Dry spell: Contingency plans already in place, says Vivian Balakrishnan

Eileen Poh Channel NewsAsia 6 Mar 15;

SINGAPORE: Contingency plans for dry weather are already in place, with authorities stepping up desalination and NEWater production about a month ago, said Environment and Water Resources Minister Vivian Balakrishnan to reporters on the sidelines of a community event on Friday (Mar 6), where he was asked about plans to deal with the ongoing dry spell.

"We are running at about 70 per cent of our maximum capacity right now. And we are using that to maintain the levels of our reservoirs,” he said. “If we didn't do that, you would have noticed that the water levels in our reservoirs would be much lower than it is now. So in a sense, the contingency plans have been implemented."

Dr Balakrishnan also reminded Singaporeans about the importance of water conservation.

"We cannot control the weather, we cannot take things for granted, so please don't waste, be careful, be mindful about the way we use water at home, at work and also for the industries,” he said.

To cut down the demand for water, he said the Government is working with companies to leverage technologies and explore innovative methods to reduce their use of water.

In February, all areas of Singapore received below-average rainfall. The dry phase is expected to continue into next week, said the National Environment Agency (NEA) in its latest forecast.

NEA added that there may be occasional windy conditions and showers.

- CNA/ek