Selangor dithers on fallback despite drop in water levels

By admin-s On Apr 3, 2014

(MMO) – Although the water levels in dams around Selangor continue to drop, the state government says it does not have a contingency plan.

Menteri Besar (Selangor) Incorporated chief executive officer Faekah Husin said a contingency plan will only be discussed when a water emergency is declared.

“We have not reached a critical level yet, therefore there is no need of a back-up plan,” she said.

Selangor Water Management Authority (LUAS) had reportedly said a water emergency will be declared if the water levels is below 30 per cent.

Yesterday, Malay Mail reported talks of a Phase Five water rationing were underway and rationing may be stretched until the end of the year as reserves were depleting.

However, Faekah dismissed the claims saying the state government is confident water levels at dams in the state would reach 55 per cent by the end of this month.

“The rainy season has begun and the dams are increasing by one to two per cent daily.

“Unless the dams do not reach 55 per cent by April 30, then we will discuss the next move or Phase Five of water rationing,” she said.

Faekah, who was the former political secretary of Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim, insisted the state government had taken steps to look for new water sources through the launch of the Hybrid Off River Augmentation System (Horas). The first phase of Horas will be up and running by July next year.

“While we wait for Langat 2 which will take 36 months to complete, we have the Horas project on the way and will take a shorter time to complete,” she said.

Faekah said it was not easy for the state to launch the Horas project earlier as it is a new technology of “off river storage” and “horizontal collector well” concepts and the delay was also due to ongoing water-restructuring-related issues.

Two weeks ago, the water level at Sungai Selangor was at 39.12 per cent and it dropped to 36.67 per cent yesterday.

As of yesterday, the levels at Klang Gates, Langat, and Sungai Tinggi dams stood at 50.04, 48.74 and 68.71 per cent respectively.