Monitoring Land Subsidence: The Challenges of Producing Knowledge and Groundwater Management Indicators in the Bangkok Metropolitan Region, Thailand

Abstract

Multiple major coastal cities face the threat of sea level rise with global climate change. This vulnerability can be further exacerbated by local contexts of urbanization and flood management. Land subsidence caused by groundwater over-extraction has long been identified as a factor that exposes cities to the threat of submergence through its interaction with the sea’s tidal regime or a river basin’s precipitation pattern and flood regime. Decision-making in regards to environmental issues such as land subsidence ultimately relies on monitoring data to frame the problem and formulate policies accordingly. Thus, in examining how subsidence has been shaped into a scientific reality in the Bangkok Metropolitan Region, this article reviews the limits and uncertainties of subsidence monitoring tools and their associated indicators for risk management (safe yield, piezometric level, and subsidence rate). Our analysis of existing technical reports, supported by interviews conducted with key actors involved in the processes of knowledge production and policy-making, has pointed out how such uncertainties give way to varied interpretations of these indicators, which continue to fuel the debate concerning the establishment of a safe yield for groundwater management. Furthermore, our research has also revealed that the monitoring of land subsidence has been receiving less priority due to institutional challenges within concerned governmental agencies. Ultimately, we argue that in order to use the resource sustainably, it is crucial to keep monitoring groundwater overdraft in the neighboring provinces of Bangkok to diligently anticipate long-term flooding risks associated with the changing hydrogeological regime of the delta.