Flood Forecasting and Water Management System for Thailand

Thailand is often affected by very severe floods during the monsoon season. Hundreds of deaths and billions of dollars in economic losses can be caused by these events. Unfortunately, there is a lack of reliable flood data before and during the monsoon season. This leads the Thai authorities to be unable to properly plan and warn people of possible flooding. In order to help Thailand to improve flood management, the Thai Ministry of Science and Technology asked DHI to assist Hydro and Agro Informatics Institute (HAII) to develop a flood forecasting and management decision support system (DSS). This system includes several models driven by real-time information. The system includes hydrological models, one-dimensional hydraulic models, coupled one-dimensional and two-dimensional hydraulic models and water management models. This complex DSS is implemented in DHI’s MIKE OPERATIONS platform. After successfully developing such system for the Chao Phraya River Basin, DHI was asked to extend the system to include North East (ESAN) catchments, Eastern Thailand and finally Southern Thailand. The MIKE OPERATIONS system helps protecting the whole of Thailand from flooding. This paper will take ESAN catchments as an example of the methodology used. The system provides users with forecasted levels and discharges up to 7 days in advance, allowing for short- and medium-term flood forecasting. The fast, accurate and reliable information provided by the DSS enables Thailand to issue early warnings in flood-prone areas, plan for and initiate emergency actions, conduct analyses to contain floods in reservoirs and retention basins and mitigate flood impacts.