RATIO OF WATER WITHDRAWAL TO AVAILABILITY IN KELANTAN WATERSHEDS, MALAYSIA

Abstract

In the present study, the Water Stress Index for selected watersheds in Kelantan state, Malaysia was derived. Water Stress Index was derived based on the ratio of water withdrawal to availability serves as an indicator to assess the status of water scarcity in watersheds. Water consumption for the domestic purposes includes the daily water used for drinking and cleaning for household, while the non-domestic water used includes sector such as agriculture (paddy and non-paddy), industry and livestock. Estimation of water availability was obtained from 39 rainfall stations located in the Kelantan watersheds and the climate data was obtained from year 2005 to 2014. The water stress index is presented in a range of 0.0 – 1.0. The result shows that the Water Stress Index value for Kelantan River was obtained at 0.01 implying low level of stress at this watersheds. Kelantan is the second state in the Peninsular Malaysia that received the highest amount of rainfall after Pahang state. In conclusion, we found that Kelantan watersheds have a low amount of water consumption in ratio to the water availability. This is due to the low water consumption by the non-domestic sector in Kelantan. Apart from that, Kelantan also holds the third largest water catchment area in Peninsular Malaysia after Pahang and Kedah which influence the total amount of water availability in this state.

Keywords

• Water scarcity
• water availability
• water stress index
• water management
• Malaysia