Malaysia: Heavy rainfall during flood season fills up Johor dams

CHUAH BEE KIM New Straits Times 1 Feb 17;

JOHOR BARU: Continuous rainfall during the recent floods has greatly improved the water levels at three Johor dams that had faced critically low levels last year.

SAJ Holdings Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Abdul Wahab Abdul Hamid said the water level at the Layang dam in Pasir Gudang stands at 24.3m today compared to its critical level of 23.5m. He said the Lebam dam in Kota Tinggi is 13.7m against its critical level of 12.27m. Meanwhile, the Congok dam in Mersing registered 5.40m against its critical level of 4.5m.

"The water levels of all the dams in the state have stabilised due to continuous rain.

The levels at three dams that had been most critical last year have improved. "For instance, the storage level of water in the Layang dam is 60 per cent filled up.

"This enables us to store more water in times of drought," he said after flagging off a team of 20 SAJ staff on a three-day humanitarian mission and flood technical survey heading to Segamat from the SAJ Holdings headquarters here today.


Downpours help to fill Johor dams
ZAZALI MUSA The Star 2 Feb 17;

JOHOR BARU: Heavy rain during the current monsoon season has brought relief as three dams in Pasir Gudang, Kota Tinggi and Mersing are now filled to the brim.

SAJ Holdings Sdn Bhd corporate communications head Jamaluddin Jamil said they were Sungai Layang dam in Masai, Pasir Gudang, Sungai Lebam dam in Kota Tinggi and Congok dam in Mersing.

“If we can store more raw water in the three dams ahead of dry months, we could avoid the scheduled water rationing (SWR) exercise practised back in 2015 and 2016,” said Jamaluddin when contacted on Tuesday.

He said downpours in the last week of last month also resulted in higher water levels at most rivers in the state; hence SAJ could conduct raw water transfer project from the rivers into the dams.

Jamaluddin said that there were 44 water intakes in the state comprising dams and rivers and that all water levels at the dams and the rivers had stabilised.

“In fact, some of the dams and the rivers overflowed during the downpour and we had to release the water,” he added.

Jamaluddin said SAJ was fully prepared in case the water level at the dams and the rivers was low during the dry season and would ensure minimum inconvenience to consumers.

SAJ implemented the SWR exercise for 641,495 domestic and industrial consumers in three districts from Aug 16 to Sept 15, 2015.

The one-month long exercise was implemented following the water levels at the Sungai Layang dam in Masai, Pasir Gudang and Sungai Lebam dam in Kota Tinggi reaching critical levels.

The Sungai Layang dam supplies water to 575,000 users in Pasir Gudang and Masai, mostly industrial users, and parts of Johor Baru.

The Sungai Lebam dam channels water to about 664,495 users in Mukim Tanjung Surat, Mukim Pantai Timur and parts of Kota Tinggi.

The month-long SWR was extended until Dec 30, 2015 due to the critical water levels at both dams and normal water supply resumed on Dec 31 that year.

The SWR started in Kota Tinggi and Mersing on April 18, 2016, affected 85,000 consumers after water levels at the four water treatment plants in the two districts reached critical stage.

The plants involve those in Lok Heng and Sungai Gembut in Kota Tinggi, and Sungai Mersing and Tenglu in Mersing.

The month-long exercise was extended until end of the third week of October last year and normal water supply in the two districts resumed on the last week of October 2016.