Water Bankruptcy III: Getting Beyond Rhetoric, to Long-Term Integrated Water Management (Part of the Water Series)

In the initial article on Water Bankruptcy, we noted that of the more than 972.8 billion cubic meters of water that Malaysia receives in annual average rainfall, 413.1 billion cubic meters (42.5%) is lost to the atmosphere through evapotranspiration while 64 billion cubic meters (6.5%) infiltrates into the ground to recharge our groundwater reserves. If you have been following the math, this leaves 495.7 billion cubic meters of water (51%) as surface runoff - the equivalent of receiving an annual rainfall depth of 1,478mm or almost 1.5m of rainfall. What, precisely, happens to all this runoff? We’ll examine this broad question in more detail in this, and upcoming issues.

But before I do so, I need to make a confession of sorts. Until this point, for the sake of clarity, I have described what appears to be a linear sequence, beginning with rain, followed by interception, use, and loss to the atmosphere by plants, or otherwise, infiltration into the soil to become groundwater. The rest, if any remains, then becomes surface flow that enters river basins, and feeds rivers and streams which eventually carry all the surface water to the sea. In reality, all of the above happens simultaneously. The moment rain reaches the earth’s surface, it is already in a river basin. In fact, it might even fall directly onto a rice field, into a river, or into the sea for that matter. So instead of thinking of this system as a linear sequence, it would be more useful to envision different ‘pools’ of water, linked by water flows - some natural, and the rest driven by human activities. With few exceptions, these ‘pools’ can serve as both sources and sinks of surface water. For example, during dry periods, a rice field will need water to be supplied from an irrigation canal, but if the rice field receives excess rainfall, it could overflow and supply water to a drainage canal.

Malaysia is divided into some 189 major (defined as river basins larger than 80 square km) river basins. Peninsular Malaysia contains 74, Sabah contains 75 and Sarawak accounts for the remaining 40. These basins differ in terms of the annual rainfall received as well as the distribution of the rainfall throughout the year, notably during the two monsoon periods. Additionally, these basins differ in location and size, as well as in land cover, land use, and topography. It is from within these river basins that our water abstraction begins, to meet the needs of our food and cash crop production, our energy and industrial sector needs, and our commercial and residential potable water demand.

For most States in Malaysia, raw water is managed under the authority of state (and occasionally, regional) Water Management Boards. These boards, established through state legislation and enactments, are empowered to manage all natural water resources under their jurisdiction, as well as to license the abstraction of these water resources. In most states, this includes licensing the state water utility, usually a state-owned corporation, to abstract, treat and distribute potable water throughout the state.

For example, in the state of Selangor, the Selangor Water Management Board (LUAS) manages raw water resources and licenses Air Selangor, the state water utility, to abstract, treat and distribute potable water. These boards and utility companies collaborate closely with the National Water Services Commission (SPAN) as the national technical and economic regulator for treated water supply and sewerage services across Peninsular Malaysia and Federal Territories. According to official estimates, of the 495.7 billion cubic meters of surface runoff, only 14.6 billion cubic meters (3.35%) is abstracted for human use, in two broad categories; ‘Own Use’ and ‘Water for Distribution’.

The first category, ‘Own Use’ means that abstracted water is used directly by the abstracting party. This water, officially estimated at 8.6 billion cubic meters, is either used in ‘raw’ (untreated) form, e.g., for irrigation of agricultural or plantation lands, or it might be treated, if needed, e.g., for use by utilities or other sectors that use industrial water’. Although abstraction under the ‘Own Use’ category is legally regulated by the various State Water Authorities, and governed by State Legislation and Enactments, the scale of unofficial abstraction, as we shall see in an upcoming article, imparts a large measure of uncertainty to these estimates.

In Selangor, LUAS issues annual licenses to abstract raw water at different prices for specific purposes; commercial at RM0.07 per cubic meter, aquaculture and other public utilities at RM0.05 per cubic meter, and even public sea water at RM0.01 per cubic meter. Raw water use for strategically important commodities such as rice is currently free. By far the largest consumer of raw water is Agriculture, accounting 6.2 billion cubic meters, followed by Electricity, gas, steam & air conditioning supply, accounting for 2 billion cubic meters. All other raw water uses combined, (water supply and sewerage, mining and quarrying, manufacturing and construction and other uses) account for just over 0.4 billion cubic meters of water.

The other broad category is ‘Water for Distribution’, accounting for some 3.8 billion cubic meters annually. This water is abstracted by water treatment plants, drawing water from either rivers or dams, and, once treated, distributed as potable water via the various water utility corporations. Because this category is highly regulated compared to the ‘Own Use’ category, the level of uncertainty surrounding the volume used is much lower. However, once again, as we shall see in an upcoming issue, water theft from the distribution network continues to introduce inefficiencies and uncertainties, resulting in losses to the utilities and higher costs and more frequent service disruptions to consumers. Of the 3.8 billion cubic meters that are treated and distributed, the vast majority is used by households (2.3 billion cubic meters), and manufacturing (0.5 billion cubic meters). The remaining one billion or so cubic meters goes to agriculture, construction, mining and quarrying, energy utilities, water supply and sewerage, and other services.

Two important and disturbing statistics emerge from these numbers; first, the fact that the average Malaysian consumes nearly 300 liters of potable water per day, a shockingly large amount when compared to the National Water Supply Commission (SPAN) recommendation of a maximum of 180 liters per day (WHO recommends an even lower maximum of 165 liters a day). The second statistic, evident if we compare the total abstraction of 14.6 billion cubic meters to the 8.6 billion and 3.8 billion cubic meters of raw and treated water distributed, respectively, is the very significant proportion (in excess of 2 billion liters) that is lost in the distribution process. In the next issue, we will explore the causes, impacts, and long-term sustainability implications of inadequate governance in the water sector, including implications for embarking on data center construction, in light of climate phenomena such as the ENSO.