Heavy rainfall, but Sungai Selangor dam level still low
Syed Iylia Hariz Al-Qadri Syed IzmanPublished: Sep 26, 2014 8:18 AM | Updated: Sep 26, 2014 3:41 PM
Selangor is experiencing heavy rainfall, which is normal at this time of the year, but the water level at the Sungai Selangor dam is still low.
Selangor is experiencing heavy rainfall, which is normal at this time of the year, but the water level at the Sungai Selangor dam is still low.
This has raised questions among some NGOs. They are wondering why the heavy rain over the past couple of weeks has only increased the water level at the dam to 34.7 percent, just two percent higher than last month’s reading of 32.03 percent.
The NGOs are asking why the water level is at 34.7 percent (as of 8am today, Sept 26), just above the critical level, when the Meteorological Department statistics show the average rainfall in Selangor to be more than 200mm up to yesterday.
Association of Water and Energy Research Malaysia (Awer) president S Piarapakaran expressed concern and said the authorities should commission a study to understand the changes taking place in the catchment areas.
“Reviewing the function of the Sungai Selangor dam is something that can be done; in fact it should be done periodically for a major dam such as this. The rainfall pattern around the catchment area as well as the change in land use around the catchment area are some of the parameters that should be studied.
“Change in land use severely affects the ability to fill up dams as observed in many dams in Malaysia. This situation can worsen if the rainfall pattern is not predictable,” he told Bernama.
Piarapakaran also said that due to the current tight supply-demand situation for treated water, dependency on raw water from the Sungai Selangor dam was always high.
“When it rains, the dam fills up slowly but when there is no rainfall for a few days, the water from the dam has to be released. That is why the dam level is not increasing quickly at the moment,” he said.
Water Association of Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya (SWAn) president Aldric Loong Kim Yew expressed surprise that despite the heavy rainfall in August and September, the Sungai Selangor dam level was just above the critical point.
“Over the last few years, there has been some rain but it keeps falling in the wrong areas, and that is why the level of the Sungai Selangor dam could not rise.
“Is it because we have actually damaged nature; we have been cutting down a lot of trees and levelling hills. The government should start doing research on the pattern of the rain and even the topography of the catchment area to see the possibilities to resolve this problem,” he said.
The Sungai Selangor dam supplies water to 60 percent of households in the Klang Valley and Putrajaya, and it is difficult for the public to understand why it has not reached the safe level of 55 percent.
Average rainfall more than 200mm
Meteorological Department statistics show that the average rainfall in Selangor has been more than 200mm up to yesterday (Sept 25), which is considered normal at this time of the monsoon season.
“There has been much rain. Usually, during the southwest monsoon season, the average rainfall is between 150mm and 250mm. The records up to last Tuesday show a rainfall distribution of 200mm in Selangor.
“In early October, we will enter the inter-monsoon period when the average rainfall is expected to be between 300mm and 350mm,” said meteorological officer Dr Mohd Hisham Mohd Anip of the National Weather Centre, Meteorological Department.
He said that in the month of September, the meteorological weather radar showed only a few occasions of heavy rainfall in the Sungai Selangor dam and the catchment area.
- Bernama
This has raised questions among some NGOs. They are wondering why the heavy rain over the past couple of weeks has only increased the water level at the dam to 34.7 percent, just two percent higher than last month’s reading of 32.03 percent.
The NGOs are asking why the water level is at 34.7 percent (as of 8am today, Sept 26), just above the critical level, when the Meteorological Department statistics show the average rainfall in Selangor to be more than 200mm up to yesterday.
Association of Water and Energy Research Malaysia (Awer) president S Piarapakaran expressed concern and said the authorities should commission a study to understand the changes taking place in the catchment areas.
“Reviewing the function of the Sungai Selangor dam is something that can be done; in fact it should be done periodically for a major dam such as this. The rainfall pattern around the catchment area as well as the change in land use around the catchment area are some of the parameters that should be studied.
“Change in land use severely affects the ability to fill up dams as observed in many dams in Malaysia. This situation can worsen if the rainfall pattern is not predictable,” he told Bernama.
Piarapakaran also said that due to the current tight supply-demand situation for treated water, dependency on raw water from the Sungai Selangor dam was always high.
“When it rains, the dam fills up slowly but when there is no rainfall for a few days, the water from the dam has to be released. That is why the dam level is not increasing quickly at the moment,” he said.
Water Association of Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya (SWAn) president Aldric Loong Kim Yew expressed surprise that despite the heavy rainfall in August and September, the Sungai Selangor dam level was just above the critical point.
“Over the last few years, there has been some rain but it keeps falling in the wrong areas, and that is why the level of the Sungai Selangor dam could not rise.
“Is it because we have actually damaged nature; we have been cutting down a lot of trees and levelling hills. The government should start doing research on the pattern of the rain and even the topography of the catchment area to see the possibilities to resolve this problem,” he said.
The Sungai Selangor dam supplies water to 60 percent of households in the Klang Valley and Putrajaya, and it is difficult for the public to understand why it has not reached the safe level of 55 percent.
Average rainfall more than 200mm
Meteorological Department statistics show that the average rainfall in Selangor has been more than 200mm up to yesterday (Sept 25), which is considered normal at this time of the monsoon season.
“There has been much rain. Usually, during the southwest monsoon season, the average rainfall is between 150mm and 250mm. The records up to last Tuesday show a rainfall distribution of 200mm in Selangor.
“In early October, we will enter the inter-monsoon period when the average rainfall is expected to be between 300mm and 350mm,” said meteorological officer Dr Mohd Hisham Mohd Anip of the National Weather Centre, Meteorological Department.
He said that in the month of September, the meteorological weather radar showed only a few occasions of heavy rainfall in the Sungai Selangor dam and the catchment area.
- Bernama
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