GEORGE TOWN: The first wave of the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) cloud seeding operations over Penang has been rescheduled to commence in early May.
Penang Water Supply Corporation (PBAPP) chief executive officer K. Pathmanathan said such a decision was made based on the recommendations from the Malaysian Meteorological Department (MetMalaysia).
The primary rationale behind such a move, he said, was to maximise the potential of heavy rainfall by carrying out cloud seeding operations only when the weather conditions are optimal (when large rain clouds are forecast to be present at the right elevations).
"We have been officially informed of this decision by the Penang Water Regulatory Body (Badan Kawal Selia Air – BKSA) in a letter dated Friday (April 28).
"We fully support this result-oriented approach.
"PBAPP appreciates the support of the National Disaster Management Agency (Nadma), RMAF, MetMalaysia and BKSA in arranging and expediting the cloud seeding operations for Penang," he said today.
The Penang government has approved a RM400,000 allocation for the implementation of cloud seeding operations over the water catchment areas of the two dams.
MetMalaysia had initially recommended the timeframe from April 29 to May 7 for the first wave of operations to be carried out over Penang.
As of yesterday, the effective capacity of the Air Itam Dam was 43.6 per cent while the Teluk Bahang Dam, 49.1 per cent.
Pathmanathan said the effective capacities of these two dams had been depleted due to lack of rainfall in the relevant water catchment areas.
He said a prolonged dry season (as related to climate change) and high water demand in Penang since the start of the year were key causes of this phenomenon.
"The dams should be refilled with as much water as possible to avoid a potential water supply crisis in Penang before the next rainy season," he added.
Accordingly, the RMAF aircraft carrying out the cloud seeding operations in May will take off from the Subang RMAF Air Base in Selangor.
A PBAPP engineer has been assigned to be on-board to witness each sortie over Penang.
PBAPP will also monitor the results of the cloud seeding operations by recording rainfall in the targeted water catchment areas and the effective capacities of the Air Itam Dam and the Teluk Bahang Dam, after the operations are completed.
Pathmanathan said, depending on the outcome, the Penang government and PBAPP may request more cloud seeding operations this year.