The department sent some 1,200 water pumps to drought-hit areas and is excavating almost 1,000 canals and waterways. It has repaired and built new water tanks in several villages.

The department dispatched more than 850 tankers to supply drought-affected communities, he said.

All this has cost Bt327.6 million, he added.

Meanwhile, Royal Irrigation Department chief Samart Chokanapitak Saturday predicted drought in 2009 could be the country's worst if next year sees a prolonged dry period.

He said weather forecasters expected low-rainfall to continue for another two to three months.

The irrigation department factors these forecasts into water-management plans. The department irrigates 27.9 million rai - including nine-million rai of farmland.

Some four million rai of farm is outside department control and it is irrigated with pumps and other means.

Dam and reservoir levels are at 78 per cent - 6 per cent more than at the same time last year, Samart said.

Buri Ram's Lam Nangrong Dam and Uthai Thani's Thap Salao Dam were below 40 per cent, while the Mool, Yom and upper Nan river basins were low, too, he added.

Satun, Phang Nga, Phuket, Krabi and Ranong provinces were forecast to receive the lowest rainfall.

In related news, all districts of Uthai Thani except Muang Uthai Thani were declared disaster zones. More than 90 forest fires had damaged 4,231 rai - mostly in the Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary.

Central region royal rainmaking office director Akane Boonlert said it was helping 11 provinces.

It is working to increase water levels at the Thap Salao and Huai Khun Kaew dams in Lan Sak and Huay Khot districts of Uthai Thani. Its efforts have produced 22 millimetres of rain in the province and added 130,000 cubic metres of water to the Thap Salao Dam.

The Nation