The Government is looking into tapping groundwater for a more sustainable water supply for the future.
Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Douglas Uggah Embas said the Government has to look at new avenues for water resources after the numerous shortages faced by Malaysians.
“Climate change brings a lot of uncertainty and it may affect the water supply.
“The water from some rivers is just too polluted, so we are studying if groundwater can be exploited,” he said at the media launch of the Malaysian Institute of Geologists (IGM) Outreach Programme 2012-2013 here Thursday.
He said the move towards groundwater instead of the traditional rainwater catchment mechanisms was outlined in the National Water Resources Policy launched last month by Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
He added that there were two schools of thought when it came to exploiting groundwater.
“Some think we should leave it alone and study it fully so that nothing like the floods in Thailand end of last year will ever happen in Malaysia.
“But some think that it is a very sustainable way of supplying water in the country,” he said.
He added that what was more pressing for now was to ensure the groundwater was not polluted and degraded later on.
