Water Resources for a Sustainable Chiang Mai

The ultimate goal of the study was to assess the human disturbance in an urban system and to provide valid information for sustainable urban planning. This chapter identifies current major issues in Chiang Mai, Thailand, related to water supply and demand, wastewater management, and water quality. Existing institutional and government structures regarding environmentally sustainable development are analyzed to identify players in urban sustainable planning and development. Data obtained from the field show that the quality of surface water has been negatively affected by the urbanization of Chiang Mai. The chapter explores the nature of urban stream degradation and the relationships between this degradation and specific urban activities or “human factors”. Currently, the water supply only reacts to the demand from land development. There is not an overall plan to guide development. The authors recommend that the Chiang Mai municipality establish a water quality monitoring system, integrate water supply planning and water quality management with land use planning, and use GIS to share data and to support decision making.