Water

Country Water Action: Thailand
Flourishing Local Innovation Keeps the Peace in Samut Songkram
(April 2005)

By Floyd Whaley
External Relations Specialist, ADB

• Different water needs
• First solution: not the right mix
• Local residents find the answer
• Spreading the good news

Along a rough road in this province south of Bangkok, Leon Khunnuch recalls a day not long ago when he had to rush his family indoors due to arguments, and sometimes violence, that broke out along the river near his home in Samut Songkram.

"People from the same village were fighting over the river water," he says. "They are neighbors but they use the water differently. It was a dangerous situation."

Khunnuch's farm sits along a vital sluice gate in the Maeklong River that separates upstream freshwater from the seawater downstream, where the tributary dumps into the Gulf of Thailand. The gate regulates the mix of saltwater and fresh water in the area.

Rice and vegetable farmers upstream need plenty of freshwater for their crops, while shrimp farmers need seawater. Fish pond operators like Khunnuch use a brackish mix of the two.

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The sluice gate near Khunnuch's home was one of 10 installed more than 20 years ago to regulate the mix of river water flowing into the more than 300 canals in the area that feed into local farms.

But the gate was problematic from the beginning, officials said. It opened from the bottom, which brought in sediment that damaged downstream fish ponds. It also virtually eliminated the brackish flow in the area and left just salty or fresh water.

"This is a wetland where canals flow heavily in both directions and people are using all types of water," said Surajit Chirawate, President of the Samut Songkram Chamber of Commerce. "Due to the design of the gate, the brackish ecosystem disappeared and that is a rich environment to lose."

According to Surajit, the gate needed to be partially opened in order to create the right mix of fresh and salty water. "But the gate wasn't flexible enough. You could either open the gate or close it. You could not partially open it." To make matters worse, there was no organized management of when the gates would be opened or closed. That triggered many of the arguments.

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In 2002, members of the community came together to seek a solution. This took place as a national Integrated Water Resources Management program was underway in Thailand that sought to encourage grassroots management of water issues in the country. Countries worldwide have been making similar attempts since the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development called for all nations to adopt such plans by 2005.

After six months of discussions, residents of Samut Songkram came up with a solution. They modified the design of the gate so that it could open at both the top and bottom. This allowed water to flow through without bringing the sediment downstream that damaged the shrimp farms. It also allowed water to overflow naturally both ways through openings in the top of the gate so that it didn't have to be manually opened or closed, which could trigger arguments.

Because the new gates allow some water to flow through, without opening the entire gate, it has created a brackish environment and new farms have sprung up. The sediment that used to flow through is now accumulated and made into fertilizer used by area farmers. Today, Leon Khunnuch tends to dozens of fish ponds spread along lush green fields behind his home. In the dark, brackish water, a tasty breed of fish flourishes.

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In Thailand, and many countries around the world, water management solutions have traditionally come from national government experts. This gate design was crafted locally using local expertise and the traditional wisdom of farmers. Thailand's Royal Irrigation Department examined the design and approved its use.

After installation of the gate, and its success in both managing the canal water and decreasing conflict on the river, the Royal Irrigation Department began examining its potential applications in other parts of the country.

"They have come up with a local solution that could work on a national level," said Wipada Ruamsuwan, with Thailand's Department of Water Resources. "That is the benefit of community involvement in water management issues."