Page 67 - NRCT annual report 2019

The Office of National Water Resources (ONWR) has the duties and authority under
the Act on Water Resources B.E. 2561 to draft a water allocation diagram to propose
to the National Water Resources Committee (NWRC) to consider approving. The water
allocation diagram will be used in the Act and announced in the Royal Gazette within 2
years, and it will be used to formulate a main plan, set the approach and format that
is standard and covers river basins across the country.
It is well known that Thailand has a system of waterways that is continuous from the
source to downstream. However, because of the increase in population, and economic
and social development, more land area had been used for infrastructure-related activities,
causing the encroachment of waterways. The path of water flow has been changed from
the original, making it difficult for efficient management of the water in the entire system.
Therefore, the system of water flow, or what we call here the “water allocation
diagram” needs to be formulated as a map or diagram that shows the boundaries of
the path of water flow and areas at risk to floods in different levels. It will also show the
proposals in making full use of the land in the path of water flow that will not cause
the diversion of the water flow or create obstacles to the flow, which will hinder the
implementation of the plan to prevent and solve drought and flood situations. This will
form part of the database to be used in decision-making to solve water-related issues in
river basins to the optimum efficiency.

Offif ice of the National Water Resources 65