Water for people.pdf - WHO Thailand Digital Repository

4 0 0 / P I L O T C A S E S T U D I E S : A F O C U S O N R E A L - W O R L D E X A M P L E SChao Phraya River BasinNational Policy and Plan for Natural Resources and EnvironmentManagement, which set long-term (twenty-year) goals,standards and strategies. In the Eighth Plan, the national goal isto maintain the quality of surface water at the 1996 level.Further planning is in process. An action plan for communitypollution control will have to be completed for the twenty-fiveriver basins in Thailand. In addition, an emergency plan toprevent and mitigate toxic water pollution has to be undertaken.ConclusionsFrom the macro perspective, the critical problem in the basin isthe inability to manage water so as to ensure optimum andequitable use and balance benefits (and burden) among thebasin’s stakeholders. In both its institutions and thedissemination of information, the water management system isdisunified and ineffective, while water rights remain unspecified.Demand in all sectors keeps increasing as the economy expands,but water intake and economic output are unbalanced: whileagriculture represents about 80 percent of water use, it onlycontributes to 30 percent of the GDP; industry uses 10 percentof the available water resources and contributes to 60 percentof the GDP. In a basin where one third of the population lives inBangkok, urban inhabitants pay less for piped water than theproduction cost, even when the raw water cost, the cost ofmaintaining upper watershed areas and that of wastewatertreatment are not taken into account.However, these are now recognized problems and importantreforms are in process. The bureaucracy is being reformed, and acoordinating water management body is emerging (Apex Body).The Constitution has recognized the need to involve local peoplein water management, as demonstrated by the establishment ofRiver Basin Committees. The water resources law is beingdrafted, the water budget system is becoming more holistic, and,if not yet already practiced, IWRM is being introduced.Box 16.1: Development of indicatorsIt is assumed in this report that assessment can be madeonly after indicators have been developed. For this casestudy, preliminary indicators have been developed but notincluded. Following is a summary of assessment results.■ Identification of indicators and their values is subject toongoing improvement.■ Indicators and their values are area-specific. Someindicators are applicable to the whole basin, some are not.■ Each indicator has three components: a name, a targetvalue and an actual value. The target value is the desiredvalue, while the actual value is obtained from real-worldsituation. To properly assess the water situation at anylevel – global, regional, basin or other – the target valuesmust be compared to the actual values.An index for each challenge area may be developed bycombining indicators under the same challenge area. Eachindicator can be assigned a different value. From WWAP’seleven predetermined challenge areas, the Chao PhrayaRiver basin’s priorities relate to health, cities, watersharing, governance and risk management. It should benoted that these priorities are preliminary and apply tothe basin as a whole. Priorities for each sub-basin may bedifferent from these and from each other.ReferencesLohani, B.-N. et. al. 1978. Mathematical Optimization Model for Regional WaterQuality Management: A Case Study for Chao Phraya River (phase II).Consultant study by the Thailand Environmental Institute (TEI) for the PollutionControl Department (PCD) of the Ministry of Science, Technology and theEnvironment (MOSTE). Final Report No. 120. Bangkok, National EnvironmentalBoard of Thailand.Binnie & Partners (Overseas) Ltd. 1997. Chao Phraya Basin – Water ManagementStrategy. Bangkok.Bureau of the Crown Property. 2000. ‘Coordination Framework for Water ResourceManagement and Development in Chao Phraya Basin’. Working paper. Bangkok.FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization). 2000. Thailand, Natural ResourcesManagement Project. Draft preparation report, No. 00/84/CP-THA. Rome.RID (Royal Irrigation Department). 2000. Final Report on Chao Phraya Basin WaterManagement Project. Bangkok.