Water levels at 37 of the 49 major dams supplying raw water to treatment plants across Peninsular Malaysia and the Federal Territory of Labuan remain normal despite El Niño weather conditions, the National Water Services Commission (SPAN) said yesterday [1, 2, 3, 4].
SPAN reported that nine dams are currently at warning levels and one, the Sungai Pagar Dam in Labuan, is at a critical level [5, 1, 2, 3, 4]. Two other dams, Jus Dam in Melaka and Labong Dam in Johor, are at alert levels [5, 1, 2, 3, 4].
The nine dams at warning levels include Muda and Ahning in Kedah; Upper Layang, Lower Layang, Lebam, Gunung Pulai 1, Gunung Pulai 2, and Pontian Kechil in Johor; and Timah Tasoh in Perlis [5, 1, 2, 3, 4]. Johor has the largest number of affected dams, with six at warning level and one at alert level [5].
Timah Tasoh Dam improved from critical to warning level after rainfall and the pumping of water from a nearby pond increased its storage volume, SPAN said. "Timah Tasoh Dam, which had previously remained at the critical level for an extended period, has now improved to the warning level following some rainfall and the pumping of water from the pond into the dam, which helped increase its water storage volume," SPAN said [5, 1].
On August 26, SPAN held a meeting with the Energy Transition and Water Transformation Ministry (PETRA) and water operators to coordinate preparedness and mitigation efforts for dams at alert, warning, and critical stages [1, 2, 3, 4]. Measures under consideration include optimizing raw water use, coordinating dam and treatment plant operations, activating alternative water sources, monitoring demand in high-risk areas, and implementing scheduled water supply if necessary [1, 2, 3, 4].
If the situation worsens, water supply restrictions or reductions may be implemented but only with ministerial approval and if other measures fail to extend raw water availability, according to SPAN. "Such measures will only be considered when other mitigation and resource management measures are no longer sufficient to extend the resilience period of raw water resources," SPAN said [2, 3, 4].
SPAN’s dam-level monitoring system provides early warnings aimed at preventing interruptions to household water supply [5]. Meanwhile, the Perlis government is preparing cloud-seeding options for Timah Tasoh Dam subject to weather conditions [5].
