GEORGE TOWN: Water levels at the Sungai Muda intake in Lahar Tiang remained below the safe threshold of 2m for eight consecutive days from last Wednesday (April 22) to Wednesday, the Penang Water Supply Corporation (PBAPP) reports.
Raising concerns over the stability of raw water supply for Penang and Kedah, PBAPP said daily average levels during the period ranged between 1.38m and 1.71m, with the lowest reading of 1.27m recorded at 4.30pm on April 23.
It said that while normal raw water abstraction from Sungai Muda stands at 1,119 million litres daily (MLD), the lowest rate dropped to 896 MLD due to the low river levels.
“To ensure the Sungai Dua Water Treatment Plant operates at optimum capacity and to avoid treated water shortages in Penang, PBAPP released between 58 MLD and 274 MLD from the Expanded Mengkuang Dam,” it said in a statement on Thursday.
PBAPP added that the effective capacity of the Expanded Mengkuang Dam, which stands at 86,400 million litres, declined by 1.9%, from 92.1% on April 22 to 90.2% on Wednesday.
Despite the prolonged low levels, Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said the situation had shown signs of improvement in recent days, with readings now above the critical threshold of 1.5m.
“Although water levels had previously dropped sharply, the current trend shows an increase and it has now surpassed the critical level.
“The reading on April 28 was 1.56m, rising to 1.60m on April 29 and reaching 1.64m today,” he told reporters on Thursday.
Chow said the situation at Sungai Muda was being closely monitored, with further updates to be issued by PBAPP.
Meanwhile, PBAPP expressed concern over the rapidly declining capacity of Kedah’s Beris Dam, which it described as the only dam in the state currently capable of releasing water into the Sungai Muda system to support water supply and irrigation.
The corporation said the dam’s capacity fell from 56.5% on April 22 to 51.9% on Thursday, a 4.6% drop over eight days, or an average decline of 0.58% daily.
It warned that without heavy rainfall in the catchment areas of Beris Dam and Muda Dam between May and July, the Sungai Muda river system faces the risk of drying up.
“There are 11 water supply intakes and nine irrigation intakes in Penang and Kedah that depend fully on Sungai Muda,” it said.
PBAPP also called for immediate intervention from the National Water Services Commission (SPAN) and the Energy Transition and Water Transformation Ministry (Petra) to avert a potential water crisis in Penang and Kedah this year.
Among the key concerns highlighted was the critical state of Muda Dam, which it said was no longer functioning effectively as a major support dam for the Sungai Muda system.
PBAPP said the dam’s capacity plunged by 64.7% within 51 days, from 84.6% on Jan 1 to 19.9% on Feb 20, due to low rainfall and high irrigation releases.
“As of April 29, its capacity stood at only 8.7%,” it added.
PBAPP said if Beris Dam continues to decline at the current rate of 0.58% daily, it could reach the critical 20% level within 55 days.
Penang and Kedah rely on Sungai Muda for raw water supply to serve millions of consumers, including multinational companies and small and medium enterprises in Bayan Lepas, Prai, Batu Kawan, Mak Mandin and Kulim.
While cloud seeding operations in Kedah may help, PBAPP said there is no guarantee that sufficient rainfall will be generated to restore Beris and Muda dams to safe levels.
