Water crisis in the Klang Valley

The Klang Valley in Malaysia is having a water crisis.  The last few weeks have been exceptionally dry. The maximum daily temperature has risen to above 36 degrees Celsius from a norm of 34 degrees and below.  Humidity has also dropped to below 40% from a norm of 75%+.  The land is becoming parched.  Trees are dropping their leaves in exceptional  quantities.  Grass on the road sides is drying up.    Occasionally, bush fires will break out.  Peat fires that burn for a long-time  area also becoming more common. The dams water levels are decreasing and getting closed to critical levels. Pressures in the water mains are dropping, and some areas do not have water supply for a few weeks now.  Rainwater collection systems no longer work as there is no rain.  

And so, the clarion call goes out.  We must reduce the use of water.  Malaysian per-capital  use of 226 liters per days is one of the highest in the world.  Never mind, that our annual rainfall of 2000 to 3000 mm is also one of the highest in the world.  Washing cars, watering the lawn and gardens are now prohibited.  All water must be conserved for the use of HUMANS. 

These are intuitive human actions, and politically correct as well.  Humans must be supplied with potable water at all cost.  Industries must also have their water supply as they are important for the economy.  However, what about the water required to sustain our ecosystems?  At the first sign of a crisis, do we abandon the ecosystems when it is most needed.  The leaves of plants absorb the Sun’s radiant energy and convert them into biomass.  With evapotranspiration, energy from the atmosphere is absorbed through the latent heat of evaporation to reduce the air temperature and increase the humidity.  These and other eco-services help to sustain life on earth.  

When plants, dead or alive, burn it adds heat into the atmospheric.   This in turn reduces humidity and the possibility of rainfall.  The loss of the benefits of photosynthesis may be difficult to quantify but certainly very important. These and others serve to aggravate the heat and dry weather situation.  

In the past, our rivers are meandering and the water does not rush out into the sea.  The drains and culverts are not concrete lined and there are fewer paved and covered areas.  Wetlands and low-lying areas are not drained and filled for our so-called development.  This allows surface water to be retained and more opportunities for the water table to be recharged.   Our development increased the surface-water  flow.  This increases the capacity required of our rivers and to do so, rivers have not only been widened, deepen but also straighten. Unfortunately, the detrimental effects of our actions are not immediately obvious. 

Our prescribed reactions may not be best for the situation.  Watering plants and taking care of the plant environment may not be a bad thing.  We need to apply systems thinking to understand the situation better in our own context.

KK Aw

March 2014