c



 



 



MENTION that we have two rivers flowing through the heart of Kuala Lumpur and most
people would, after some thought, reply: ³Oh, you mean those huge monsoon drains.´

They may be forgiven for saying so if our rivers no longer look like rivers. Engineering-
driven solutions to riverbank erosion and flooding only show the futility of trying to
manipulate nature.

Engineering fixes that promote straightening and widening of a river, with little
understanding of its morphology and hydrology, have resulted in poorly conceptualised
flood mitigation measures.

Nature has a way of fighting back, and concrete banks are washed away. In the end more
money has to be spent to rehabilitate collapsed riverbanks.

Under a new blueprint, the Drainage and

Irrigation Department (DID) has, among
other strategies, proposed the re-
meandering of rivers wherever applicable.

³We¶re looking at the possibility of

removing the concrete as much as possible.
We are moving away from concrete-lining
our rivers and looking at more holistic and
integrated ways to manage our rivers,´ says
DID director-general Datuk Keizrul
O
 
  


 Abdullah. Keizrul was speaking at the East

  
 
 Asia Regional Seminar on River

  
 


Restoration in Kuala Lumpur last month.

The DID¶s new vision calls for a paradigm shift in the way rivers are being managed. The
agency, whose main function is to mitigate floods, finds that it can no longer keep on
widening and deepening rivers to improve their carrying capacity.

³We have been identifying flood-prone areas since 1971, and trying to solve the problem
but it is a never-ending quest. Over the years new development has cropped up and new
flood-prone areas have emerged. We simply cannot continue with this system,´ laments
Keizrul.

In the meantime, the DID had responded in various ways. Ponds to retain floodwater
were constructed at places before the river reaches a bottleneck and bunds were erected to
protect low-lying areas. In January 2001, an urban storm water management manual was
introduced, compelling developers to submit water retention plans to control excessive
run-offs at source.

Under the Eighth Malaysia Plan, the department has been allocated RM1.5bil to carry out
flood relief plans but Keizrul says this is nowhere near the RM10bil needed to solve the
problem. The DID will be asking for a bigger allocation during the mid-term review.

Choking rivers

Deforestation, dam construction, silt from construction sites, industrial discharges and
dumping of solid wastes have greatly undermined the capacity of our rivers to carry
excessive run-offs to the sea.

According to the Department of Environment¶s (DOE) Water Quality Index for 2000, 52
river basins were polluted with suspended solids resulting from poorly planned and
uncontrolled land clearing activities; 18 river basins had low oxygen levels resulting from
industrial discharges; and 33 river basins were polluted with ammoniacal nitrogen from
animal husbandry activities and domestic
sewage disposal.

In his seminar paper titled '
 






   



 DOE¶s assistant
director (river section) Dr Zulkifli Abdul
Rahman says most of the pollution is
caused by the disposal of partially treated
or untreated human and animal wastes.

³The sources of pollution have remained

for years, negating the efforts made to
improve the quality of our river water,´    
 

says Zulkifli. 
 








 
 
   

 
  

 


³What is even more alarming is the 


declining trend in the number of clean

rivers over a 10-year period from 1990 to 2000. There were 48 clean rivers in 1990; in
2000 there were only 34 clean rivers.´

Zulkifli points out that the centralised sewage treatment system is often inadequate and
serves only a small percentage of the city.

However, the Government has expressed the need for upgrading works to continue and
new sewerage treatment plants to be built under the Third Outline Perspective Plan
(2001-2010).
Increasing industrialisation has also caused a shift in pollution sources from agro-based
chemicals to industrial-based pollutants. This brings with it a new set of environmental
problems such as toxic and hazardous wastes which find their way into our waterways
and can be passed on to humans through the consumption of fish and crustaceans
harvested from polluted rivers and streams.

Zulkifli points out that the manufacturing sector is not subjected to any licensing
mechanism which compells them to install pollution control devices.

³Environmental compliance varies from industry to industry,´ observes Dr Zulkifli,

adding that alternative options such as cleaner production, waste minimisation and waste
re-utilisation are being emphasised.

³By and large, industries are still hesitant about adopting cleaner production measures. A
few industries would rather pay fines than improve their in-house production or effluent
treatment capacity. Enforcement must be stepped up in the years to come to ensure that
our river water quality does not deteriorate further.´

ital link

DID¶s Keizrul laments that since our water supply comes from pipes, we seem to have
forgotten that rivers are our source of water, and have turned them into convenient
conduits for the disposal of domestic, commercial, industrial and agricultural wastes.

³We have exploited our rivers beyond

sustainable levels, and in many places,
what is left is a degraded river system.
The river becomes polluted and devoid
of aquatic life; it gets silted up and
cannot perform its function as a
drainage channel,´ says Keizrul.

³In many countries in East Asia,

flooding has become a prevalent
problem in towns and cities, causing
social and economic losses. Lives are
˜
 

   



    


 lost, and land and property damaged.


!

³Restoring rivers is not cheap. If we do

not act now and put into place strategies and programmes to conserve and preserve our
rivers, future options to bring nature back to our rivers would be even costlier.´

DID embarked on its first clean-up with the Klang River in 1992. The following year saw
the launch of the ongoing nationwide =
'
campaign. Sadly, the clean-up
never ends.
Keizrul admits there is little or no evaluation of the campaign. ³We do not know the
exact impact but without it, I think our rivers will be worse off.´

Thanks to the campaign, the Klang River has been desilted, animal farms relocated,
programmes to bring fish life back in the upper catchment areas were carried out, and
thrash booms were placed in the lower reaches of the river.

Besides the Klang River, the DID has started cleaning up the Penang River under a
RM3mil allocation for phase one of the project which kicked off last year. There is also
an ongoing project to remove organic pollutants from Sungai Melaka in Langkawi.

The DID¶s broad-based strategies also serve to ensure a continuous supply of clean water
for the country as 98% of our water comes from rivers. The remaining 2% is from
groundwater.

For a developing country like Malaysia, having sufficient water is pivotal to its overall
economic growth. In fact, the domestic and industrial water demands are expected to
increase by 60% from 9.5mil litres per day (mld) in 1995 to 15.3mld in 2010, and by 113%
to 20.3mld in 2020, says Zulkifli.

³Problems related to water such as water shortages could impede social and economic
progress as set out under the national development plans. Apart from the need to adhere
to good water conservation habits, the growing demands will exert further pressure for
additional supplies of water,´ he adds.

jeed for conservation

For a country that records 3,000mm rainfall per year with 57% of surface runoffs,
Malaysia is certainly in a position to halt the impending water shortage crisis if sound
water conservation methods and incentives are given the right priority as national
policies.

Instead, we are looking at new projects to generate new sources of water, such as the
controversial inter-state piping project to transport water from Pahang to Selangor.

Keizrul reckons that Selangor can still remain a water-sufficient state despite rapid
economic growth if it can be ensured of clean water from its own rivers.

³For this to happen, we must get the full support of the Selangor populace, the
industrialists and all the relevant government agencies. If the people realise that there is
no lasting solution other than to conserve their own water source, they will stop the
pollution,´ says Keizrul.

Another not so well explored method of water conservation is recycling, says Faizal
Parish, executive director of Global Environment Centre, a PJ-based non-governmental
organisation that is promoting river restoration globally.
³There is virtually no effort by industrial and domestic users to recycle used water. When
we look for alternatives, we have to ask if the solution is cost-effective. Recycling is
cheaper than sourcing for new water sources.

³Some countries such as the Philippines give incentives to households to save water. The
benefits from recycling water are widespread and do not benefit a single enterprise. It
could well be the impetus for the development of a whole new technology-based industry
with expertise and products which could be exported,´ adds Faizal.

Like many developing countries which are facing the ill-effects of development,
Malaysia is turning to a more sustainable method in river management: the Integrated
River Basin Management (IRBM), a concept which looks into the whole river system
from its headwaters to its middle course, associated lakes and floodplains, right down to
where the river empties itself into the sea at the estuary.

Worldwide, poor management of land and water resources in many river basins has led to
major floods, water shortages, pollution and loss of biodiversity, says Faizal whose
organisation has adopted IRBM as one of its worldwide programmes.

³There is need for an integrated approach to river basin management which incorporates
ecosystem values, functions and services. Restoration of rivers, wetlands and biodiversity
in Asia is still in an experimental stage,´ says Faizal.

³The three main areas in river restoration are catchment protection or rehabilitation,
restoration of river and floodplains, and estuarine restoration.

Sungai Selangor was selected to serve as a pilot project for the IRBM system in the
country. A pioneering institution, the Selangor Water Management Authority was formed
to carry out a four-year restoration programme, starting last October.

While the Malaysian project has just taken off, elsewhere the IRBM system has brought
about remarkable results.

In his paper, '
'
'  

 

  Faizal cited the
Tarim River restoration work in China which had successfully restored flow in the lower
reaches of the dried-up river and halted expansion of the desert within two years after the
five-year project kicked off in 2000.

The Tarim, which runs 2,100km through the Xinjiang Autonomous Region in western
China, had for the past 40 years been experiencing a sharp reduction in water flow in its
middle and lower basins, and intensified desertification which ate into its poplar
woodland.

Faizal attributed the environmental degradation to poor water resource management.

Opening up of farmlands and population growth in the upper reaches had increased the
demand for irrigation water, resulting in reduced water volumes in the mainstream Tarim
and the drying up of 320km of the river channel in the lower reaches for nearly 20 years.

³The restoration includes enhancing integrated water resources management, developing

and promoting water saving techniques, constructing river banks and restoring natural
vegetation,´ explains Faizal.

³A sliding scale was introduced for water charges, depending on the implementation of
water-saving devices by the farmers. Wasteful farmers had to pay more for the water they
use.´

After two years, water began to flow in some of the dry tributaries such as the Peacock
River, and last year, water reached Taitema lake for the first time in 30 years.

³This is one of the most successful schemes to restore flow in a dried river,´ adds Faizal.
³However, more work is needed to assess whether the biodiversity of the restored system
will recover without direct intervention.´

˜nternational Year of Freshwater 2003

THE International Year of Freshwater was declared by the United Nations General
Assembly on Dec 20, 2000, to galvanise action on the critical water problems the world
faces.

The International Year comes at an important time, just as world leaders have agreed on
key targets to tackle water and sanitation problems for the 1.2 billion people without
access to safe drinking water and the 2.4 billion people who lack proper sanitation ± an
agreement reached at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg
last September.

It aims to increase awareness of the importance of sustainable freshwater use,

management and protection.

It also calls upon governments, national and international organisations, non-

governmental organisations and the private sector to make voluntary contributions and to
lend other forms of support to the Year.

The International Year of Freshwater is being jointly coordinated by the United Nations
Department of Economic and Social Affairs and the United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organisation.

Global importance of rivers

Energy: Hydropower is the most important and widely-used renewable source of energy;
it represents 19% of total electricity production.
griculture: Almost 70% of all available freshwater (river, groundwater, aquifers) is
drained for agriculture.

˜ndustry: The annual water volume used by industries will rise from 752cu.km per year
in 1995 to an estimated 1,170cu.km per year in 2025. In 2025, the industrial component
is expected to represent about 24% of total freshwater withdrawal.

Domestic use: Households, drinking water and sanitation account for about 8% of water
consumption.

Global degradation of river basins

Energy: Worldwide there are now about 45,000 large dams in operation. Collectively,
they¶ve inundated more than 400,000sqkm of mostly productive land ± an area the size of
California. One-fifth of the world¶s freshwater fish are now endangered or extinct.

griculture: Poor drainage and irrigation practices have led to saline build-up in about
30 million ha of the world¶s 240 million ha of irrigated land. A combination of
salinisation and waterlogging affects another 80 million ha. Over-pumping of
groundwater by the world¶s farmers exceeds natural replenishment by at least 160 billion
cu.m a year.

˜ndustry: Some 300 million to 500 million tonnes of heavy metals, solvents, toxic sludge
and other wastes accumulate each year from industries. In developing countries, 70% of
all industrial waste is dumped untreated into waters where it pollutes the water supply.