KOTA KINABALU: Sabah will take more proactive steps to address future water shortages, especially due to climate change.
State Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Seri Jeffrey Kitingan said one of the methods is to propose to the state government to gazette water resources in all districts in the state.
"This is for the long term, and now, we need to safeguard our water resources because the Sabah Water Department cannot manage it for us and the industries.
"We will have two types of gazettement: one for protection, whereby the area cannot be disturbed at all despite its status as state land, or outside the forest reserves.
"For the surrounding areas with water catchment, it will be categorised as conservation areas, but there will be some flexibility," he said, adding there would be regulations on land use.
Jeffrey, who is also the state Agriculture, Fisheries, and Food Industry minister, was speaking to reporters after chairing a meeting about water resources at Wisma Pertanian here.
He added that the state government would also involve village development and security committee leaders to form a committee to oversee water resources.
The authorities would also search for tube wells and implement water transfer to address water shortages during dry spells.
When the dry spell ends, Jeffrey said the government will build coastal reserves and retention ponds to harvest excess water during rainy days.
Meanwhile, six out of 89 water plants are not operating at full capacity, including those on Sebatik island in Tawau, Banggi island in Kudat, and the Emergency Water Supply Scheme (EWSS) in Papar.
Regarding river water levels, Jeffrey said the levels have dropped between 10 and 50 per cent.
The situation has affected rice fields, with 2274.34 hectares in Keningau, 108.01 hectares in Kota Belud, 54.67 hectares in Papar, and 40.23 hectares in Membakut affected.
As it is almost the harvesting period, Jeffrey said the authority is only assisting in pumping water for the rice fields.
However, he is more concerned about rice cultivation for the next season and anticipates a lower production in the future.