Author(s): Chow Hock Lim; Fang Yenn Teo
Linked Author(s): Chow Hock Lim, Fang Yenn Teo
Keywords: Integrated River Basin Management water assessment and allocation stakeholder participation
Abstract: Extended Abstract The findings of a desktop study carried out concerning the status and issues on the implementation of Integrated River Basin Management (IRBM) in Malaysia can be categorised under thirteen (13) main aspects; namely, policy, legislation, institution, financing, water assessment and allocation, pollution control, flood management, drought management, river basin and land use planning, river basin information system, R&D on IRBM, river basin monitoring, and stakeholder participation. Enabling Mechanisms In 2012, a National Water Resources Policy (NWRP) was formulated to guide water resources management in the country, whereby the approach in integrated river basin management will be through the adoption of IWRM principles at the river basin level. This NWRP is currently under review and has been renamed as National Water Policy (NWP). The key policy issues encountered in Malaysia are as follows: i) slow implementation of all the action plans as stated in NWP at state-level, especially for states that do not have any specific state-level water resource management policy, and ii) challenges in forging Federal/State level partnerships to implement NWP effectively due to political differences. In terms of legislation, the various matters related to water are covered under many separate and uncoordinated legislation where most of these laws are either outdated or with gaps and in some instances overlapping each other. In 2010, a draft National Water Resources Law (NWRL) was developed as a ‘model law’ to ensure uniformity for all states in Peninsular Malaysia and to supersede the current Waters Act 1920. The Federal Constitution has clearly defined the jurisdiction and alignment of the Federal and State Governments over water as a resource. States have jurisdiction over water resources and related aspects such as land, forests, agriculture, rivers, and water bodies. However, the Federal Government has jurisdiction over the following matters related to water resources - i) international treaties and agreements; ii) transboundary rivers; iii) transfer of water (if not resolved between states); iv) data, information collection and management; v) scientific research; and vi) setting of national standards, safety, and security. As for the financing mechanism, after the enactment of the Water Services Industry Act (WSIA) in 2006, the Federal Government is now responsible for managing and financing the water services sector while the state is left with the responsibility to finance and manage the water resource sector. Water Resources and Water Hazards Water assessment needs to be carried out to ascertain the available water resources in a river basin. The Federal Constitution gives the states the rights to water resources, both surface and groundwater resources. Thus, each state needs to know the amount of water resource that is available in each of its river basins for it to make decisions on its water allocation priorities. The states would also need the information to assist them in regulating and licensing the withdrawal of both the river and groundwater resources in the state. The key water assessment and allocation issues are: i) numerous ad-hoc studies on water resource assessment, ii) fragmented and non-uniform state legislation governing water allocation, and iii) water allocation in many states is not guided by an IRBM Plan and IWRM principles. Managing water pollution is one of the most critical challenges to the sustainable management of water resources. Pollution is increasing rapidly due to urbanisation, industrialisation, and population growth. The appraisal of the water quality in each river basin is based on the Water Quality Index (WQI) consisting of parameters such as dissolved oxygen (DO), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD), ammoniacal nitrogen (NH3-N), suspended solids (SS) and pH. There are 189 river systems in Malaysia of which 85 are prone to frequent flooding. Flooding has become a national issue in Malaysia as the nation’s economy and population have grown over the years and developments started to encroach into river corridors and flood plains which has resulted in increased incidences of floods. The key flood management issues are as follows: i) increased incidences and costs of flood damages due to increased development in urban areas and encroachment of development into urban river corridors, ii) uncontrolled development in flood-prone areas, and iii) impact of climate change which resulted in increased rainfall intensity. Unlike the situation in arid countries, drought is not a major issue in a tropical country like Malaysia with its abundant rainfall. However, due to the natural, annual variability of rainfall, there may be some periods in some years where a prolonged period of low rainfall may affect the amount of water stored in the dams to provide for potable and irrigation water supply in specific areas or regions. River Basin Management River basins are the natural accounting units for water management. However, political, and administrative decisions relating to water management are usually made according to jurisdictional boundaries that do not coincide with that of river basins. A river basin plan is a strategic action plan for the integrated management of the water and related land resources in the basin. The plan will normally be relevant for several years and will facilitate the co-ordination of specific works by the relevant agencies who shall incorporate the required works into their annual work plans accompanied by specified actions and detailed budgets. The key river basin and land use planning issues that have been identified are as follows: i) inadequate legislative support for IRBM-compliant land use control in the river basin, ii) land use control at the local authority level is not guided by a river basin plan, iii) inadequate technical capacity to monitor the implementation of river basin master plan and iv) loss of river biodiversity. IWRM, in the context of a river basin, is about the management of available water resources in a river basin for an optimum outcome among different competing water users. Thus, comprehensive, accurate, and timely information is necessary for objective planning, decision-making, and gaining support from competing river basin stakeholders. Deciding on what to report, to whom, and how to communicate the report to the relevant stakeholders is the most important step. However, there are still issues related to the river basin information system, such as those identified below: i) too much information but lack of useful information, ii) inappropriate selection and choice of information management tools, iii) lack of coordination in information dissemination for national-level decision making, and iv) limited access to the public despite of much promises and publicity by the various agencies. There are many issues related to IRBM that need additional research, especially in relation to the local context. This is because the R&D results and experiences from other countries cannot be applied directly to Malaysia since the local institutional and legal framework is different from those in other countries. For effective water resource management, it is essential that monitoring be carried out to assess the availability of water resources, water quality, water use, and pollution discharges in a river basin. Information management of the monitored data is additionally necessary to ensure that they are analysed and presented in the form of information products that can be used by stakeholders to make decisions. The following are the identified river basin monitoring issues: i) no annual river basin monitoring reports or publication that compiles all individual monitoring reports, such as for rainfall, stream flow, water quality, water pollution, water extraction, water consumption, floods, etc. in the form of a single “state of a river basin” annual river basin monitoring report, and ii) no report based on the river basin approach that can be disseminated to all the river basin stakeholders and be easily available at the all relevant agencies’ websites. Stakeholder participation is important because stakeholders who are interested in, and accepting of the water resource management system, can ensure its sustainable implementation on the ground. Communication with all relevant stakeholders is also important to raise the awareness of the river basin stakeholders and educate them on the benefits of their participation in the management of the river basin. Acknowledgement The authors wish to thank the Academy of Sciences Malaysia (ASM) and the Department of Irrigation and Drainage Malaysia (DID) for the permission to use the data and information for the publication of this paper. References ASM (2017) Strategic Plan for Integrated River Basin Management (IRBM) in Malaysia, Academy of Sciences Malaysia Position Paper prepared for the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, Malaysia. Published 2017. DID (2024) Department of Irrigation and Drainage Malaysia website, 2024.
Year: 2025