PBAPP seeks federal intervention to avert water crisis in Penang, Kedah

 

Penang Water Supply Corporation Sdn Bhd (PBAPP) has sought immediate intervention from the federal government to avert a potential water crisis in Penang and Kedah following declining levels of Sungai Muda and increasingly worrying capacity at key dams.

Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said the request involves the National Water Services Commission (Span) and the Energy Transition and Water Transformation Ministry.

Chow, who is also PBAPP and PBA Holdings Bhd (PBAHB) chairman, said the water level of Sungai Muda at Muka Sauk Lahar Tiang had remained below the safe level of 2.0m for eight consecutive days from April 22 to 29, with daily average levels ranging between 1.38m and 1.71m.

“The normal raw water abstraction rate by PBAPP from Sungai Muda is 1,119 million litres per day (MLD), while over the past eight days, the lowest abstraction was limited to 896 MLD.

“To ensure the Sungai Dua Water Treatment Plant operates at optimum capacity and to avoid a shortage of treated water supply in Penang, PBAPP has released between 58 MLD and 274 MLD from the Expanded Mengkuang Dam (EMD),” he said in a statement today.

Chow said the EMD capacity declined by 1.9 percent over the same period, from 92.1 percent to 90.2 percent, while the capacity of Beris Dam in Kedah also recorded a 4.6 percent drop within eight days, with an average daily decrease of 0.58 percent.

Sungai Muda

“Beris Dam is the only dam in Kedah capable of releasing water into the Sungai Muda system to support water supply and irrigation needs.

“If there is no heavy rainfall in the catchment areas of Beris Dam and Muda Dam in May, June and July 2026, the Sungai Muda system risks running dry,” he said.

Critical situation

Chow said there are 11 water supply intake points and nine irrigation intake points in Penang and Kedah that depend entirely on the river.

He said the situation at Muda Dam is also critical, with its capacity plunging from 84.6 percent in early January to just 8.7 percent as of yesterday, and if the downward trend continues, Beris Dam is expected to reach the critical level of 20 percent in about 55 days.

“Penang and Kedah rely on raw water sources from Sungai Muda daily to ensure sufficient water supply for millions of users, including multinational corporations and small and medium enterprises in Bayan Lepas, Prai, Batu Kawan, Mak Mandin and Kulim,” he said.

He added that cloud seeding efforts in Kedah may help, but this would not guarantee sufficient rainfall to restore dam levels to safe thresholds.

- Bernama