DROUGHT-HIT Sabah is considering to implement safeguards for all its main water catchment areas along with several plans to deal with the depletion of freshwater reservoirs, both in the immediate and long terms.
Sabah Deputy Chief Minister I Datuk Seri Jeffrey Kitingan said eight districts, where primary water catchment sites are found, are being proposed to be turned into fully protected areas.
The districts are Tuaran, Papar, Tawau, Sandakan, Semporna, Kudat, Penampang, and Tambunan.
Their adjacent catchment areas would meanwhile be designated as conservation areas with certain allowances made for freshwater use due to their locations within farms and private lands.
“We will present this to the Sabah Cabinet soon, and they will be gazetted as soon as possible," said Jeffrey, who chairs the Sabah Water Sources Council in Kota Kinabalu yesterday.
"We need to manage these areas. Establishing regulations for their use will address the state's water problems in the long run and also safeguard our water resources," he added after chairing the committee's inaugural meeting.
Jeffrey said that the drought is exacerbated by the El-Nino phenomenon. Since early this year the volume of water produced by the local watercourses has dropped significantly.
Towards this end, he said the construction of tube wells, coastal reservoirs in low-lying areas and retention ponds on elevated grounds have also been proposed to mitigate the depletion of fresh water resources
Meanwhile, a study to identify areas to build the tube wells is now being carried out by the Sabah Water Department and the Mineral and Geosciences Department.
The construction of the retention ponds and coastal reservoirs in flood-prone areas will not only deal future flash floods, but also strengthen water reserves, he added.
Jeffrey stated desalination of saltwater and cloud-seeding programmes are also being considered to improve the state’s water reserves but would not be activated at the present time.
He noted that preparations for cloud-seeding are now underway, but it is still awaiting favourable cloud formation before it can be done.
The ongoing drought has impacted on several water treatment plants, namely in Nabalu, Papar, Limbahau, Sandakan hilltop, Sungai Intan in Semporna, and Banggi Island in Kudat.
The worst hit place is Sebatik Island where the retention pond has dried up, while Tawau only has enough reserves to last for three days at present, he said.
The Keningau MP however said that the water supply situation in Sabah is still under control, but warned that the depletion may affect the next paddy planting activities in the state if the current weather conditions persist. – The Vibes, March 23, 2024
