According to the Office of the Eastern Economic Corridor Policy Committee, the EEC covers three provinces, Chonburi, Chachoengsao and Rayong, and has a wide range of investment development plans, including high-speed rail, U-Tapao Aerotropolis, ports, 21 industrial promotion zones, tourism promotion, existing industries and agriculture.

The population is therefore projected to rise from 3 million at present to 6 million by 2037.

Water resource management must therefore be comprehensive, efficient and sustainable, because water can generate economic benefits, support daily life and even recreation.

At the same time, however, it can also wreck an economy in the blink of an eye, as has already happened in many areas.

World Bank provides technical and academic support

At the first 1/2026 meeting of the EEC Water Multi-Stakeholder Platform, participants set out to advance policy and operational cooperation to tackle increasingly severe water challenges driven by economic expansion, climate change and continuously rising water demand.

The platform is driving water resource management in the EEC across three key dimensions: (1) bulk water supply, (2) demand management and efficiency, and (3) wastewater treatment and reuse.

Data from the Office of National Water Resources (ONWR) show that the water-use activities requiring demand analysis include water for household consumption, water for production in both agriculture and industry, as well as water to maintain ecosystems and push back saltwater intrusion.

The timeframe is set at 20 years, using 2017 as the base year, followed by 2027 and 2037, respectively.

The analysis found that total water demand across all activities in the three EEC provinces stood at 2,404.91 million cubic metres in 2017, rising to 2,777.68 million cubic metres in 2027 and 2,977.55 million cubic metres in 2037.

Over the first 10 years, demand across all activities increases by 372.77 million cubic metres from the base year, while over the second 10 years it rises by a further 199.87 million cubic metres from the first decade, bringing the total increase from 2017 to 572.64 million cubic metres.