'Leave water in ground for the future': Malaysian scientist

New Straits Times 11 May 10;

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia should protect and properly manage all its surface water supply before resorting to groundwater, a prominent scientist has warned.

Professor Dr Chan Ngai Weng of Universiti Sains Malaysia said better management of rivers, river basins and water catchments could avert a water crisis from hitting the country.

But, he said, proper management must be complemented with sustainable consumption which Malaysians still have a lot to learn from.

"Groundwater should be left to the future generations," he said at a Water Resource Management seminar at the National Institute of Public Administration (Intan) at Bukit Kiara yesterday.

Chan was among the presenters at the first session, themed "Water Resource Management: A Crisis".

At present, 97 per cent of Malaysia's water supply comes from surface resources especially rivers.

"We still have lots of rivers. What we need to do is tell our consumers to start saving (water)," Chan said.

"We should also gazette all our water catchment areas and make recycling water mandatory."

Chan does not have an issue with small scale use of groundwater such as wells in villages. It is projects that tap groundwater on a mega scale that worries him.

"If we start mining groundwater (in a big way), there is no control.

"Even if we have to do it, we must make sure we don't use more than its recharge ability," he said.

Chan explained that the recharge ability is the time it takes the groundwater to replace what was taken out.

He warned that cities like Bangkok and Mexico city were sinking because of extensive over-pumping being carried out in these cities.

Cost-wise, groundwater is also five times more expensive than surface water.

Other speakers in the same session, Irrigation and Drainage Department, Water Resources and Hydrology division director Hanapi Mohamad Noor, Water and Energy Consumer Association secretary-general S. Piarapakaran and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Institute for Environment and Development Raja Datuk Zaharaton Raja Zainal Abidin agreed that it was timely for water management to be streamlined.


All three speakers in the seminar argued that the current framework was "too sectorial".

"Without an integrated water management, policies can't be implemented in a holistic way," Raja Zaharaton said.