Banphueng Groundwater bank leaning center aims to provide basic understanding of water resources (groundwater in particular) to farmers, local people, as well as private and government agencies.
Banphueng sub district's local government started a groundwater bank in their area in December 2017 with the help of AGS (American Groundwater Solution) and Siripanyou Foundation (non-profit). Together they implement the artificial recharge techniques to help fix water problems in their area such as flooding, freshwater supply shortage, and improving shallow aquifer capacity to use for agriculture sector.
The project involved 15 artificial recharge ponds between 2017-2018 throughout the area. the project became so successful that they are planning to expand an additional 15 recharge ponds by 2020.
Not just artificial recharge techniques, the Ban Phueng team also created the education system to raise awareness and teach its citizens about their impact on the environment. The watershed protection program has also been implemented to help local citizens understand how important it is to keep their water supply resources and their recharge ponds clean and free of pesticide and harmful chemicals.
In 2018-2019, they started to see improvement of water levels in their groundwater wells across the region. This is very important as most of the local citizens rely on groundwater as the primary water source during the dry season. In monsoon season it also reduces flood time as these recharge ponds help percolate water into the ground faster. The result of this allows the farmers to have enough water to use for irrigation and domestic use during the long period of dry season.
In December 2019, the Thailand Office of National Water Resources (ONWR) also took interested in the project and visited the site. The Banphueng team presented the ongoing project and its benefits. The ONWR also gave their compliments to the small local government agencies like Banphueng, who are able to find solutions to water problems on their own.
Banphung's team also signed an MOU with AGS team to help set up an education center not just for their citizens, but to help others who struggle with water problems across the country. So far there are over 120 local government agencies and countless private sector who come to learn the Groundwater Bank technique from our learning center.
The success of the project can be contributed to the chief executive Mr. Pitak Toryod and his staff, and the most important thing of all is the participation from everyone in the Sub District.