basin water blog

Water Supply at the Sarawak State are delivered by Kuching Water Board, Sibu Water Board, and LAKU Management Sdn Bhd. Beside those three there are 89 water supply authorities under the state Jabatan Kerja Raya (JKR), which supply drinking water according to the National Drinking Water Standards. All together the water boards and authorities are servicing 76.3 % of the population, 100 % of the urban area, and 54.4 % of the rural population. Works are progressing to achieve the target of 70% of rural population by the end of Ninth Malaysia Plan. In some areas, the water is come from low lying rivers that covered with peat swamp forest, for example Miri, where the water come from Bakong river.  The water is colour (yellowish) due to the organic content, but it is not harmful for human consumptions.  Other source of water that being studied for low lying area is from groundwater.

To help avoid extreme climate change, existing wetlands should be enhanced and new wetlands created so they could capture more carbon.  Wetlands hold about 20% of all terrestrial carbon stock.  However, wetlands, including peatlands, continue to be convered to other uses around the world, resulting in large emission of carbon and methane.  Besides capturing and holding carbon, wetlands are hotspots of biodiversity, crucial components in flood control, and in providing clean water. Without substantial reductions in emissions of fossil fuels, up to 85 percent of wetlands will be lost in the future.  It would also release enough carbon and methane to almost certainly tip the climate into an era of extreme and rapid change. Wetlands, including marshes, peat bogs, swamps, river deltas, mangroves, tundra, lagoon, and river floodplains, are covering just 6% of the earth land surface.  It contain an estimated 771 billion tonnes of greenhouse gases, both CO2 and more potent methane.  Some 60%

Water levels in the northern Mekong River are at record-low levels, posing a thread to water supply, navigation and irrigation along the stretch of water that is home to about 60 million peoples.  Jeremy Bird, chief executive officer of the Mekong River Commission (MRC) Secretariat, told AFP that in this late February 2010, northen Thailand, northen Laos, and southern China have been affected by the low water, that are lower than the last 20 years records. Bird said that it is difficult to say whether global warming is responsible but the wet season in Vientiane last year was one of the worst on record, and was followed by much lower than average rain late in 2009 and early this year. There are eight existing or planned dams on the main stream Mekong in China, which are normally filled during the dry season, with whatever rain that fall during that season. More information can be get from the Mekong River Commission website at http://www.mrcmekong.org/ Low water level record was co

Hydrological Map: Source: DID Sarawak

Hydrological Map: Source: DID Sarawak

Limiting warming to two degree Celcius was recommended as one of the commitment on the December 2009, Copenhagen Accord. As of 1st February 2010, among the 194 member nations of UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), fifty five (55) nations have registered their commitment to combat global warming.  The number was increased to over 100 countries in late February.  China and India are yet to say if they will associate or not.  However, according to Yvo de Boer, the head of UN climate change secretariat, both China and India together with about 60 other countries, heve submitted plans or targets on the actions they plan to take. A UNEP conerence of environment minister and officials from more than 135 countries was held in Bali, Nusa Dua in February 2010. An independent board of scientists will be appointed to review the world's top climate change panel, which have been accused for exaggerated the pace of melt of Himalayan glaciers. This month (February 2010) the panel

Hydrological Map of Sg. Sarawak Source: DID Sarawak