locals, especially those affected by the Rasi Salai and Hua Na dams in Sisaket province, as well as the Yasothon-Panomorai Dam in Roi Et province.



The epic Khong-Chi-Mun water diversion project
Dams under the Khong-Chi-Mun (river) water diversion project had serious social and environmental effects. This is because the dams, especially those in the Mun basin and lower Chi River, were built on wetlands which are considered as areas with the best ecosystems in Isaan.
The construction of these dams would destroy the biodiversity that, among other things, makes Thailand’s rice varieties so good. Meanwhile, the benefits of some dams in the Khong-Chi-Mun water diversion scheme have been equal to zero, especially dams of the lower Chi River, the Rasi Salai, and Hua Na dams, because the water isn’t used for irrigation at all.
Apart from that, closing watergates during the high water season causes upstream communities to be flooded. Local communities have for years been calling for the opening of the gates during the rainy season, so as to avoid the yearly man-made flooding in the lower Chi River basin.
The dams have been a source of conflict between locals and the government for decades.

Amidst these problems, the government has had to suspend the second phase of the project that would divert water from the Mekong River. This is because the environmental impact assessment (EIA) was not approved by the National Environment Board, particularly due to its likelihood of increased salianation of the region.


The Pak Mun Dam, a project developed in cooperation with the French government in 1967, was incorporated into the Khong-Chi-Mun water diversion project and approved in the 1970s along with other dams. It was met with the longest and most determined resistance from locals.
Apart from the Khong-Chi-Mun water diversion scheme, Japan’s develop agencies in the 1980s proposed plans to divert water from tributaries in Laos to the Mun River basin. However, the plan was opposed due to, especially, fears of increased salianation, resulting in the suspension of the project.
Since government construction of new dams became increasingly difficult due to public opposition, dam builders and Thai government agencies in the 1990s turned towards dam construction in neighboring countries, especially Laos, to generate electricity for consumption in Thailand.



Lacking public participation
Dredging waterways has damaged riverine ecosystems and led to protests in many areas. Some instances resulted in complaints to the National Human Rights Commission to investigate human rights violations, such as bully-boy tactics to limit and discourage local participation.
The construction of dikes to prevent flooding has actually resulted in more severe flooding, such as those in Ubon Ratchathani province, because the water is forced not allowed to flow naturally.
In many instances, poorly maintained dikes have collapsed, resulting in severe flooding, as happened in the Chi River basin. But these floods have been labelled as natural disasters and victims have been provided assistance accordingly.

The results of the past five decades is clear. The water management policies, which hinged on engineering mega-projects, have failed at their objectives. Yet the government still doggedly persists with this approach, as evidenced by the NCPO’s recent approvals of dams and watergate projects worth billions of baht.


Isaan’s water management problem is ultimately a problem of an over-centralized government that is afflicted by Maslow’s hammer: when you’re holding a hammer in your hands, everything looks like a nail. To the Thai government, every water management problem seems to look like an engineering project.
This overreliance on relatively simple engineering solutions rather than more sophisticated, long-term ecological solutions has resulted in much damage. Case in point: The collapse of the Huai Sai Kamin dam in 2017 resulted in the most severe floods that Sakon Nakhon province has ever experienced.
Water management policies must be revamped. The government must solve problems from a more holistic perspective which ought to include the restoration of communities affected by dams, such as the Pak Mun and Rasi Salai dams.
Dams that have proven to be unbeneficial, such as the Pak Mun Dam and dams under the Khong-Chi-Mun water diversion project, should be decommissioned, and the gates left permanently opened to allow the ecosystem to recover. Small-scale projects must be reconsidered or suspended.



The government must stop with its mega-project myopia. It must unlearn what has proven not to work, and learn new ways of water management, such as by encouraging farmers to have small water reserves on their own land and lowering the use of water in agriculture.
Most importantly, the government must draw from public participation and move away from centralized water management.


~ https://isaanrecord.com/2019/09/21/d...er-management/

^The last paragraph sums it up nicely, but doubt it will happen. Too much money to be made, and centralization is always a political endgame.

Originally Posted by kmart

^The last paragraph sums it up nicely, but doubt it will happen. Too much money to be made, and centralization is always a political endgame.

My take on it as well.
The people, as a collective, will never be a beneficiary.
Corporate and government [one-n-the-same] self interest/graft has them beat.

Originally Posted by OhOh

Or providing necessary water at the appropriate rate and time. Durians only require a short , a week or so, dry/low temperature period to instigate fruit budding star-up. It certainly stops leaf drop. It also produces early season fruit ripening and hence a higher selling price.



My Thai father-in-law last year added an irrigation system to his Durian farm. Plastic pipes, valves .... network and tree sprinklers. His supply is an always flowing stream, a few metres above his highest section.

No water is required during the June to November months but by irrigating the young replacements/additions growth and fruit yields from the mature trees, have improved.

He can now water blocks of tree at a time rather than individual trees. 50% of the farm is on a steep slope, the top and bottom sections are on flatter ground.

If he could only get his tree spraying schedule timed correctly he would stop the, "Pa sprayed the chemicals at the wrong time" accusations/excuses.

He may have been influenced by noticing my back garden coffee trees/fruit berries growth.

If I'm not mistaken, most river and klong systems have this free accessibility [in the communal sense] manner in which to gather/pump water for whatever reason - without the usual bureaucratic restrictions or consciousness of officialdom. There will be exceptions, of course.....dependent on local and varying politics.

Originally Posted by OhOh

Who controls the canal flows? Are the individual farmers able to open a sluice gate, to irrigate their land, at will?

Individual farmers but is done in agreement with what could best be described as a village cooperative.

Originally Posted by Norton

Hydroelectric dams are ok but even they are becoming old tech and electrical generation in region need a rethink.

Hydro generated electricity is still the cleanest electricity!
You want a coal power plant in your neighborhood? Maybe a nuclear power plant? Or a wind turbine farm?
The latter is ugly but clean, it's major problem is that you can't store wind for usage later on..

Originally Posted by Norton

Individual farmers but is done in agreement with what could best be described as a village cooperative.

Yep.
As is the norm.

I'm guessing that your area farmers act in unison [everyone chips in] come harvest time as well, yes?

Originally Posted by lom

Hydro generated electricity is still the cleanest electricity!

Clean and cheap yes, but as others have shown they do have political and environmental issues/costs.

Originally Posted by HuangLao

I'm guessing that your area farmers act in unison [everyone chips in] come harvest time as well, yes?

Certainly havest time but during the year a few activities to benefit the communiy. Twice a year, clean out of all the drainage ditches along village sois. Deepen of main and small canals feeding rice paddies. House repair for the elderly. Temple work to attain get out of hell free card. All with small groups who make a party of it. Work, eat, drink and exchange of village gossip.

Reckon this has been the way for centuries. Not for all us farangs but for me couldn't ask for more. Basically a self governed entity who have no need to be governed by a Bangkok politician who knows fuck all about day to day life in baan nok Isaan.

Same same but different than my experience living in a hippie commune back in the 60s.

Originally Posted by Norton

Certainly havest time but during the year a few activities to benefit the communiy. Twice a year, clean out of all the drainage ditches along village sois. Deepen of main and small canals feeding rice paddies. House repair for the elderly. Temple work to attain get out of hell free card. All with small groups who make a party of it. Work, eat, drink and exchange of village gossip.

Reckon this has been the way for centuries. Not for all us farangs but for me couldn't ask for more. Basically a self governed entity who have no need to be governed by a Bangkok politician who knows fuck all about day to day life in baan nok Isaan.

Same same but different than my experience living in a hippie commune back in the 60s.

And still all quite common practice throughout rural Thai communities.....vacant of any type governmental interference.
Almost instinctively self-sufficient manner for the commons.
Social and familial extensions.

When in Bali worth taking a look to their system of water management, ask some locals or read up on it as it is fascinating how the society and mini kingdoms / government grew out of the need to balance the water and make decisions up and down the streams. I guess when you live on a volcano in the middle of the sea then it’s easier to be connected to life and focused on the right things!

Originally Posted by knowsitlike

When in Bali worth taking a look to their system of water management, ask some locals or read up on it as it is fascinating how the society and mini kingdoms / government grew out of the need to balance the water and make decisions up and down the streams. I guess when you live on a volcano in the middle of the sea then it’s easier to be connected to life and focused on the right things!

Here's an exciting video that shows how Bali is "connected to life and focused on the right things".

You are right Harry we are fucking it all up, my point was more about water management back in the day- we have many of the lessons on how to live more sustainably written already in our history

Originally Posted by OhOh

A few years ago a new water supply was built to serve our end of the village, along with a water tower.

Few years ago here as well. Unfortunately we are nowhere near a river but fortunately after years of promises by politicians this billionare runs for office promising he would bring runnung water to every house. Everyone figured just another rich ass making promiises to get votes folks were skeptical but with nothing to lose voted for the guy.

He won and I'll be damn, 30 days later heavy equipment rumbles through the village.

Dug a nice big reserviour, put up a water tower and pump system. All here wish he would come back from his holiday in Dubai.