RID deputy director-general Somkiat Prajamwong said yesterday that the department plans to create reservoirs in Sukhothai, Phitsanulok, Nakhon Sawan and Phichit on a budget of Bt29 billion, in order to prevent chronic floods in the Central Plains. They aim to cut the severity of annual flooding in the Chao Phraya River Basin by 30 per cent.

Somkiat said there were 69 areas suited for developing the monkey cheek reservoirs, in line with His Majesty the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s idea to prevent and mitigate floods. The dams would be created over five years in low-lying farmland in the four provinces.

Given the areas proposed for creating the reservoirs are on people’s land, he said farmers in these areas would be encouraged to change their farming pattern to leave their fields empty to hold water during the wet season.

“Farmers in the areas designated to be monkey cheek reservoirs will have time to farm on their land from April to August with help from the RID, which will allocate irrigation water for them to grow their crop before other farmers. This way they can plant their crop and harvest before the flood season begins,” Somkiat said.

“They will have to shift their farming pattern for public benefit, as from August to November their land will be used for floodwater storage. This could help more than 348,000 people along the Yom River and Nan River and many more in the Chao Phraya River Basin to avoid flooding.”

He said that if there was any damage to the farmers’ crops, the authorities would compensate them properly.

He said the RID had been working on a pilot project – 265,000 rai of land in Bang Rakam district in Phitsanulok, where RID personnel will develop irrigation facilities, pumping stations, and water gates for use in this year’s flood season.

For the rest of the designated areas, the RID will start in areas with no legal obstruction or local people who object, before moving to the other areas during the five-year period.

“We will prove that this model of flood prevention is effective – despite the budget for this project being expensive, it can prevent flood damage of up to Bt11 billion per year,” Somkiat said.

Martin Hart-Hansen, an official with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Thailand said the project fitted principles of saving the environment and maintaining good livelihoods for people. So, the UNDP would seek $40 million in funds for the work.