Citing farmers’ needs and flood perils, the Cabinet recently approved the Royal Irrigation Department’s (RID’s) proposal to establish the Wangheeb Dam and Reservoir in Thung Song district. Sermchai Siaosirithavorn, director of the Large Scale Water Resource Water Development at the RID, conceded that construction of the Wangheeb Dam would not directly help prevent flooding in urban Thung Song and that demand for dry-season irrigation had abated. But he maintained that the project would ensure that future water crises would be avoided. “The RID acknowledges that opinion is divided – there are the people who will benefit from this dam and people who will not,” Sermchai said. The RID must first hold more public meetings on the construction plan to find an approach on which all stakeholders can agree, he said.

Source: The Nation Bangkok December 19, 2018 19:52 UTC