The Phra Ram VI Dam is flying its red flag after it increased water discharge to above the critical level, to warn people living along the Pasak River and in low-lying areas downstream of rising river levels and possible flooding.
Witthaya Kaewmee, director general of the Royal Irrigation Department (RID), said today that the Phra Ram VI Dam is releasing 647.25m3/s downstream, which is above the critical level, because a lot of water has flowed into the upstream Pasak River.
He said the increased discharge will cause the water level downstream to rise by 1-1.2 metres so people living downstream, especially in Tha Rua district of Ayutthaya, should be warned.
The Pasak Chonlasit Dam is storing 891.26 million cubic metres of water, which is 102.27% of its capacity, while the water inflow to the reservoir is 52.95 million cubic metres per day. It is estimated that, within the next 7 days, about 370 million cubic metres of water will flow into the reservoir.
Therefore, it is necessary to increase the discharge downstream to maintain the quantity of water stored in the reservoir at an appropriate level, said Witthaya.
The water is being discharged through the Pasak Chonlasit Dam into the Pasak River and then through the Phra Ram VI Dam before merging with the Chao Phraya River in Ayutthaya.
Witthaya said that the RID will try to maintain the water discharge through the Chao Phraya Dam at 2,000m3/s.
The amount of water that flows into the Chao Phraya River was measured at today at the C2 station in Nakhon Sawan at 2,038m3/s, up from 1.904m3/s.
