Prepare for El Nino or face water crisis, govt warned

 

People filling up buckets from a water tanker during a supply cut in Selangor last year.

PETALING JAYA: Experts have urged the authorities, businesses and the public to brace for an unusually long period of dry weather beginning this July.

The hot and dry weather will be driven by the El Nino phenomenon, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.

Already, the Indonesian meteorology, climatology and geophysics agency has warned of the increased likelihood of forest fires, which have in the past produced choking haze blanketing Sumatra and drifting to Malaysia and Singapore.

Climatologist Ramzah Dambul said all major weather agencies, such as those in the US, Europe and Australia, were predicting a prolonged El Nino effect stretching from July until early 2024.

Ramzah, who heads the Institute for Development Studies in Sabah, said Malaysia and Indonesia would likely see a longer dry season than other parts of the world.

“The peak will most likely occur from October to December,” he told FMT.

Former national water services commission chairman Charles Santiago said a prolonged dry spell could lead to dry taps.

“The water companies in the states must start preparing for this now and consumers must start saving water now,” he said.

He added that a water shortage would pose challenges to efforts to put out forest and peat fires.

Association for Water and Energy Research president S Piarapakaran said a prolonged dry spell could be especially problematic for Kedah, Kelantan and Perlis since they had no reserve margin for water.

The reserve margin refers to additional treated water capacity available after meeting existing demand. An ideal reserve margin for states is 20%. Only Penang, Pahang, Perak and Terengganu have such reserves.

States with less than a 5% reserve margin will experience low water pressure or disruptions at peak hours during a dry spell.

Johor, Labuan and Negeri Sembilan have a reserve margin of between 14% and 19% while Selangor has 10% and Melaka 7.5%. Data for Sabah and Sarawak’s reserves are unavailable.

Piarapakaran told FMT that reserve margins reflected only the excess amounts of water and that supply would depend on the distribution network.

“Water supply systems in suburban, old settlements and rural areas usually do not have service reservoirs,” he said. “These locations will be severely impacted if there is a drop in water supply pressure when demand peaks.”

He said the combination of hot and dry weather and reduced water supply could affect food production since the agriculture and livestock sectors would suffer. - FMT