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Sustainable management of lakes in Malaysia

Zati Sharip, Senior Research Officer, Research Centre for Water Quality and Environment;

Saim Suratman, Director, Research Centre for Geohydrology; and Ahmad Jamalluddin Shaaban, Director General,

National Hydraulic Research Institute of Malaysia, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Malaysia

akes, natural or man-made, are important water resources

for Malaysia. These inland water bodies cover an area of

over 10,000 hectares and contain more than 30 billion

cubic metres of water. Most of these water bodies have multiple

functions including the provision of water supply for domestic,

industrial and agricultural needs, hydroelectricity generation,

flood mitigation, and recreational and tourism destinations.

However, deterioration of water quality in Malaysia’s freshwater

systems including lakes, resulting from rapid development within

the catchment, is a serious concern.

According to a preliminary assessment on the status of eutrophication

of lakes in Malaysia, conducted by the National Hydraulic Research

Institute of Malaysia (NAHRIM) in collaboration with the Academy

of Sciences Malaysia (ASM) in 2005, about 62 per cent of 90 major

lakes that were studied were in a nutrient-rich or eutrophic state,

while the rest were categorised as nutrient-balance or mesotrophic.

Some of the eutrophic lakes, such as Lake Aman in Selangor and

Lake Sembrong in Johor, are threatened by algae bloom incidents,

while Lake Chini in Pahang is vulnerable to excessive

growth of aquatic plants. The excess nutrients were

largely induced by point sources and non-point sources

originating from natural and anthropogenic activities

within the lake catchment. Concerted efforts in the form

of national cooperation among government agencies,

departments and private sectors were crucial to address-

ing these serious eutrophication issues, and these efforts

have been initiated and fostered since 2007.

Sustainable lake management

A two-day colloquium among stakeholders on the

theme of Status and Issues of Lakes and Reservoirs

Management in Malaysia was jointly organized by

NAHRIM (under the auspices of the Ministry of Natural

Resources and Environment or NRE), ASM, the Inter

Academy Panel and the Japan Science and Technology

Agency at NRE in August 2007. Its aim was to advo-

cate greater understanding on the status and issues

ater

ducation

and

nstitutional

evelopment

Temenggor Lake is one of the biggest man-made lakes in Peninsular Malaysia

Image: Academy of Sciences Malaysia