Shrinking Pattaya Reservoirs

[Butch 3,456]

That is absolutely shocking FBWU,  once it actually gets visualised by a comparison like that it really does show how bad things are.

I looked at the background of your initial pic of the two guy, in the comparison pic it's mostly now dry land, how much has it dropped would you say, 20 foot or more?.

Incredible.

One question, in the first pic, it looks as if below where your mates are standing is an open "door", in the background it appears that the water had risen above the level of the glass, am I right?.

 

Edited April 5, 2020 by Butch

[forcebwithu 4,356]

1 hour ago, Butch said:

That is absolutely shocking FBWU,  once it actually gets visualised by a comparison like that it really does show how bad things are.

I looked at the background of your initial pic of the two guy, in the comparison pic it's mostly now dry land, how much has it dropped would you say, 20 foot or more?.

Incredible.

One question, in the first pic, it looks as if below where your mates are standing is an open "door", in the background it appears that the water had risen above the level of the glass, am I right?.

Not an open door, but openings that allows excess water to flow over the top and into a drain pipe. That pipe runs under the dam and dumps the excess water into a stream bed on the other side. My friend is holding his hands apart noting how high the water is above the top of the openings.

The cranks on the top are used to raise and lower partitions to block the flow of water into the overflow pipe. Like other dams around the world with spillways, they're used to control the amount of water released in extreme flooding conditions. The pic below gives you a better view of the overflow openings.

[forcebwithu 4,356]

Update from the Eastern Water Resources Dept as of 3 April (link). When I first checked the charts I did a double take to make sure I had pulled up the correct date. Reason is there has been an 11.5 million cubic meter (MCM) increase in the past week.

Since there hasn't been enough rain to account for the increase, it's possible Gen Prawit made good on his 19 March statement, "the government would extract 14 million cubic metres of water from old mining sites. The Royal Irrigation Department has also diverted 10 million cubic metres from a river in Chanthaburi province to replenish three reservoirs in Rayong and Chon Buri provinces".

If the numbers in the latest update are correct (see note above second chart), we would be in a position to make it until the May rains arrive. Thank Buddha for that as I was out this morning on a photo recon of Mabprachan Reservoir and it is on its last legs. Working on editing those photos and will have another post later this morning.

Note: The following chart is still showing a decrease in water volume compared to the previous week, thus my questioning of the accuracy of the numbers. It's not just the sign they got wrong on the comparison, the calculated difference isn't correct either. Example: 3 April Bangphra has 33.30 MCM, and on 27 March it was 29.20 MCM. That's an increase of 4.1 MCM, not the decrease of 3.00 MCM listed in the chart. Perhaps we'll see a correction to the chart later in the week.

 

[forcebwithu 4,356]

I was a little worried going out on this morning's photo recon of Mabprachan Reservoir due to the announcement the area reservoirs were closed to all activities. I was also wondering if I might face checkpoints on the way back to my home in Pattaya. Neither concern came to pass as there were 20 or so out on the reservoir running and biking, and there were no checkpoints outbound or on my return. That's the positive, now the negative.

Mabprachan has maybe a week to 10 days of water left. There was no point in recording GPS waypoints of the current shoreline as you can see in the pictures below all that's left is basically two, ever shrinking, large pools of water.

I've place all the reservoir photo albums into a collection on Flickr (link). For Mabprachan that's a photo history going back to Sept, 2015. For Huai Chak Nok I only started documenting that reservoir in Dec, 2019.

[pattysteve 33]

So its now.Mabprachan pond.

[jacko 8,578]

2 hours ago, pattysteve said:

So its now.Mabprachan pond.

Soon to be puddle!

[forcebwithu 4,356]

Local news is finally waking up to the fact we're close to running out of water. They do have some good aerial views of the reservoir puddles.

Pattaya water levels remain low as Chak Nok reservoir sits at roughly 5 percent of capacity

Pattaya-

The Provincial Water Authority has warned Pattaya and Chonburi residents to conserve water at this time as due to lack of rain and an ongoing drought the Chak Nok reservoir currently sits at roughly 5 percent of capacity.

Local residents have contacted The Pattaya News over the past week complaining about lack of water or water pressure and asking what the issue is overall.

 

Unfortunately, with the current condition of the Chak Nok reservoir and the Mapprachan Lake reservoir not being substantially better temporary water outages are unavoidable in some areas.

As a result the Provincial Water Authority has asked people to be prepared for temporary outages over the next several days and keep a supply of three to four days of water.

The overall water supply in the Chonburi area is still expected to last until June, however, rain is badly needed to resolve some of the drought issues.

With the postponement of the Songkran water festival this year due to the Covid19 crisis, however, it is hoped this will help conserve some of the already low water levels.

Photos by the Provincial Water Authority

[nkped 1,207]

Water was on overnight, off sometime after sunrise.  

[jacko 8,578]

2 hours ago, nkped said:

Water was on overnight, off sometime after sunrise.  

Yeah me too. Usually on all day and off at night.

[TaaSaparot 11]

Rain forecasted for the weeekend.

[jacko 8,578]

43 minutes ago, TaaSaparot said:

Rain forecasted for the weeekend.

I keep looking at the forecasts, but even when it predicts rain, just a bit of dark clouds. 

[forcebwithu 4,356]

1 hour ago, jacko said:

I keep looking at the forecasts, but even when it predicts rain, just a bit of dark clouds. 

Even when the rain does come, like it did about two weeks ago, it didn't even put a dent in the reservoir water deficit.

[nkped 1,207]

Been raining at night in Korat.

[jacko 8,578]

10 hours ago, nkped said:

Been raining at night in Korat.

Yes heavily I believe and accompanied by long power cuts.

As stated, it will take more than a few heavy showers.... but I will take them. 

[forcebwithu 4,356]

The reservoirs are almost dry and govt officials are finally having meetings to "discuss finding a solution", or those meetings are finally making the news.

Sattahip and Chonburi officials meet to discuss solutions for severe water supply issues in area

Sattahip and Chonburi officials met yesterday morning to discuss finding a solution regarding lack of water and low water pressure in Sattahip after many local complaints.

Sathira Pueakprapan, a member of the council in Chonburi and other local officials held the meeting to discuss how to solve water problems in Sattahip at about 11:00 AM yesterday morning.

Mr. Sathira told The Pattaya News, “Sattahip area receives water from three main providers which are from the water works authority in Sattahip, Ban Chang and Pattaya.”

“Many areas in Thailand are facing drought problems as well as residents in Sattahip. This cause some area to have no water and some area has weak water pressure. Additionally, these problems can be unpredictable and last for extended periods of time. ”

“We have confirmed that the overall water supply is still enough in the area until June which will be the end of the dry season. However, please save and conserve water in the interim period.” Sathira continued.

“We are trying our best to solve the water problems and divert water from the areas with higher levels of supply.” He finished.

Edited April 11, 2020 by forcebwithu

[biggles 509]

Imagine how much worse it would be with the usual tourist numbers

[jacko 8,578]

1 hour ago, biggles said:

Imagine how much worse it would be with the usual tourist numbers

And Songkran.

I would have felt happier if they had come up with solutions for the future...ie next year.

[nkped 1,207]

Thunder.  Now if it can consumate the process.

Edited April 11, 2020 by nkped

[Bullfrog 2,224]

50 minutes ago, nkped said:

Thunder.  Now if it can consumate the process.

At the moment it sounds like West Ham thunder...Lots of noise but with fuck all to show for it ....

[jacko 8,578]

16 hours ago, Bullfrog said:

At the moment it sounds like West Ham thunder...Lots of noise but with fuck all to show for it ....

Had quite a shower in my area, filled up a few containers. The ground soaked it up,and later, as the sun shone, you could not really tell it had rained beyond the sun hurting your eyes. We will need a lot to get it to the reservoirs. 

[Bullfrog 2,224]

35 minutes ago, jacko said:

The ground soaked it up,

Again......Another West Ham analogy there....

And I guess the reservoir remains as empty as their trophy cabinet...with everybody involved having nothing but hope left that they will return to the past when they had at least something in them ......!!

[forcebwithu 4,356]

Another installment of the shrinking Mabprachan Reservoir from this morning, and five days since the last update. The pictures speak for themself how bad the situation is.

Just west of the pumping station is a marsh that has been draining water at a pretty constant rate over the past month. Probably spring fed.

The opening in the land bridge in the far background is now closed off. No more water to be had from the other side.

Edited April 13, 2020 by forcebwithu
marsh is west, not north of the pumping station

[Bullfrog 2,224]

So expect the next Government order .....Stay at home, No alcohol and don't shower!!

[jacko 8,578]

33 minutes ago, Bullfrog said:

So expect the next Government order .....Stay at home, No alcohol and don't shower!!

I could shower in all the sodas, tonics and ginger ales I won't be needing!

[forcebwithu 4,356]

Decide to get out early this morning and beat the heat to get a photo update on Huai Chak Nok Reservoir. Also wanted to get this in before Pattaya Lockdown v2 goes into effect tomorrow.

I think this small pond on the west side of the reservoir is for recreational purposes only. There's no pumping station that I could see, and before the closure I would see jet skis racing around. Wonder how long before they cut a channel through the retaining wall and let it drain into the reservoir.

Last update was on 1 April and it appears the shore line has receded about 10 meters since then.