Malaysian integrated water model
18 Feb 2019
The Malaysian Government is developing a National Water Balance Management System (NAWABS) for six major rivers in the country. The intent of the NAWABS is to provide a comprehensive instrument for management of water resources in the river basins. This includes accounting for water resources, providing real-time, online information on water availability, operational options for efficient water allocation and forecasting to assist in the decision management process.
The rivers under consideration are the Muda, Kedah, Bernam, Klang, Malacca and Kelantan. The study Hydrologia was involved with was for the Bernam River basin.
The Bernam River is an inter-state river basin that drains the southern part of Perak and northern part of Selangor. The basin is located on the western side of the Malay Peninsular about 100 km north of Kuala Lumpur. The main Bernam River has a length of 200 km and wider basin area of 3,335 km2. The upper catchment is mountainous and covered in jungle. The middle is agro-forest with rubber trees and palms. Irrigated agricultural areas, including the Barat Laut Selangor Irrigation Scheme, lie toward the coast. The river discharges into the Straits of Malacca.
Water resources available within the basin are now considered to be limited and the available resources and current and future demands of these resources needs to be established. Groundwater resource potential needs to be explored. There are various water demand points within the Bernam River basin that are operated by different entities. Coordination of the management of water resources within the basin is therefore important.
The overall objective of the project is to plan, design, develop and execute a water balance model together with a decision management support system (DMSS) for the Bernam River basin. The water balance model includes a number of components. Hydrologia was involved with the development of an integrated surface water-groundwater interaction model to inform a wider water resources model for the basin.