Although several politicians have touted the project for
its ability
to prevent floods in some northern provinces, the report
notes that
it would have only a limited impact on flooding, which
is also caused by
rivers downstream of the proposed dam site.
On Tuesday a hydrological engineer proposed a series of
small-scale
water management projects which would be ''more efficient
and
cheaper" than the Kaeng Sua Ten dam.
Prakob Wirojanagud, director of Khon Kaen University's
Institute of
Water Resources Research, said construction of weirs and
small
reservoirs on the Yom River and its tributaries would
cost only Bt1.3
billion, less than a third of the cost of the dam.
An economist at the World Bank also suggested that the
Kaeng Sua Ten
dam would do more economic harm than good to farmers,
as major
beneficiaries of the dam would be industries, golf courses
and
tourist resorts.
Phillip Annez, former director of the World Bank's Thailand
office,
said if the dam is built, fees for water use would have
to be
collected from industries and businesses, because poor
farmers would
see their water sources taken away by the project.
''One has to wonder if it is acceptable to provide free
water to golf
courses and resorts, let alone to industries, who may
pollute water
used by poor farmers downstream," Annez was quoted as
saying by
fellow economist Jarik Tingsapat of Chulalongkorn University.
Prakob proposed that 901 small reservoirs be built in Phrae
as well
as another 837 in Sukhothai. Collectively, the reservoirs
would be able
to hold the same amount of water as the Kaeng Sua Ten
dam, but the
smaller reservoirs would be able to distribute water to
a wider area
than the dam, he said.
''The Royal Irrigation Department [RID] has only considered
a big
reservoir. They don't understand that water resource management
should not be centralised, as villagers in different areas
have different
water needs," he said.
Speaking at a seminar organised by Chulalongkorn University's
Political Economics Centre, Prakob added that the small
reservoirs
would have less social and ecological impact than the
dam because
there would be no need to resettle communities or submerge
forests.
The engineer also downplayed the potential of the Kaeng
Sua Ten dam
to control floods. ''The main problem concerning floods
in Thailand
comes from the lack of proper water management, not from
the lack of dams.
We built many big dams in the past, and they all failed
to control
floods," he insisted.
The FAO study, carried out in 1991 by the UN agency's Investment
Centre for the World Bank, estimated that flood prevention
would
account for only three per cent of the project's overall
benefits,
most of which would be derived from increased irrigation
for
agriculture. The World Bank later decided against funding
the
project.
''The flood protection benefit correlates only with projected
crop
damage prevention in the Phrae floodplain between the
Ngao-Yom
confluence and Denchai district," states the report.
''For areas further downstream, flooding is influenced
not only by
the Mae Yom River but also by its tributaries and, below
Sukhothai, by
the Nan River, which makes it difficult to assess the
direct impact
attributable to the project."
Further details on the study's flooding estimates were
not available
because the report, entitled Kaeng Sua Ten Agricultural
Dam Project:
Interim Preparation Report, is considered confidential.
Only a few sections were obtained by The Nation, and officials
at the
FAO's office in Bangkok said permission from the agency's
headquarters in Rome was needed before the report could
be released to the public.
Speaking at the seminar, Prakob added that Khon Kaen University
had
submitted a small-scale water resource development plan
to the
Interior Ministry's Local Administrative Department for
use as a
country-wide irrigation management plan. The whole project
was
estimated to cost about Bt80 billion.
However, Siripong Hangsapruek, director of the Royal Irrigation
Department's Project Planning Division, said he believed
the cost of
the small-scale development project would be higher than
Bt1.3
billion.