In Nakhon Ratchasima province, a 39-rai (6.2-hectare) pond used for water storage is running dry, with nearly two-thirds of its volume already exhausted. Estimates show that the pond only has 90,000 cubic metres of water left to keep taps running.

The pond supplies raw water to a waterworks facility, which provides tap water for seven villages.

“This much water is only enough for two weeks,” Nakhon Ratchasima Governor Wichian Chanthanothai said yesterday, adding that he met representatives of the seven villages and assured them that relevant authorities had already found a way to keep taps running.

“The Tambon Seemoom Administrative Organisation plans to fill the pond by taking water from a source just 1,800 metres away,” he explained, adding that the local disaster prevention and mitigation office would provide pumps for the process.

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“The filling process should kick off on March 21 and there should be enough water available until June,” he said.

Chidchanok Somprasert, who heads the Irrigation Office 8, also disclosed that the joint-management committee for the Lam Chae Dam has agreed to release 30,000 cubic metres of water daily for the Nakhon Ratchasima waterworks office in the face of the drought.

“We will do so for three months so as to ensure the tap-water services are not interrupted,” he said.

In Udon Thani province, relevant authorities have been holding meetings to check on the water situation out of concern that the dwindling amount of raw water might disrupt tap-water services.

“We have agreed to pump water from Huai Luang reservoir for waterworks,” Udon Thani Governor Chayawut Chanthorn said, adding that the provincial waterworks office will provide funds for fuelling the pumps.

In a related development, Royal Irrigation Department spokesman Thongplew Kongjun addressed local people’s concerns that a canal in Suphan Buri province would not have enough water to provide tap water, by saying that relevant officials had already dammed a section in the canal to store water.

“Water hyacinth has also been removed from the canal to ease the flow of water into tap-water facilities,” he said. However, he called on people to continue saving water as water resources were running low.