SYNOPSIS

Water Resources in Sg Muda river basin are continuously increasing in demand with various competing water users for irrigation, domestic and industrial water supply, aquaculture and environment for both Kedah and Penang States. Land use changes and climate change factor also have negative impact on water resources availability in the river basin. During periods of low rainfall, dam operations and water allocations need to be modified to priorities essential users. These explain why the need for a reliable and comprehensive tool to manage water resources in the basin.
The development of National Water Balance System (NAWABS) for Sg Muda, completed in 2018, is very timely to address all issues related to water security in Kedah and Penang. NAWABS was designed to come up with 9 Decision Making Support System(DMSS) to assist water resources managers and the authorities in making wise decision related to water resources management which include systems for water accounting, water availability, water allocation, water auditing, water prioritization and demand management options.

The speaker will share the findings from the recently completed study and development of the main tools, their application and benefits for various stakeholders. The speaker will also highlight major issues and challenges related to water resources management in Sg Muda river basin and recommendations made by the consultant


BIODATA OF SPEAKER

Dato’ Ir Hj Hanapi Mohamad Noor graduated from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia in Civil Engineering in 1980, obtained post-graduate Diploma in Hydraulics Engineering from IHE, Delft, Netherlands in 1989 and MSc(Water Environment) from Bournemouth University, UK in 1996. He is currently the Vice Chairperson of the Malaysian Water Partnership (MyWP) and  Steering Committee Member of the Global Water Partnership-South East Asia(GWP-SEA). He retired from the public service in 2016 after serving for more than 35 years with the Department of Irrigation and Drainage, Malaysia in various capacities including State Director of Perlis and Penang, Director of River Basin Management and Director of Water Resources and Hydrology Division. Dato’ Ir. Hanapi is also actively involved in other NGOs and is currently the Vice Chair of Malaysian Hydrological Society (MHS), Associate of Akademi Sains Malaysia, President of the Netherlands Alumni Association Malaysia (NAAM) and Exco member of Malaysian National Committee on Irrigation and Drainage(MANCID).