Despite the wariness Malaysians must feel about continued rainfall, especially after the recent east coast floods, residents in Selangor had better start praying for more rain, as dams across the state are beginning to dry up … again.
The Sungai Selangor dam, which supplies 60% of the water used in the Klang Valley has seen its water level steadily decrease since hitting a peak of 81.96% capacity on February 2. It is now at 78.93%, and still dropping.
Three other dams – Klang Gates, Langat, and Batu – all recorded drops of between two to almost 10 percent since February 2.
The decreasing water levels are sparking fears that another season of crippling water cuts are in the offing, similar to the water supply crisis last year that left more than 6 million people with unreliable taps at home.
“There is no reason to panic over the downward trend of water levels but we must not be complacent as we do not know how long this current dry spell will last,” said president of the Association of Water and Energy Research Malaysia S Piarapakaran, when speaking to The Star Online.
Piarapakaran stressed that cloud seeding operations should begin as soon as possible to induce rainfall in catchment areas.
He also urged authorities to speed up work on the Langat 2 water treatment plant currently being constructed, and to complete the Pahang-Selangor raw water transfer project. Both projects are expected to be fully operational only by the end of 2017, however.
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