FLOOD RISK MANAGEMENT IN MALAYSIA

DERAF TEKS UCAPANKETUA PENGARAHJABATAN PENGAIRAN & SALIRAN MALAYSIA

FLOOD AND DROUGHT MANAGEMENT IN MALAYSIA(Ministry of Natural Resources & Environment)

21 June 2007

CONTENTS

1. Introduction Flood Management

2. Occurrence of Flood Events

3. Flood Relief Machinery and Organization

4. Flood Forecasting and Warning System

5. Flood Management Options (a) Structural Measures 6. Flood Management Options (b) Non-Structural Measures 7. Flood Management Emergency : Lessons from Recent Johor 2006/2007 Floods Drought Management

8. Occurrence of Drought Events

9. Drought Impact on Environment

10. Drought Impact on Agriculture 11. Drought Monitoring

12. Drought Management Options (a) Demand Reductions

13. Drought Management Options (b) System Improvements

14. Drought Management Options (c) Emergency Measures

Common Matters

15. Legislative and Institutional Issues

16. Challenges Ahead

17. Conclusion

1. Introduction

Malaysia is fortunate that it is not directly affected by serious disasters like earthquake, hurricanes, typhoon, tornadoes, tsunamis and volcanic eruptions. This country is also rich in water resources, receiving an abundant amount of rain every year. The average annual rainfall is 2,400 mm for Peninsular Malaysia, 3,800 mm for Sarawak and 2,600 mm for Sabah.

Even though Malaysia has seemingly sufficient water resources to meet all our needs for the foreseeable future and not too excessive as compared to other countries like Bangladesh, there are some water-related problems which have raised concerns among water engineers and the public. The problems are not about having too little water to satisfy our needs, as in some water-scarce countries in the world, or too much to cope with, rather, it is a problem of not managing water effectively to achieve our desired objectives. In some river basins, there is already the problem of water shortage especially during periods of prolong droughts, and conversely, the problem of excessive water and floods during the wet season. Increasingly, as we move towards the year 2020, the country is expected to face serious challenges relating to flood and drought management. Per capita availability of water will greatly decrease as a result of a growing population and greater per capita use of water for a better quality of life, urbanization and industrialization. Other potential problems include increased severity and frequency of flash floods, prolong droughts especially during El-Nino years, water and land use conflicts, decreasing crop yields and increasing water demand for food production, pollution control, outbreak of water-borne diseases, declining aquatic biodiversity, deforestation, and uncontrolled erosion and sedimentation.

There are two major water-related problems affecting this country, i.e. excess water (floods) and water shortage (droughts). These problems have disrupted the quality of life and economic growth in the country and can result in severe damage and loss of properties, and occasionally loss of human lives as can be seen in the recent December 2006 and January 2007 floods in Johor as well as the 1998 prolong water rationing widespread in the Klang Valley area.2. Occurrence of Flood Events

Flooding is the most significant natural hazard in Malaysia in terms of population affected, frequency, area extent, flood duration and social economic damage. Having 189 river basins throughout Malaysia, including Sabah and Sarawak, the rivers and their corridors of flood plains fulfill a variety of functions both for human use and for the natural ecosystem, i.e. they are fundamental parts of the natural, economic, and social system wherever they occur. At the same time, rivers might be the largest threat to entire corridor areas.Since 1920, the country has experienced major floods in the years of 1926, 1963, 1965, 1967, 1969, 1971, 1973, 1979, 1983, 1988, 1993, 1998, 2005 and most recently in December 2006 and January 2007 which occurred in Johor. The January 1971 flood that hit Kuala Lumpur and many other states had resulted in a loss of more than RM 200 million then and the death of 61 persons. In fact, during the recent Johor 2006-07 flood due to a couple of abnormally heavy rainfall events which caused massive floods, the estimated total cost of these flood disasters is RM 1.5 billion, considered as the most costly flood events in Malaysian history. Recent urbanization amplifies the cost of damage in infrastructures, bridges, roads, agriculture and private commercial and residential properties. At the peak of that recent Johor flood, around 110,000 people were evacuated and sheltering in relief centers and the death toll was 18 persons. The basic cause of river flooding is the incidence of heavy rainfall (monsoon or convective) and the resultant large concentration of runoff, which exceeds river capacity. However, in recent years, rapid development within river catchment has resulted in higher runoff and deteriorated river capacity; this has in turn resulted in an increase in the flood frequency and magnitude. With 60% of the Malaysian population now residing in urban areas, flash flooding in urban areas are perceived to be the most critical flood type (surpassing the monsoon flood) since the mid 1990s. This is reflected in the flood frequency and magnitude, social-economic disruption, public outcry, media coverage and the governments escalating allocation to mitigate them. In the coastal areas, flooding could be attributed to high tides and occasionally aggravated by heavy rains or strong wind. In the last decade, also of great concern is the increased occurrence of other flood-related disasters such as debris flood flow, mud flow and land slides in mountain streams and hill slopes, not to mention the new threat of tsunami-induced coastal flood disasters. Flood management aims to reduce the likelihood and the impact of floods. Experience has shown that the most effective approach is through the development of flood management programs incorporating a holistic approach with respect to the following strategies :

i. Prevention - preventing damage caused by floods by avoiding construction of houses, properties and industries in present and future flood-prone areas; by adapting future developments to the risk of flooding; and by promoting appropriate land-use, agricultural and forestry practices;

ii. Protection - taking measures, both structural and non-structural, to reduce the likelihood and the impact of floods in a specific location;

iii. Preparedness - informing the public about flood risks and what to do in the event of a flood;

iv. Emergency response developing emergency response plans and actions in case of a flood; andv. Recovery and lessons learned - returning to normal conditions as soon as possible and mitigating both the social and economic impacts on the affected population.

Essentially, the overall objectives of flood management should include:

i. To reduce the adverse impact of floods and the likelihood of floods,

ii. To promote sustainable flood management measures,

iii. To look for opportunities to work with natural processes and to deliver, if possible, multiple benefits from flood management,

iv. To inform the public and relevant authorities about the flood risk and how to deal with it.

3. Flood Relief Machinery and Organization

Following the disastrous flood of 1971, which affected many areas in Malaysia, the Government has established the Natural Disaster Relief Committee in 1972 with the task of coordinating flood relief operations at national, state and district levels with a view to prevent loss of human lives and to reduce flood damage. The coordination of relief operations is the responsibility of the Natural Disaster Relief Committee which is headed by the Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia in the National Security Council of the Prime Ministers Department.

The committee members consist of various Cabinet Ministers such as the Minister of Finance, the Minister of Social Welfare, the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, the Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, senior government officials such as of the Governments Chief Secretary, the Army General, and related government agencies/departments such as DID, MMD, MACRES, Social Welfare Department, Police Department and Fire and Rescue Department.

The organization of flood relief and operation is based on the Operation Procedure No. 29 published by the National Security Council. Beside, DID has published the Circular No. 2/2003 Guidelines for Management of Flood Disasters during the Monsoon Season and Flash Floods which is to coordinate the preparation of flood operations at federal, state and district levels.In accordance with the Operating Procedure under the flood relief mechanism, when the river stage of any flood warning station reaches the Alert Level, DID begins to monitor closely the flood situation. When it reaches Warning Level, DID will inform the relevant flood control centers so that flood relief mechanism shall be activated. At Danger Level, considerable areas are flooded and will warrant evacuation of flood victims. During the flood season, the respective state DID office shall carry out flood forecast operation using real-time telemetric data (rainfall and river water level) and river forecasting computer models. When the river water level at any forecasting point exceeds critical level, the forecasts shall be transmitted to the Flood Operation Centers and other relevant agencies such as the National Security Division of the Prime Ministers Department and the National and State (Police) Control Centre for flood relief/operation. 4 Flood Forecasting and Warning SystemFlood forecasting and warning system constitutes an effective and economical means to reduce loss of lives, trauma of disaster and property damage. Since 1971, DID has been designated with the task of providing flood forecasting and warning services to the public. Available records showed that flood warning services were first provided for the flood event of 1925 when floods occurred along the Kinta River in Perak and Klang River in Selangor and Bernam River in Selangor/Perak boundary. It is also known that the flood warning system based on river levels of the Kelantan River at Bradley Steps, Kuala Krai has been used to warn the people of Kota Bharu downstream since early 1900s. The police were reading and transmitting the rainfall and water level information via VHF sets to the Flood Warning and Relief Committee in Kota Bharu.

After the floods of 1971, the flood warning systems of major rivers subjected to severe flooding were reviewed. The major deficiencies identified were inadequacy of rainfall and water level station networks to provide timely and reliable real-time data. Based on this review and its recommendations, telemetric stations, both rainfall and water level, were established at strategic locations to enable the transmission of real-time data to flood operation centers. The review also highlighted the need for more accurate flood forecasting techniques to replace the empirical river stage correlation technique, and recommended the use of mathematical models, which would take into account the rainfall and catchment characteristics as well as river system configurations.

To date, DID has established about 335 telemetric rain-gauges and 208 telemetric water level stations in the vicinity of 40 river basins for real time flood monitoring. At these stations, three critical flood levels are designated, namely Alert, Warning and Danger. In addition, 400 river observation points are provided with manual flood gauges and more than 250 siren stations has been established.

At this moment, the real time information of rainfall and river water level is published on-line via the Info-Banjir webpage and could be directly accessed by government officials and the public. Moreover, short messages system (SMS) is also provided to give an alert to relevant officers in-charge of government agencies such as police, army, Malaysia Meteorological Department (MMD), JPA3, DID, and National Security Division (BKN) at Prime Minister Department. About 100 new hydrometric stations (rain-gauges and water level) is proposed to be installed in 2007 and 2008 for improving the hydrological network for the existing flood forecasting and warning system. Accommodating the flood warning and response system with advanced technology is also essential and will be implemented under the Ninth Malaysia Plan.

5.Flood Management Options (a) Structural MeasuresAfter the disastrous flood of 1971, beside the Natural Disaster Relief Committee (1972), the Government has also established the Permanent Flood Control Commission in December 1971 to implement flood control measures with a view to reduce flood occurrence and to minimize flood damage. This commission is presently chaired by the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment (previously chaired by the Minister of Agriculture) and DID acting as the secretariat.

Since 1971, the Department of Irrigation and Drainage (DID) has been designated with the task of implementing both structural and non-structural flood mitigation measures. Flood mitigation plans have been developed for 17 major river basins and 27 towns. Based on these plans, various structural and non-structural measures have been proposed and implemented in stages. The structural measures include improving river channel sections, building of flood protection bunds, perimeter bunds, by-pass flood ways, use of former mining ponds for flood attenuation and construction of flood retention dams to regulate flood flows and minimize flood occurrence.For the periods from 1971 to 2000 (30 years) and 2001 to 2005 (5 years), a total of RM 1.642 billion and RM 1.790 billion respectively had been spent on structural flood mitigation measures. However, under the Ninth Malaysia Plan (2006-2010), the allocation for structural flood control works has escalated to RM 3.834 billion. It is estimated that the cost of future river improvement and flood mitigation works for the next 15 years will amount to more than RM 17 billion.

6. Flood Management Option (b) Non-Structural Measures

In the past, local government and developers relied upon engineering solutions to move stormwater as quickly as possible into concrete channels toward discharge locations. As a result, the overload of stormwater entering waterways created significant flood damages. Today, in the current emphasis of peak discharge control at source, a new Urban Stormwater Management Manual (MSMA) has been published by DID in 2000 which has superseded the Urban Drainage Planning and Design Procedure No.1 (1975). In January 2001, it has been approved by the Cabinet to be implemented and complied by all local authorities, public and private development projects as well.Urban stormwater runoff is water from precipitation and landscape surface flows which do not infiltrate into the soil. Under natural and undeveloped conditions, surface runoff can range from 10 to 30 percent of the total annual precipitation. Depending on the level of development and the site planning methods used, the alteration of physical conditions can result in a significant increase of surface runoff to over 50 percent of the overall precipitation. In addition, enhancement of the site drainage to eliminate potential on-site detention can also result in increases in surface runoff.Alteration in site runoff characteristics can cause an increase in the volume and frequency of runoff flows (discharge) and velocities that cause flooding, accelerated erosion, and reduced groundwater recharge and contributed to degradation of natural rivers and streams. It flows over roadways and other hard surfaces in our urban landscape, picking up rubbish and sediments and flows into culverts, channels, and into rivers. As we cover more land surface areas, less water can be absorbed by the soil. Thus, the volume of urban stormwater is increasing. This escalating volume of urban runoff not only increases siltation and blockage in rivers, it also elevates the risk and severity of flooding.

However, this Urban Stormwater Management Manual procedure provides control at-source measures and recommendations on flood control by means of detention and retention, infiltration and purification process, including erosion and sedimentation controls. The quality and quantity of the runoff from developing areas can be maintained to be the same as pre-development condition.The benefits of reducing urban runoff at-source using the Urban Stormwater Management Manual procedure would be:

i. A natural drainage system which costs less to construct;ii. Replenishing local groundwater supplies using natural drainage can help avoid the more expensive inter-state water transfer projects;iii. Using a natural drainage system avoids the extraordinary costs of structural remedial and mitigation measures that result from flood damage.In order to achieve the MSMA guideline objective, DID has implemented the following:

i. To review previous drainage master plans using the new urban stormwater management approach.ii. To upgrade old drainage systems in stages.iii. To network cooperation and support from other government agencies such as Local Authorities, Town and Country Planning Department, Forestry Department, Malaysia Highway Authority, Public Works Department, Department of Environment, CIDB, etc.iv. To organize training courses for engineers with the Institution of Engineers, Malaysia (IEM) for enhancing the practising engineers expertise.v. To impose Erosion and Sedimentation Control Plan as mandatory approval for earth works development plan.To date, some public development projects have implemented the new urban stormwater management approach. At the Federal Government Administrative Center, Putrajaya, it has been applied by incorporating the lake and wetlands as storage and purifier of stormwater. In addition, there are some private housing projects utilizing this new approach too. 7. Flood Management Emergency : Lessons from Recent Johor 2006/2007 Floods

During the extreme floods in Johor in December 2006 and January 2007 recently, a number of unexpected situations arose which are important lessons to be remembered in flood management. Flood operation requires close cooperation and understanding among various parties involved at the flood plain to be efficient and successful in rescue of victims and reduction of property losses, including at district level coordination. The flood mitigation infrastructures and the flood warning system may be damaged right at the start of the flood event. This will create chaos and additional dangers in the flood rescue operations, especially when both road transport and telecommunications are disrupted and electricity supply is short-circuited at the start of the flood and rescue operations has to continue throughout the night.The proper operation of flood mitigation structures within allowable safety limits such as the dams will greatly reduce flood impact. An advanced and accurate flood warning information system provided in a timely manner before and throughout the flood duration also helped to reduce the number of flood victim deaths, trauma and property damages. Flood hazard maps should be produced early and disseminated to the public beforehand to help and guide the flood victims to safety in the fastest possible routes when flooding occurs. Evacuation centers and emergency food supplies may be submerged by rising floods ! The problem of theft, looting and escape of wild animals such as in crocodile farms posed an additional distress and danger during flood operations.8. Occurrence of Drought Events

Parallel to the growth in population and the good economic environment over the years which has resulted in extensive industrialization, emphasis was also given to agricultural activities in line with the countrys policy to make agriculture the third engine of growth for the economy. Collectively, these have imposed a continuously increasing water demand, and to some extent, caused water stress to certain regions of the country where the demand has exceeded the carrying capacity of the river basins. Given that water is a finite resource, its per capita availability in future will definitely decrease due to these factors.

Almost all the water used in this country is extracted from surface water sources with ground water contributing only about 3 %. Although the annual rainfall is very high (3,000 mm average) there are large variations both in time and in space, and river flows are prone to large fluctuations as well. Hence Malaysia is subject to prolong dry periods which can easily affect its freshwater supply. This has led to drought occurrences in the past with the most notable one being that of the 1997/98 El Nino related drought which caused extensive impact to the environment, economic and social activities of the whole nation. In some parts of the country such as Selangor, Sarawak and Sabah, the prolong drought resulted in a lowering of the ground water table especially in peat areas, and consequently many cases of extensive forest fires. The local air quality condition became worse because of the thick haze blown from forest fires both locally and from neighbouring countries. Such a situation persisted for months and posed a serious threat to the health of the people. In some places, schools had to close down temporary and there was poor vision for the traffic including problems to the pilots in landing their aircrafts. There have been other cases of drought events in Malaysia as well. In 1991, Malaysia has experience a serious drought. One of the main water supply dams, the Durian Tunggal dam, in the state of Melaka, had run dry. Most of the population in Melaka could not get their normal water supply and have to revert to other sources while waiting for the solution. Finally the Federal and State governments have to consider the proposal of building a 60km pipeline to transfer water from Muar River into the dam.

9.Drought Impact on Environment

Malaysia lies within the heavy rainfall region of the world. The chance of serious drought is very much less as compared to other countries. However, when a drought occurs, haze is often a major issue. It has caused many health problems especially to the asthmatic people. It also causes limited visibility and it deters tourists from visiting the country. This results in a serious loss of revenue to the country. Hence, the management of drought needs to minimize the environmental impact of drought.

DID has became a member of the Haze Committee chaired by the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment. This committee decides on the actions to be undertaken to reduce the effect of haze which usually happen during a drought. Most of the haze problems are due to clearing large parts of the jungle for conversion into agriculture plantation and forest burning is aggravated by the drought season in which the burning process is difficult to control. During the particularly dry period of the 1997/98 El Nino related drought, almost the whole of Sabah was experiencing more than 75 % rainfall deficit compared to the long-term mean (for a period of between 4 to 9 months), and in some areas the deficit was as high as 90 %. In Miri, Sarawak, one of the rainfall stations recorded more than 100 no-rain days, the longest drought recorded so far.

10Drought Impact on Agriculture

With regards to irrigation supply for agriculture and food production, water shortages are also experienced in varying degree of severity, and in the past, prolong droughts have resulted in the delay or cancellation of the paddy planting season. During such occasions, the paddy farmers whose livelihood depends mainly from paddy cultivation, would be seriously affected. As an example, the large agricultural granary area of the Muda Irrigation Scheme in Kedah has experienced three occasions of severe drought, viz. in 1978, 1987 and 1991. As a consequence, the paddy farmers had to forego the off season planting due to insufficient water storage in the Muda and Pedu Dams, resulting in severe shortfalls both in income as well as in paddy production. As for the whole country, the impact of drought on food production can be very serious, given that there are about 322,000 hectare of irrigated paddy fields and another 278,000 hectare of rain-fed paddy fields producing about 2.5 million tonnes of paddy per annum. DID, in fact, is very concerned with the supply of water for irrigation, especially for small irrigation schemes, during a drought. This is because about 70 % of the total water consumption in this country is utilized for irrigated agriculture.11Drought Monitoring

Drought monitoring is being done continuously throughout the year in the Department of Irrigation and Drainage to keep track of rainfall deficits happening in the country. This would enable appropriate drought management options to be undertaken in a timely manner to reduce the impact of droughts. In addition to rainfall deficits, the trend of river low flow water levels and dam impoundment water surface levels are also being monitored in real time measurements to enhance the effectiveness of drought monitoring and decision support system. Monitoring of drought is done to be alert of the current drought situation and to be more prepared for an onset of a drought occurrence. From the DID hydrological data, Malaysia has experienced some degree of drought starting from the month of January until August each year. During this time, dams will be carefully regulated so that the water will be made available throughout the dry months. However, drought forecasting technologies has not been well developed yet in this country. When developed in future, drought forecasting would significantly improve the management of droughts in the long-term.

12.Drought Management Options (a) Demand ReductionsWater demand reduction is usually the first line of response action whenever a drought occurs. For example, the 1997/1998 El Nino episode had caused the upper Klang River and Langat River catchments to experience severe rainfall deficit resulting in a 6-month water supply shortage and consequentially water rationing was imposed widespread all over the Klang Valley beginning in April 1998. Similarly, water shortage was also experienced in the highly urbanized areas of Melaka and Pulau Pinang prompting the water supply authorities to undertake the necessary water-rationing measures. In times of severe drought, water demand has to be significantly reduced by rationing to the minimum. This will cause moderate hardship to the victims of drought but nevertheless the drought is generally quite manageable.13 Drought Management Options (b) System Improvements

Another drought management option is by Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) which is an alternative to dominant sector by sector, top down management system for managing water in the past. It aims to integrate management of water resources at the basin or watershed scale, integrating both supply-side and demand-side approaches as well as infrastructure system improvements to overcome the problems of water shortages and drought. It also works on an intersectoral approach to decision making, improving and integrating policy, regulatory and institutional frameworks; and promoting equitable access to water through participatory and transparent governance. Given the holistic approach, IWRM takes into consideration several aspects of managing droughts besides water governance such as water supply and health, water and agriculture, water and biodiversity, water and energy and impact reduction and response to droughts. The scope of IWRM is wide and it is addressed through the integration of natural and human systems that include integration of different components of water, integration of water with related land and environmental resources and, integration of water with social and economic development. In this way, drought management can be improved more systematically.

The practical limit of surface water resources development has been reached in some regions of high water demand, and more and more it has become necessary to improve water infrastructure systems such as implementing inter-basin or inter-state water transfers. As a result of rural-urban migration, the urban population in Malaysia has exceeded 60 % of the total population, and of these, one third reside in the Klang valley. This development has necessitated inter-basin transfers from its neighbouring catchments i.e Sungai Langat in the south and Sungai Selangor in the north. To meet future demands, the government has envisaged the implementation of an inter-state water transfer system from Pahang to Klang Valley to cope with its fast growing water demand in order to ensure effective drought management in the long term.

In early 2005, a large part of West Malaysia again experienced a prolong dry spell. Low flow frequency analysis of some major rivers such as Sg. Muda, Sg. Krian, Sg. Johor and Sg. Kelantan indicate an annual recurrence interval of more than 20 years. Given the fairly frequent occurrences of droughts, groundwater resources may need to be further explored, especially in water stressed and isolated remote areas such as in highlands and offshore islands for better drought management. The conjunctive use of both surface and ground water resources can provide an alternative drought management system in the event of a severe and prolong drought.

14.Drought Management Options (c) Emergency Measures

For the state of Kelantan, during the 2004 and 2005 drought, there have been significant water shortages for both domestic and agricultural use. The related agencies have tried their best in maintaining the water supply such as looking for other sources of water. The Kelantan Agricultural Development Authority (KADA), which gets most of its irrigation supply from the Kelantan River to irrigate large paddy areas, has to come up with a temporary emergency measure by building a sand-bag weir across the river as their pumps could not function due to low water levels in the river.If drought problems persist even after taking emergency measures such as surface water pumping, other measures such as ground water pumping would have to be considered. Other considerations include conservation by recycling of water in irrigation areas even though this would affect the paddy yield. At the mean time, water budgeting/water balance has to be carried out to work out the fair distribution of limited water among farmers. During this time, DID will also do a short forecast of 2 to 4 weeks ahead to anticipate what the situation will be like should there be no rainfall during that period. Under very severe drought emergency conditions, DID will shift the entire planting schedule or provide irrigation for planting according to compartment by compartment basis only. This is a drastic drought management option for emergency situations and it will cause serious economic losses to the farmers. 15 Legislative and Institutional IssuesApart from direct flood and drought problems, there are also indirect problems associated with flood and drought management, such as the need for appropriate institutions and legislation. Under the Federal Constitution, matters pertaining to water, rivers, land, and forest are under the jurisdiction of the State Governments. They are also responsible for flood and drought management, including the control of land use along river corridors to reduce floods, development of urban areas, forest timber logging and gazetting of water catchments to preserve water source to overcome drought crisis. Presently, the need for gazetting of catchment areas that have been initiated by the Federal agencies do not always get the same level of support at the State agencies. This may be partly due to the fact that the water catchment areas are providing State Governments with much of their state revenue from other uses such as timber logging and industrial or township development. This situation will complicate flood and drought management in the country.

Due to the distribution of powers under the Constitution, the various aspects of flood and drought management are planned and managed on a sectoral basis with various government institutions at both federal and state levels being involved. For example, domestic and industrial water supply is a state responsibility and thus is managed by the states through their respective Water Supply Departments, while the generation of hydro-electric power is a federal responsibility and is managed by the Ministry of Energy, Water and Communications. To further complicate matters, irrigation and drainage, including flood control, is a concurrent responsibility (both Federal and State government have their roles) and is managed by the Department of Irrigation and Drainage operating at both state and federal levels.

The control of land development, which is closely inter-related to urban flood management, is managed by the Town and Country Planning Department, while urban local drainage regulations are managed by the Department of Local Government. The various water-related government agencies are focused on different and limited aspects of water management, both excess water (flood) and water shortage (drought), and there are gaps and overlaps in the jurisdiction of the various agencies.

As a result of the serious water shortage crisis of 1997-98, a National Water Resources Council (NWRC) was established in 1998 to pursue a more effective and integrated water resources management which includes better flood and drought management. This Council is chaired by the Prime Minister and has a membership comprising all State Chief Ministers and a number of Federal Ministers. It is intended to be a high level policy formulating body on integrated water resources management. In 2003, the National Water Resources Council agreed on the need for the formulation of Integrated River Basin Management (IRBM) master plans for all the 189 river basins in the country, albeit on a phased and priority basis. Such plans would give a holistic and integrated approach to managing the rivers and its flood and drought problems, thus making a significant step towards a more effective method of solving the water problems in this country.

The political will to improve the management of flood and drought in this country was instrumental in the re-engineering of Ministries with the necessary formation of a new ministry on 27 March 2004, i.e. the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. This will streamline the management of flood and drought in the long term future.

Since then, various river basin management studies have been undertaken to develop water efficiency plans such as the Sungai Selangor and Sungai Kedah master plans. The master plans for all the remaining river basins in the country are expected to be completed over the next two Malaysia Plans. When that is completed, the management of flood and drought in this country can be much more effectively done.

16.Challenges Ahead 16.1Funding

A tremendous amount of financial allocation will be needed to carry out an effective flood and drought management strategy such as physical infrastructure development. This includes the construction of large dams, canalization of rivers and building high capacity sewage treatment plants to restore polluted rivers back to their original clean water quality condition. The total allocation received under the Ninth Malaysia Plan is about RM3.834 billion for the structural flood mitigation projects in the entire Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak. This amount is only approximately 18% of the original request which needs to be implemented under the Ninth Malaysia Plan. The low amount of allocation received will definitely limit the capacity for implementing the flood mitigation infrastructure projects currently being planned. Due to this, many critical projects in severe flood prone areas throughout the country could not be implemented.

Even the development of water management master plans for all the river basins in the country involves a large financial budget. State Governments cannot afford the cost of implementing an effective drought management system without financial assistance from the Federal Government. Under these project funding constraints, the implementation of a good flood and drought management plan in Malaysia is likely to face many challenges ahead in the foreseeable future. 16.2 Urban Stormwater Management Manual (MSMA)Urban Stormwater Management Manual is only a guideline. DID has no legal authority to enforce the said manual as mandatory procedure to local authorities, developers, contractors etc. Most of the drainage master plans have been carried out using the old approach. Therefore, the present proposed development projects are based on those master plans. However a few obstacles surfaced during the implementation process such as:

i. Local authorities are facing insufficient technical expertise and financial limitation to provide adequate maintenance of constructed drainage systems;

ii. Developers consider the utilization of the manual as an increase to the projects cost and in turn would decrease the profit margin;

iii. Contractors find that maintenance of erosion controls and sediment traps are not common works to them;

iv. Consultants mostly, local consultants, are still very weak on the concept of urban stormwater design. In turn, the detention ponds are constructed without following the guideline.In 1999, the Government introduced a set of guidelines to encourage rainwater harvesting i.e. the collection of rainfall from roof of buildings to be re-cycled for domestic use, given that a significant portion of the domestic water consumption does not require water treated to drinking water quality. In addition, this will reduce the run-off and thus the frequency and magnitude of floods. In 2002, the Government also introduced the installation of 6-liter toilet flushing cisterns in new buildings to reduce the volume of water required per flush. Individually the amount of water saved may seem insignificant, but collectively the total amount will be considerable, especially in times of serious drought such as the 1998 Klang Valley drought. Without widespread application of Urban Stormwater Management Manual guidelines, effective flood and drought management for urban areas will continue to be hindered.16.3 Watershed management

Impacts of land-use changes on flood and drought events can be both positive and negative, so predictions are hard to make for a specific watershed. Removal of forest and other natural cover, and the conversion of land use to agriculture, will lead to higher flood peaks. Deforestation and other land use practices can also lead to greater incidences of landslides and mud flows in addition to increasing incidences of flood and drought. The greater impact of land use change is associated with urbanization. The pavement surfaces significantly reduce infiltration. Natural storage is reduced by rapid disposal drainage, and streams are often constricted by other development or crossing. The most challenging issue is to coordinate activity from various government agencies and private sector in managing the watershed. Without proper watershed management, greater flood and drought disasters would be happening in future.

River awareness campaigns have been launched since 1993 to promote public awareness on the need to bring nature back to our rivers. This is an area where everyone can contribute through joint efforts in the promotion of public awareness and support for long term sustainable river basin management to minimize the impact of flood and drought. As always, it is the most vulnerable people groups who are severely affected by flood and drought problems such as the children, the elderly, the indigenous natives and the poor who need to be given special attention. 16.4 Policies, Strategies and Action Plans

The development of policies, strategies and action plans to overcome flood and drought disasters should be based on a comprehensive integrated approach whereby a wide range of mitigation measures would be considered.(a)Basin wide planning Reduction of flood losses and risk of drought must be considered using the river basin as the basic planning unit. It is essential to have knowledge of water users, diversions, storage, and management practices in all parts of the basin, as well as the antecedent, present, and forecasting meteorological and hydrological conditions. Currently, rivers are managed on political or administrative boundaries which does not provide an overall engineering solution.(b)Inter-agency collaboration - Reduction of flood and drought losses will involve a number of government agencies and often the private sector as well. For example, reservoirs for irrigation, water supply and flood mitigation have conflicting operational rules. Development of common objectives and definition of clear roles for each of the stakeholders can be a major challenge.

The solution to flood and drought problems and the route to good water management require a great deal of attention, expertise, cooperation, concerted efforts, capacity building and financial provisions to succeed. Water laws and perhaps the Federal Constitution may need to be amended to enable effective flood and drought management to be implemented. As mentioned above, the implementation of flood and drought management action plans in this country involves numerous government institutions, private organizations and the general public. Without cooperative integration of all stakeholders, policies, strategies and action plans would be difficult to formulate and implement.

16.5 Emergency preparedness and responses

The most critical element in the set of activities associated with the flood-loss reduction or drought response is emergency preparedness and response activity. The response to a natural disaster warning must be immediate, comprehensive, and demonstrate very clear lines of command. There must also be a mechanism in place to quickly draw upon external resources available at higher levels of government, when the local level of response such as the district level is not sufficient.The keys to effective emergency response are precise advanced planning, ability to mobilize sufficient resources quickly, good local coordination at site and periodic exercises to identify weaknesses and problems. Emergency response must include input from the local community and political leaders. However, there must be a clear line of authority, even if the lead disaster management agency changes depending on the magnitude and type of event. An inventory of resources must be made available. In the case of flooding, this could include items such as emergency transport vehicles, buses and trucks, earth moving equipment, boats, emergency electricity generators and mobile telecommunication equipment. As for droughts, mobile pumps and fuel must be readily available at relevant locations on site to overcome the drying out of crops. Clean water transport tankers are also necessary to bring portable water to drought affected water-rationing victims.Flood disaster emergencies are generally very sudden, for example the recent Shah Alam flood on Sunday 26 Febuary 2006, when more than 2,000 flood victims had to run for their safety suddenly after a rainstorm at 5.00 am in the pre-dawn morning. The New Klang Valley Expressway and the Malaysian Commuter Train railway were also suddenly closed at that time due to the flood. Emergency shelters or evacuation centers should be designated well in advance of floods, their individual capacity defined and plans made for obtaining sufficient supplies of water, food, medicine and clothing. Medical, social and security assistance should be provided at the evacuation centers as well. The evacuation routes need to be pre-determined to facilitate quick transportation of flood victims to safety.Advanced flood warning is also a key factor to effective emergency response. It is possible to set up a series of warnings in advance of actual extreme storm events that can be used as alerts. This could start with longer duration lead time climate forecast that would help identify potential flood danger.16.6Climate impacts on extreme events

A number of studies on the potential impacts of climate change on flood and drought have been carried out as part of the work of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). These studies indicate potential future increases in flood peaks of approximately 15% in temperate zones due to increased storm activity and overall increases in depth of rainfall. The extent of quantified drought impact in terms of rainfall deficit is still rather uncertain. However, it is not possible to predict potential increases in flood peaks or rainfall deficits in Malaysia at the moment due to potential climate change for specific river basins with a quantitative degree of certainty necessary for their incorporation into the design and planning process for infrastructure construction. As for floods, the freeboard on flood mitigation works can probably accommodate the potential modifications in weather extremes due to probable climate change through modified operating procedures of water control structures. A specific research on the issue of climate change impact with respect to flood peaks and drought rainfall deficits in Malaysia is vital to ensure preparedness of response, including the need to build large dams for water storage and review of existing dam safety measures. This could be done locally with local universities and research institutions or in collaboration with international research institutions on climate issues to ensure better management of flood and drought.17 Conclusion Flood and drought are significant natural disasters in Malaysia by virtue of its topography and uneven rainfall characteristics. Despite the Government's efforts to actively implement structural flood and drought control measures, population increase and land use changes have somewhat aggravated the incidence of flooding in the urban areas and the severity of droughts in agricultural areas. As such, preventive non-structural approaches such as the Urban Stormwater Management Manual provided by DID constitute an effective and practical means to supplement the structural measures in reducing the disaster impacts of loss of lives, emotional trauma, crop and property damage.Flood and drought forecasting, warning and response system are important factors for reducing the risk of loss of life and economic losses; however, to provide an acceptable accurate forecast is a still great challenge to the forecaster. Flood emergencies are often very sudden and advanced response preparedness is very vital for ensuring safety of victims lives.The countrys water resources is a national heritage to be preserved and passed on to the future generations in a good and sustainable condition to ensure effective long term management of drought. Water is a critical element for an improved quality of life and for food production and health care. Without proper planning and management, water conservation and efficient use, serious water-related problems like droughts will recur. Recognition of water as a finite and vulnerable resource will help contribute towards efforts in managing droughts effectively among all stakeholders.3 June 2007

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