Khlong Yai district of Trat province has declared a state of emergency on severe drought conditions in all sub-districts while the Khlong Yai Waterworks Authority has begun its water distribution to the needy areas.
Khlong Yai District Director Pawat Lertmukda announced that all sub-districts within Khlong Yai have been declared drought disaster zones in order to request emergency aid funding. The Khlong Yai Waterworks Authority has had to divide the district into 4 zones and distribute water to two of them per day on alternate days in order to conserve the limited water supplies. Authorities attributed the water shortage to the district's lack of a proper reservoir and thus pointed that it cannot utilize any of the 5,000-6,000 millimeters of rainfall occurring annually.
Manager of Khlong Yai Waterworks Kajorn Ekviriyakij disclosed that the water distribution would continue until the rainy season approaches in the next 3 months. The authority was confident that its measures will be able to stave off serious droughts and insure acceptable levels of water distribution throughout the year. Moreover, the expansion of water reservoir within the district will be constructed in 2010.