Overview of Groundwater

Resources in Malaysia
Mohammed Hatta Abd Karim
JMG
Groundwater
an important
source of
water
for domestic,
industrial and
agricultural
needs
Present water supply - inadequate or even
unavailable due to several factors:
rapid increase in demand due to population
growth
industrial or agricultural expansion
deteriorating quality of surface sources, and
low flow of surface source during prolonged
droughts
Durian Tunggal dam at Melaka - 1991
invisible'out-of-sight' 'out-of-mind
Usage
surface water have been exploited
groundwater systems relatively untouched'
previous dry spells - groundwater
provided 'life-saving' rescue for the people
esp.in Melaka, Selangor and Sarawak
To date only 3 % of the supply use
groundwater (60% domestic, 35% for industrial and 5% for
agricultural use)
Kelantan use groundwater > 70% for
public water supply
Why lack of gw development
failure to recognise the potential
misconception of groundwater
lack of full assessment of the resource
lack of strategic and action plans
Water Resources in Malaysia
(after JICA ,1982)
Water resources Quantity
(billion m3)
Annual rainfall 990
Surface runoff (566)
Evapotranspiration (360)
Groundwater recharge (64)
Surface artificial storage 25
Groundwater storage 5000
Groundwater Potential
JMG has expertise and experience
presently the most active agency in groundwater
exploration and development
About 3500 wells drilled in Malaysia
five main types of aquifers:
aquifers in shallow alluvium
aquifers in deep alluvium
aquifers in deep hard rocks
aquifers in peat and
aquifers in island
The needs
Explore potential groundwater by basinal
approach, to get actual reserve and safe yield
of the basin
Explore potential groundwater from the hard
rock aquifers
Explore potential groundwater source from
requested areas/needs and subsequently
developed for use
Peninsular Malaysia
Development started since the early 1900s
in Kelantan
To date about 0.2 million m3/d exploited
4 categories of potential:
1. The most productive aquifers are the alluvium (sand
and gravel), yield from 50 to 100 m3/h/well
2. The most productive aquifer in hard rock is in
limestone, yield up to 50 m3/h/well. Sinkhole may
occur in developed areas
3. Fractured sandstone, their metamorphic equivalent
and volcanic rock aquifers can yield up to
30m3/h/well
4. The least productive type of aquifer is made up of
fractured igneous rocks, yield 20 m3/h/well.
Sarawak
First recorded abstraction by tube wells in 1954 in
Sarikei followed by similar schemes in Bintangor and
Sri Aman
Groundwater is main source of water supply in several
coastal villages such as Belawai, lgan, Oya, Kabong,
Pulau Bruit, Tatau, Limbang and several other new
schemes under development
JMG Sarawak has developed groundwater resources by
the seventies, 13 areas of well fields for reticulated
water supplies in the coastal region of Sarawak
A large groundwater scheme in Lambir has been
developed to augment the Miri Water Supply. During
the water crisis in 1997, groundwater has become the
new source of water supply when the Sg. Liku was
greatly reduced
3 categories of aquifers in Sarawak:
shallow aquifers (sand, gravel and peat),
deep aquifers in sedimentary basins and
deep aquifers in fractured hard rocks
To date, about 0.05 million m3/d of groundwater is
being exploited in Sarawak
Sabah
Coastal villagers have been digging shallow wells
for years and the small-scale tube well
abstraction in Sandakan, Kota Belud and Kuala
Penyu
In Labuan, groundwater is being used
conjunctively with surface water to supply the
water needs on the island
The most productive aquifer is the Sandakan
Formation (thick-bedded sandstone)
Similar to Belait Formation in Labuan and the
Crocker Formation which are extensively faulted
and fractured form a good groundwater potential.
Quaternary and Recent alluvium which cover
the coastal areas gives small but sufficient
yield to the isolated villages
JMG started to explore the hard rock areas in
recent years
About 0.02 million m3/d of groundwater is
being exploited in the Sabah state
Issues
Misconception about groundwater
Assessment methodology
Water Budget and recharge estimation
Technology of groundwater development
Demand from agricultural sector
Groundwater quality, protection and
management
Groundwater databank
Sustainability of groundwater resources
Surface water-groundwater interaction
Institutional Arrangement
Misconception about
groundwater
Limited resource
Unreliable
Polluted
Difficult to extract
Expansive to develop
Difficult to maintain
Give negative impact to environment if
developed
Assessment methodology
Assessment of aquifer by adhoc study of demanded
sites
Patchy studies of alluvial aquifers and wild cat for
hard rock aquifers
Generally need a proper basin study
Need thorough study of aquifers penetrating at
different depth (shallow alluvial aquifer < 30 m, deep
alluvial aquifer > 30 m)
Hard rock aquifer should be investigated using
remote sensing analysis and geophysics (<100 m and
>100 m drilling depth)
Other new techniques including GIS, geostatistics
and isotope tracer techniques are needed to assess
recharge, groundwater flow patterns and interaction
with surface water system etc
Water budget/ Recharge
estimation
Previous work - concentrate on well to well
basis
Study of water balance is a prerequisite to
study the region/basin thoroughly
Need to know the recharge and discharge
areas
Recharge estimation is not emphasised
much in previous studies
It is necessary for sustainable groundwater
basin management
Technology of groundwater
development
Wells and associated structures such as
vertical, horizontal, large diameter,
dug/culvert wells and subsurface dam
are commonly constructed in Malaysia.
Newer technology such as artificial
aquifer /temporary catchment, collector
drain and gallery should be considered
Demand from agricultural
sector
The agricultural sector has been revived by the
government to be another important sector to
boost our economy. Thus there will be a lot of
stress on the water needs in this industry
JMG can be the driving force in dealing with the
additional water that is needed for this sector.
By implementing extensive study of the
resource, we will be able to reduce some of the
problems in the agricultural sector
Groundwater quality protection
and management
There are a number of artificial sources of
potential groundwater contamination such as
sanitary landfill, septic tank, wastewater, toxic
chemical disposal site, agricultural chemicals
and Underground Storage Tank (UST)
One critical aspects of preventing
groundwater pollution is the identification of
recharge area for the aquifer. In such,
protection of the recharge area is vital
Groundwater Databank
JMG has created HYDAT for the last 20 years
and now being converted to HIDRODAT
The only challenge is to gather as much as
possible good quality data that is available
to analyse the groundwater resource
meaningfully and produce thematic maps
Sustainability of groundwater
resources
Groundwater proposed withdrawal should
respond to changes in groundwater levels and
quality to an acceptable level - not to
jeopardize the environment in general
Common regulations and actions for
sustainable exploitation are being undertaken
such as collection of comprehensive
groundwater data, and other related activities-
identification of sources of pollution
Setting water quality standard, control of
extraction, establishment of protected areas
and enforcement of standards and regulations
are still being looked into
Surface water-groundwater
interaction
The importance of groundwater and
surface water as a single resource has
become more prominent now
This conjunctive use of water has been
discussed and proposed for some time
already in Malaysia
However, it is still in infancy stage
Institutional Arrangement
Groundwater explorations, development
and management JMG, SWB/SWA,
KKM,KP,KKLW, NAHRIM (R&D), private
sectors
Groundwater pollution control JAS, JMG
Existing legislation
the Geological Survey Act (1974),
the State Water Supply Enactments, and
the Environmental Quality Act (1974).
STRATEGIC PLAN FOR THE
MANAGEMENT OF
GROUNDWATER RESOURCES
Minerals and Geoscience Division of the
Ministry of Natural Resources and
Environment has initiated the preparation of
the Strategic Plan for the Management of
Groundwater Resources.
6 Strategic Plans adopted
Strategic Plan (SP1)
Legal Augmentation and Enforcement -
to reinforce laws related to the management
of groundwater including the Geological
Survey Act (1974) and to ensure all states
create and enforce the groundwater
management aspects in the State Water
Enactments.
SP 2
Assessment and Development of
Resources - to encourage the groundwater
exploration in the alluvium and hard rock
areas in systematic and continuous manner.
With the available data collected, database
and hydrogeological thematic maps can be
developed for use in the development plan
for groundwater exploitation in an efficient
manner.
SP 3
Monitoring of Groundwater to
encourage the groundwater monitoring
activities for the purpose of evaluating the
quantity, quality, the extent of contaminated
groundwater and land subsidence.
Groundwater protection zone has to be
established to avoid contamination and
sterilization of aquifers.
SP 4
Capacity Building - to do capacity building
for manpower to all agencies through
training, purchasing of new equipments and
usage of latest technology. This will improve
their skill, expertise and knowledge in the
development and management of
groundwater.
SP 5
Promotion and Awareness - to increase
the promotional activities among the
authorities to the potential of groundwater as
an additional water source. Awareness
campaign to all users to focus on the steps
to be taken to avoid contamination and
excess abstraction of groundwater.
SP 6
Research and Development to increase
activities of Research and Development to
identify effective methods for the
development and management of
groundwater. Also to do smart partnership
among research institutions and universities
in aspects of groundwater development and
management.
ACTION PLAN
This is what we are going to do
today
CONCLUSIONS
Groundwater plays an important role in
supplementing the domestic, industrial and
agricultural water needs of the country
contribution and potential value of groundwater
have not fully recognised, and not enough efforts
have been made to promote its proper
exploitation, management and conservation
Issues ranging from misconception, assessment,
databank, sustainability and Institutional
Arrangement still exist
Strategic Planning have been formulated and a
need to prepare ACTION PLAN