GEORGE TOWN – The National Disaster Management Agency (Nadma) is making preparations before it can carry out cloud seeding as requested by Penang, where water levels at two of its dams have dropped to below 30%.
State exco Zairil Khir Johari said Nadma is in the process of obtaining analysis from METMalaysia and is also checking the availability of aircraft from the Royal Malaysian Air Force.
The infrastructure, transport and digital exco told Scoop this when asked about the status of cloud-seeding operations that were requested by Penang to Nadma last month, following critical capacity levels at the Air Itam and Teluk Bahang dams on Penang island.
Water levels in the two dams dropped today, to 29.7% capacity for the Air Itam dam and 26.4% capacity for Teluk Bahang dam, according to Penang Water Supply Corp’s (PBAPP) website. This is despite rainfall in the past few days.
The Air Itam dam, which is the smallest in the state, currently serves 170,000 consumers in the Air Itam, Paya Terubong and Green Lane areas, with 100,000 of them in Air Itam alone.
On August 1, Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said the state had yet to get a response from Nadma on its request for cloud seeding, which the state applied for on July 19 through Penang’s Badan Kawal Selia Air (BKSA).
Zairil said that Nadma had carried out cloud-seeding operations earlier, for three days, from July 29 until July 31. This operation had targeted the Bukit Merah dam in northern Perak and Muda dam in Kedah, which led to moderate to heavy rainfall.
“These (rainfalls) resulted in the concentration of moist air in the northern part of the peninsula, which will indirectly benefit both the Air Itam and Teluk Bahang Dam in due course,” added Zairil.
The country has been experiencing the south-west monsoon since mid-May, which will continue until September, during which winds from the south-west bring lower humidity and more stable atmospheric conditions that lead to reduced cloud formation and lower rainfall for Penang.
Zairil also said that PBAPP is currently implementing Phase 1 of its crisis management plan which was announced on July 26, in a bid to ensure that the island’s water supply remains intact until the rainy season in September.
Several measures have been outlined by the exco such as stepping up the production of treated water at the Air Itam dam water treatment plant without overly compromising the dam’s effective capacity.
“This will reduce Air Itam’s dependency on treated water from Sungai Dua which can be diverted to the Waterfall treatment plant’s service area,” said Zairil.
PBAPP is also optimising water production at Batu Ferringgi and Guillemard plants without overly compromising the effective capacity of Teluk Bahang dam to deliver as much treated water into service areas of Waterfall and Sg Pinang’s plant.
The state water company will be deploying water tankers and static tanks to affected areas, as well as communicating with BKSA to manage irrigation water abstractions from Sg Muda.
“(PBAPP will be) controlling valves and pumping operations during off-peak hours on weekends to optimise refilling of key reservoirs in Bukit Dumbar, Bukit Gedung and Teluk Kumbar.
“This will ensure continuous water supply in the south-west district during peak hours on weekdays when water demand is high in industrial areas,” added Zairil. – August 12, 2024
