The Empangan Muda in Kedah is the worst hit in the country, with its storage down to just 8.37%.
Of the other dams in Kedah, Empangan Padang Saga, at 38.52% and Empangan Pedu at 41.14% are also badly in need of rain to raise their levels.
Several other dams around the country also have storage below 80% as at 6pm yesterday, according to drought monitoring portal, InfoKemarau, which is run by the Irrigation and Drainage Department (DID).
However, thresholds and responses can differ depending on the dam and local system, as factors such as intake levels, treatment capacity and demand also affect how supply is managed.
In the Klang Valley, the Selangor Water Management Authority’s (Luas) Integrated Water Resources Information Management System (IWRIMS) portal showed most major reservoirs at comfortable levels, with Sungai Selangor (79.01%) and Sungai Tinggi (79.81%) the only two listed just below 80%.
Others shown on the dashboard were above 80%, including Klang Gates (83.34%), Batu (84.68%), Langat (86.54%) and Semenyih (94.45%).
Luas said Selangor has been preparing for the expected dry period during the south-west monsoon.
ALSO READ : ‘Stop all open burning activities’
State infrastructure and agriculture executive councillor Datuk Izham Hashim stated earlier that the state government is managing dam releases and monitoring reservoir levels daily.
He said Luas could activate measures such as Operasi Pengepaman Air Kolam, including pumping from gazetted off-river storage ponds, if dam storage falls to around 80%.
