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November 04, 2009 13:40 PM
Groundwater Abstraction Does Not Impact Environment, Says Sime Darby
From Samantha Tan Chiew Ting
SEOUL, Nov 4 (Bernama) -- Groundwater abstraction does not affect vegetation growth and living organisms, says Dr Azuhan Mohamed, Water Management Head of Sime Darby Bhd's Energy and Utilities Division.
"Oil palm and other vegetables with the exception of deep-rooted vegetation don't depend on groundwater for their water intake but on the water that is contained within the unsaturated zone or soil moisture," he said.
Speaking to Malaysian journalists on a familiarisation tour of groundwater technology in South Korea, Azuhan said groundwater abstraction has minimal impact on river flow and other surface water bodies.
He said groundwater abstraction from unconfined aquifers away from rivers and other surface water bodies and from confined aquifers has no impact on rivers and other surface water bodies.
"There will be an impact if groundwater abstraction is done in unconfined aquifers and close to rivers and other surface water bodies and when there is hydraulic connection between the two," Azuhan explained.
Azuhan said groundwater abstraction impacting river water flow was negligible compared to direct interventions on rivers such as direct abstraction from rivers and building dams across rivers to store water.
In August, the Federation of Malaysian Consumer Associations (FOMCA) opposed Sime Darby's proposed groundwater resources development project in Batang Padang, Perak, due to adverse impact on the environment.
Azuhan said the public water supply system in Malaysia is surface water-based via direct river extraction (88 per cent) and storage dam (11 per cent).
Direct river extraction is 12,964 million litres per day (MLD), storage dam (1,609 MLD) and groundwater (195 MLD or about one per cent), he added.
Groundwater is a sustainable and reliable source of water if abstracted correctly. For example, in Denmark, 100 per cent of water consumed is sourced from groundwater.
-- BERNAMA
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