PETALING JAYA: With the possibility of no rain in sight until April, a second round of cloud seeding may be carried out to fill dams in Kedah, which are running low due to the prolonged dry and hot spell affecting several northern states.
This comes after the National Water Services Commission (SPAN) website revealed that the most critical dams in the red were Muda in Kedah, followed by Timah Tasoh in Perlis and Bukit Merah in Perak, as of yesterday.
Padang Saga, Ahning, and Beris dams in Kedah were in the yellow, hovering just above 50% of their reservoir filled.
The Muda Agricultural Development Authority (Mada) telemetry system showed that the water at the Muda dam was only 7.64% of its reservoir filled, Pedu was at 39.56% and Ahning was at 54.03%.
Kedah Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor said the state is waiting for the green light from the Meteorological Department (MetMalaysia) on the appropriate time to carry out the second cloud seeding.
“Water levels in the dams across Kedah are currently continuing to decline due to prolonged dry weather and a lack of rainfall since December last year.
“This is despite cloud seeding operations conducted on Feb 13 and 14 at Ahning, Pedu and Muda dams,” he said yesterday.
He added that water levels in the catchment areas of dams are showing a downward trend, based on current reservoir levels and rainfall distribution data from the National Water Balance Management System.
“If this situation persists, the release of water from the dams to meet domestic, industrial and agricultural demands cannot be sustained. As the hot weather conditions are expected to continue, along with low rainfall, especially in dam catchment areas, a second round of cloud seeding will be carried out,” he said.
In Kelantan, state exco Datuk Dr Izani Husin said that while there is sufficient water for domestic and industrial purposes, as well as for irrigation, the state is feeling the constraints caused by the dry and hot weather.
“At present, the production of treated water in Kelantan totals 547 million litres per day, which is sufficient to meet current demand but with no excess capacity,” he said.
He noted that Air Kelantan Sdn Bhd (AKSB) will be able to meet water demand once all seven water treatment plants in the state are fully completed in stages between 2026 and 2029.
“The current treated water production of 547 million litres per day is expected to increase to 831 million litres per day by 2029, representing a 51% increase,” he said.
In Selangor, Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari said that although there are sufficient water reserves to last through the current dry spell until the end of the year, several simulations have been conducted on potential drought scenarios affecting the state.
“Based on analysis by MetMalaysia, we will have to weather this heat as the country transitions from the East Coast Monsoon to the South-West Monsoon, which will begin in June.
“Selangor has run numerous simulations to face situations of drought and floods as part of the Selangor Water Masterplan our team is working on,” he said.
Currently, Amirudin said that the state’s water reserves are above 78% for all seven dams and off-river storage facilities, which supply water to 33 water treatment plants.
Meanwhile, several dams in Johor were in the yellow zone, namely Labong at 59.3% of its reservoir, Gunung Pulai 2 (45.51%), Upper Layang (42.85%) and Lebam (55.25%).
