CityNews – The Irrigation Department of Chiang Mai announced that there is enough water reserves to last us until the end of June after recent water volume reports were submitted on April 19.
Jansark Limpiti, Director of Chiang Mai Irrigation, said that the latest information from Mae Ngat dam and Mae Kuang dam shows the dams at 14.77% and 9.35% capasity respectively.
This translates to around 39 million cubic metres of water at Mae Ngat dam. 14.4 million cubic metres will be needed to release into the Ping river to support ecology and agriculture, but the remainder can be used for consumption.
The remaining water is predicted to last until the end of June if no rain falls.
Jansark asked for people to help conserve water.
A severe drought warning has been issued to 13 districts, 314 villages and 28 sub-districts in Chiang Mai alone. This is believed to have to affected at least 100,000 people so far. Farmers with more that 44,000 rai of land are expected to lose profits over the next few months. As a result, a budget has been set aside at 500,000 baht per district affected to help recuperate losses and help solve the problem.