Dr. Sutat monitored the flood situation in Ubon Ratchathani province and supported Ban Tum community network in Yasothon.
13/07/2023
On October 22-23, 2022, a delegation from the Hydro-Informatics Institute (HII) led by Dr. Sutat Weesakul, HII’s Director, along with Mr. Pisanupol Sanamthong – Acting Director of Strategy and Policy Division, Mr. Pichan Thiphawong – Chi River Basin Coordinator, and HII officers visited Ubon Ratchathani province to assess the flood situation. The team monitored the water levels at three different stations in the province to evaluate the extent of flooding.
Station 1: Supatnaram Worawihan temple, on October 22, 2022, the team observed and discovered that the water level had decreased by 50 centimeters from its maximum level.
Station 2: the water pumping station of the 7th Irrigation Office, Phibun Mangsahan District, the water was flowing rapidly, but a small amount of water was still overflowing in low-lying areas.
Station 3: Water level survey at Khong Chiam district revealed that the convergence of Mun with Mekong River had a relatively strong flow, while water level in Mun River was approximately 60% of the river capacity. This indicates that the overflow of water in the city area of Ubon Ratchathani province is facing challenges in effectively draining into Mekong River, possibly due to bottleneck areas. Consequently, the drainage efficiency into Mekong River is compromised.
On October 23, 2022, Dr. Sutat and HII team visited and provided food and beverages support to Ban Tum Community Water Resources Management Network in Kud Nam Sai sub-district, Kho Wang district, Yasothon province which was partially affected by flooding. The flooding damaged 187 households’ agricultural land and 8 habitats (as of October 21, 2022). Despite ongoing flooding in various areas, the water levels in Ubon Ratchathani province had been consistently decreasing. This was a positive trend and the situation was supposed to return to normal by mid-November.
