Enhancing climate resilience in Thailand through effective water management and sustainable agriculture

In the Chao Phraya basin in Thailand, significant increases in the frequency of heavy rains are predicted as a result of climate change – in turn increasing the risk of severe floods.  But alongside the risk of flooding, there is also a risk of drought, caused by increasing pressure on water supplies for crops and irrigation, linked to rising temperatures.  These pressures together therefore risk leading to more frequent and intense flooding during the wet season and drought during the dry season.  This requires innovative approaches to increase the efficient use of existing water supplies and more effective flood management within the basin. 

This project aims to improve water management, food security, and the agricultural livelihoods of inhabitants in the Yom and Nam sub-river basins. It will improve water management by integrating ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) ‘green’ measures with ‘traditional’ grey infrastructure for flood control and irrigation, supported by enhanced technology and climate-informed planning and capacity development.  Activities at the household scale could directly benefit 62,000 people in the Phitsanulok, Sukhothai and Uttaradit provinces and eventually benefit some 25,000,000 inhabitants of the Greater Chao Phraya River Basin, who live within or downstream of the project area.  This will be achieved by enhanced climate and risk planning by generating tailored climate information to better inform water management and agriculture planning and by improvements to integrated planning.  In parallel, the project will boost household access to climate information and improve water management through strengthened infrastructure, including climate-informed engineering designs for the 13 schemes of the Yom-Nan river basin and upgrades to water infrastructure.