Existing Solutions

sustainable ecosystem, water resources, management, planning system, Langat River Basin, Malaysia

educational

Research and Development

Sustainable Ecosystem Management is focusing on the sustainable water resources management and planning system of the Langat River Basin in Malaysia. Sustainable ecosystem management approach, taking into account the integrated management, utilization ­efficiency, resource conservation, and ecosystem maintenance through the establishment of indicators and an integrated plan for the basin ecosystem, especially for the Langat Basin, which also can be used for Malaysia and the world’s ecosystems. The sustainable water management include management, water consumption and utilization for ­efficient water resource management in the basin. This research also implements the integrated
water resource management (IWRM) and others mechanisms of water saving and minimisation.

The Langat Basin needs a very careful management and development plans for its water resources to ensure its sustainability. The rapid urbanisation in the Basin has led to a large influx of people into the region. Although many solutions and activities have been carried out to arrest the deterioration of the Langat River water quality but few have achieved success. The root to the problem is the absent of a truly integrated management system of water resources in the Basin. Therefore, there is a need for IWRM practices and implementation at all levels.

Currently, a certain degree activities pertaining to realization of goals of an IWRM approach have been implemented. However, the problem of integrated management lies in developing cooperation and collaboration among the agencies to ensure the well being of the basin itself. This includes issues of conflict resolution, information management and transboundary organization.

The main challenge of the basin is on how to improve the current status of Evolving River Basin to become operational or demonstration basin in the future. It involves the “know how” to dialogue with stakeholders in Langat River Basin which involved various stakeholders in different area and jurisdiction, the “know how” to interface the water law and policy and governance, the “know how” to undertake the necessary scientific research where basin scientific infrastructure is lacking, the “know how” to develop criteria to better define “vulnerable” basins to global change             (sensitivity to climatic variability and hydrological impacts of land use change), the “know how” to address  upstream-downstream issues within IWRM  from both a technical, management and policy perspective, and the most important thing is the “know how” to use the HELP approach to address national and transboundary basins policy issues connected with intra and inter basin conflicts connected with surface water and groundwater.

Some achievements have been made to bring Langat at the national and international arena, such as improvement of multi stakeholders collaboration & participation, multi disciplines research/in-depth studies on Langat River Basin, Best Management Practices (BMP’s) to be adopted for Langat Basin, capacity building programmes, training & education that have been carried out at the basin scale, as well as the network enhancement and proactive funding mechanisms. Sustainable efforts and commitments are very important and need to be further strengthened in order to sustain the water resources management in this basin.

The Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) approach is needed to be implemented as a practical approach toward sustainable water resources management in this basin. The collaboration and cooperation from all related stakeholders in Langat River Basin are very important to upgrade the present status of Evolving HELP Basin to Operational HELP Basin or Demonstration HELP Basin for Langat River Basin (Mokhtar et. al., 2010). There is a need critical mass for organisational change at catchment level and also commitment from all levels to solve the problem at the Langat River Basin. All these contributions would be useful to the improvement of R & D work on Langat River Basin.

Langat River Basin (which involved the Selangor State, Negeri Sembilan State and Federal Territory of Putrajaya) and which was declared as an Evolving River Basin (under the framework of UNESCO-IHP HELP since 2004), that is a basin which is not yet fully operational to become a World Demonstration HELP Basin (one that is seen as demonstrating best practice in HELP and IWRM, with something to offer other basins). Additionally, it is a unique and special river basin  and located approximately 27 km to the south of Kuala Lumpur. The catchment of this Langat River is about 2350 km sq and the length at 200 km and its flows out of Klang Valley and ends to the Straits of Malacca.  The Langat River is located at altitude 02⁰ 50’ 48’’ N and longitude 101⁰ 40’ 48’’ E with the highest peak is 820.8 m (2691 ft) and almost 75 percent of the catchment is hilly terrain with average slope 6-9’’ and another 25 percent of the areas are less than 6’’ while some swamps along the river. The Langat River has few tributaries and out of them the main tributaries are Sg Semenyih River, Lui River and Beranang River and Langat River itself basically is the most important river in the catchment. In Langat catchment, there are two reservoirs which is at the upstream of Langat River and Semenyih River that purpose to supplying water to the treatment plants situated at the downstream of the catchment. The research group has set out various plans for research in terms of short, medium and long term goals and sustainable ecosystem management  is among the main agenda to be achieved.

The project has initiated by the IWRM Research group of UKM, based in LESTARI, UKM.

The main stakeholders and partners involved in implementing the research project were the Institute for Environment and Development (LESTARI) – Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) with collaboration and support from the Department of Irrigation and Drainage (DID), National Hydraulic Research Institute Malaysia (NAHRIM), The Humid Tropics Centre Kuala Lumpur (HTCKL), Department of Environment (DOE), Selangor Waters Management Authority (SWMA), National Water Services Commission (SPAN), National Water Resources Council (NWRC), UNESCO-IHP Malaysia, Town and Country Planning Department (TCPD), Public Works Department (PWD), Local Authorities and Land Offices in the Langat Basin [Kuala Langat District Council, Sepang District Council, Kajang Municipal Council, Seremban Municipal Council, Nilai Municipal Council], some NGOs [Malaysian Water Partnership (MyWP), WWF Malaysia; Malaysian Nature Society (MNS); Wetland International Malaysia (WIM) Programme; Malaysian Environmental NGOs (MENGOs); Malaysian National Committee on Irrigation and Drainage (MANCID); Global Environment Center (GEC); Center for Environmental Technology (CETEC)], State and Local governments of Selangor and Negeri Sembilan, Universities (e.g UKM, UM and UPM which had done some research in the Langat Basin), Private Agencies [such as Alam Sekitar Malaysia Sdn Bhd (ASMA); Alam Flora Sdn. Bhd; Indah Water Konsortium (IWK) Sdn. Bhd.; Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor Sdn. Bhd. (SYABAS)] and Communities in the Langat Basin including the indigenous people. 

Some actors from the research project were:

Prof. Dr. Mazlin B. Mokhtar (Chair), Professor and Principal Research Fellow, Institute for Environment and Development (LESTARI), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 UKM BANGI, Selangor, Malaysia, Telephone: 603-8921 4149, Fax: 603-8925 5104, E-mail: mazlin@ukm.my / mazlinmokhtar@yahoo.com

Dr. Rahmah Elfithri (Coordinator), Senior Research Fellow, Institute for Environment and Development (LESTARI), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 UKM BANGI, Selangor, Malaysia, Telephone: 603-8921 7642, Fax: 603-8925 5104, E-mail: elfith_ukm@yahoo.com /  elfith@ukm.my

Prof. Dr. Mohd Ekhwan Toriman (Core Researcher), Professor, School of Social, Development & Environmental Studies, Faculty of Science Social and Humanities, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 UKM BANGI, Selangor, Malaysia, Telephone: 603-8921 3648, Fax: 603-8921 2223, E-mail: ikhwan@ukm.my

For the Langat River Basin, research has been done and continuously on going which aimed at implementing the integrated water resource management (IWRM) through integrated and holistic approaches for sustainability science and governance of the following aspects:

• Water and Sustainable Ecosystem Management
• Stakeholders Participation through Collaborative Decision Making (CDM)
• Decision Support System (DSS) Development for Integrated River Basin Management (IRBM)
• Water and Environmental Training and Education.
• Capacity Building for Sustainable Development.

The current development status that has been achieved are as follow:

• In term of research, Institute for Environment and Development (LESTARI), UKM has been conducting training and education on application of the concept of ecosystem approach in management and conservation of natural resources and environment of the Langat Basin in Malaysia since 1997, entitled “Ecosystem Health of the Langat Basin: An Integrated Approach for Environmental Management”. It has produced three proceedings of the Langat Basin Research Symposium, which covered the broad-based issues of land use, demography, social environment, economic development, physical environment, industry, chemical environment, biotic environment, and forestry. These outputs can be used as indicator of baseline conditions in Langat Basin.

• The study on Ecosystem Health of the Langat Basin has been completed in 2004. Since then, the ecosystem health concept in environmental management is gaining popularity and there is no doubt that many other river basins have begun to adopt such a concept in the management of water resource. However, the application of ecosystem health is very much dependent on the nature and location of the river basin and due to high variability, no two basins can operate in an exact manner using ecosystem health approach. Therefore, the concept of river ecosystem health for the LRB can be used as a good guide for other river basin of similar characteristics.

• In 2004, LESTARI have been proposed the LRB to be considered as one of UNESCO-IHP HELP River Basin by using the output of Ecosystem Health Study of the LRB. It is approved and UNESCO has been recognized the LRB as Evolving River Basin under UNESCO-IHP HELP Programme and since then, HELP principles have been followed for river basin management in LRB.

• At the same time, IRBM process has been introduced in LRB since 1999, with establishment of Selangor Waters Management Authority (SWMA) that act as River Basin Authority for LRB. Since then, research network has been developed and Inter-organizational network has been functional through SWMA. The River Basin Enactment has been enacted since 1999 by SWMA.

• Department of Irrigation and Drainage (DID) has prepared Component Plans such as (i) Catchment management and monitoring plan; (ii) River corridor development and management plan; (iii) Water resources development and management plan; (iv) Flood mitigation master plan; and (v) Environmental management plan under the LRB studies in 2002-2003.

• LRB has its own IRBM plan called RB-DSS developed by DID in 2004. Since then, the IRBM Plan is under implementation by concerned agencies.

• DID has developed a good website which are also good sources of information. On-line river level data (m) above mean sea level is available from Hydrology and Water Resources Division of the Department of Irrigation and Drainage Malaysia. URL for the information is http:// infobanjir.water.gov.my/wl_chart_scatter.cfm?state=SEL&sta tion _id=203

• Department of Environment (DOE) has conducted study on pollution prevention and water quality improvement programme of Langat River in 2003. These are important baseline documents for LRB.

• The ‘LRB Pollution Control Task Force’ has been established since 2004 to control and monitor the activity in the river basin that contributes to the pollution, as well as the ‘LRB Management Committee’ to manage LRB in integrated  and holistic approach with the cooperation from the government agencies, private sector, stakeholders and community.

• The ‘Emergency Committee for Water Resources Pollution’ has also being established in 2005 which is chaired by EXCO of Infrastructure & Public Utilities in Selangor and Selangor Waters Management Authority (SWMA) act as secretariat.

• The Alam Sekitar Malaysia Sdn Bhd (ASMA) has water monitoring data for all river basins in Malaysia. It is a good source of water quality data for LRB.

• The National Water Services Commission (NWSC) has been set up in 2006. The Water supply service and sanitation services in LRB have been improved

• The stakeholders analysis of the LRB has been conducted, where a total of 26 Government agencies, 10 Private Sectors and 15 NGOs were identified as the major stakeholders of LRB. Most of these stakeholders have been trained under LESTARI led capacity development programme.

• Under the ongoing research programme of LESTARI in LRB, all the people of the basin area has been considered as primary stakeholders while all the agencies, NGOs, private sector organizations and universities, which are responsible for providing services in water sector in the basin area, have been considered as secondary stakeholders. Both categories of stakeholders will be involved in the social learning process.

• Higher level research like Masters and PhD level research work have been carried out at LESTARI on LRB. Stakeholder participation issues are brought under formal higher level research.

• LESTARI has conducted a project on Harmonising Environmental Considerations with Sustainable Development Potential of River Basins that has been completed in 2010 with focusing on identification issues and challenges related to water governance, environmental and sustainable development potential of river basin especially for Langat Basin from the perspectives of various stakeholders.

• A number of Government agencies, private companies and universities in Malaysia can provide base line information on LRB. They also have already committed to work together under the Stakeholders Research Committee for Integrated LRB Management through Decision Support System Development (SRC DSS-IRBM Langat) formed in December 2010.

• There are a number of published research articles and thesis papers on LRB. These are good sources of information on LRB.

Key issues:

• Water quality and environmental degradation of the Langat River Basin due to the number of large scale social-economic development projects have either currently taking shape or are already completed in the Basin. This include the new township of Putrajaya (new Federal Government Administration Center), the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) for the information technology industry, Cyberjaya (the paperless electronic village and township), the Malaysian BioValley project for biotechnology research/industry, the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), the Sepang Formula One Grand Prix Circuit and several other institutions of higher learning including universities.

• The water in the basin is used mainly for agriculture/aquaculture and as water supply to major cities in the basin and to the adjacent Klang River basin where Kuala Lumpur is located. 

• The demand for water for Year 2000 was 468 million liters/day and projected to increase to 2 141 million liters/day by 2050.

• The rapid urbanisation in the Basin has led to a large influx of people into the region.
• One of the main problems is river pollution from sewage and suspended solids resulted from land clearing and discharge of untreated or incompletely treated sewage.
• The problem is a concern of many including government, NGOs and the public as the Langat River is the main potable water resource for the whole Langat Basin and the Klang Valley (Kuala Lumpur) nearby where almost a million people depend on the Langat for drinking water.
• Absent of a truly integrated management system of water resources in the Basin, and therefore there is a need for IWRM practices and implementation  at all levels.

Key solutions:

• One of the principal/critical water management issues in the basin is to improve and maintain water quality Class II of Sungai Langat. Aggregation of pollution from all the point sources is now the threat for the aquatic ecosystem of Langat River. It was documented in the final report of the Study on Pollution Prevention and Water Quality Improvement Programme of Sungai Langat in 2003.

• Some achievements have been made to bring Langat at the national and international arena, such as improvement of multi stakeholders collaboration & participation, multi disciplines research/in-depth studies on LRB, Best Management Practices (BMP’s) to be adopted for Langat Basin, capacity building programmes, training & education that have been carried out at the basin scale, as well as the network enhancement and proactive funding mechanisms. Sustainable efforts and commitments are very important and need to be further strengthened in order to sustain the water resources management in this basin.

• The development of integrated information system for LRB which has been done through development of Decision Support System (DSS) that provide data and information on various issues and characteristics related to water resources management in LRB, also provide reasonable and best results to decision makers in managing river basin for sustainable management of LRB. This DSS is designed to be used and adopted in LRB and to be shared among various related stakeholders at various levels in this Basin in order to ensure the implementation of IWRM and IRBM for LRB.

• The sustainable ecosystem mechanism is quite effective for encouraging and improving integrated water resources management. Some research fund should also allocated for the specific basin in order to improve the current status of the basin towards operational or demonstration level under the UNESCO-IHP HELP framework.

The monitoring can be done through conducting the stakeholders analysis in order to get the data and information on the current involvement and participation of stakeholders in manageing water resources in the Langat River Basin, currently a total of 26 Government agencies, 10 Private Sectors and 15 NGOs were identified as the major stakeholders of Langat River Basin. Most of these stakeholders have been trained under LESTARI led capacity development programme.

Developing the capacity of various stakeholders in the Langat River Basin is also important component in order to make sure the improvement and enhancement of the capacity of the people through conducting  the training and education for different stakeholder group and level on application of the concept of ecosystem approach in management and conservation of natural resources and environment of the Langat Basin in Malaysia, that can be used as indicator of baseline conditions in Langat Basin.

It is also can be done through conducting  research study on Ecosystem Health of the Langat Basin and adopting  this concept in the management of water resource that can be used as a good guide for managing river basin towards sustainable ecosystem management.

Development of Decision support system is also important process that can provide reasonable and best results to decision makers in managing Langat River Basin to sustainable for long term. Implementation of the concept of integrated river basin management and integrated water resources management can be achieved through proper system. At present, hydrologists working in urban areas are facing many new challenges imposed by the ever changing hydrological environment in cities. Emphasis should be put on managing the urban systems as good as possible by applying currently available information and technology, for example by implementation of real time hydrological information systems – like the one outlined above. A part from managing urban hydrology in real-time, many other challenges have to be addressed in the near future- Integrated and holistic approached together with other disciplines i.e ecologists, social scientists, engineers and planners.

The research will be beneficial to the group as well as the community in various ways towards sustainable ecosystem management of the Langat Basin:

• The IWRM Research Group’s strategies and plans on governance, CB and research are useful as guidelines and reference to implement IWRM, and to achieve the targets within a certain period.
• The agenda of the IWRM group can help state governments to establish an authority such as Langat River Basin Authority (LRBA) and Pahang River Basin Authority (PRBA) by the year 2020.
• This group will assist the government and other stakeholders to develop educational and awareness packages for different levels of society. Education can be accomplished through formal, non formal and informal approaches.
• This group advocates zero waste or discharge concept to Malaysia citizens as well as changing their lifestyles towards a more sustainable and friendly environment, and to reduce water wastage.
• More research will be conducted to identify more practical and simple approaches that can help promote some noble principles, such as “user pays principle”, “precautionary principle”, and “prevention is better than cure”. This may help reduce water demand and to optimise water consumption.
• Guidelines and manuals that take into account the different aspects and perspectives of different target groups will be developed to advocate importance of IWRBM/IWRM, and its implementation.
• IWRM capacity building modules, including the concept of “training of trainers” for different levels of stakeholders will be developed to schematically and systematically introduce IWRM and its subsets.
• The number of researchers in IWRM/IRBM modelling and applied technology will be increased to encourage participatory approach; for example, to identify bio-indicators and develop biosensors which can be easily used by society and the public. It could help monitor the river water quality and water supply.
• The group will enhance the existing rain water harvesting utilisation system in terms of efficiency and cost, so that it becomes easier to be utilised by private and public sectors at reasonable prices.
• Local database containing present information/data on water resources, climate change, and related data will be established. This will become an important reference/source for management and R&D.
• The group will identify and develop different levels of models (e.g. local, national and regional). The purpose is to develop a process which is more accurate and precise in future scenarios; as part of a tool which supports the water governance and decision making process.

Lesson Learned:

• The Langat Basin needs a very careful management and development plans for its water resources to ensure its sustainability. The rapid urbanisation in the Basin has led to a large influx of people into the region. Although many solutions and activities have been carried out to arrest the deterioration of the Langat River water quality but few have achieved success. The root to the problem is the absent of a truly integrated management system of water resources in the Basin. Therefore, there is a need for IWRM practices and implementation at all levels.

• Currently, a certain degree activities pertaining to realization of goals of an IWRM approach have been implemented. However, the problem of integrated management lies in developing cooperation and collaboration among the agencies to ensure the well being of the basin itself. This includes issues of conflict resolution, information management and transboundary organization.

• The main challenge of the basin is on how to improve the current status of Evolving River Basin to become operational or demonstration basin in the future. It involves the “know how” to dialogue with stakeholders in LRB which involved various stakeholders in different area and jurisdiction, the “know how” to interface the water law and policy and governance, the “know how” to undertake the necessary scientific research where basin scientific infrastructure is lacking, the “know how” to develop criteria to better define “vulnerable” basins to global change  (sensitivity to climatic variability and hydrological impacts of land use change), the “know how” to address  upstream-downstream issues within IWRM  from both a technical, management and policy perspective, and the most important thing is the “know how” to use the HELP approach to address national and transboundary basins policy issues connected with intra and inter basin conflicts connected with surface water and groundwater.

• IWRM approach is needed to be implemented as a practical approach toward sustainable water resources management in this basin. The collaboration and cooperation from all related stakeholders in LRB are very important to upgrade the present status of Evolving HELP Basin to Operational HELP Basin or Demonstration HELP Basin for LRB. There is a need critical mass for organisational change at catchment level and also commitment from all levels to solve the problem at the LRB. All these contributions would be useful to the improvement of R & D work on LRB.

• The multi-disciplinary and multi-sector research on IWRM carried out by the research group members are effective ways of achieving the common goals from the different perspectives and overviews.  Various inputs and expert opinions can also be used to produce the group’s outputs towards the implementation of IWRM.

• Network and collaboration among the group members is strengthened, and at the same time will become valuable in complementing each other in establishing a larger network and collaboration nationwide, as well as at the international level.

Several initiatives were taken by academia in Malaysia in improving the level of awareness and knowledge in water resource management. Even though IWRM is not specifically taught as a subject or offered in any faculty programme, some innovative approaches in introducing and implementing IWRM have been made. The cases presented here are samples from UKM, which has established the Sustainable Campus programme, hence the redirection of the university’s research niche, one of which being the Regional Sustainable Development.

For example in UKM,  which has launched the Sustainable UKM Programme in June 2007 with the goal of becoming a fully sustainable campus and a model university that practices and applies sustainable development concepts and principles in their daily activities. This includes sustainability of the community, ecosystem and design in UKM, where the university occupies a large land area, has a growing population, traffic, and various complex activities

which are not limited to education and research activities alone. These activities result in direct and indirect impacts on the environment and sustainability. The environmental pollution and degradation caused by the university in the form of water, energy and materials consumption via activities and operations in teaching and research, provision of support services and in residential and hostel areas would seriously undermine the ability to ensure expanding prosperity and economic justice for the campus to play an important role in achieving sustainability. Therefore, the sustainability on campus calls for the university to take into account the importance of the resource management and conservation, including water as part of the sustainable ecosystem management of UKM. Some of the Action taken was by establishment of the Sustainable Ecosystem Management Research Group under the Sustainable Campus Research Cluster in June 2008. The research group campaigns on the needs to manage and conserve water resources, to strive towards energy efficient, to reduce waste and to promote the conservation and preservation of forest in UKM.

Some related programmes and activities have been carried out toward sustainable ecosystem management and sustainable campus in UKM. Series of forum, seminar, exhibition, carnival and poster competition on Environmental Awareness and IWRM for students was conducted in UKM. It received encouraging participation and involvement from students. During this event, Water Saving Campaign was also launched.

The UKM’s IWRM Research Group was also formed in December 2007 under the Framework of Regional Sustainable Development Research Niche of UKM. The group consists of lecturers and researchers from various faculties and institutes in UKM who are engaged in IWRM research and activities. The research are mainly focused on four research fields, namely, governance, science and technology, economy and health at the local, national and global levels. The first meeting of the group was held on 12 December 2007 to discuss its direction. This group was formed with the following objectives:

 1. To develop knowledge and technology on what is happening in the national water sector, and on trends and developments outside the sector that may affect future water use.

2. To raise awareness on water issues among the population and decision makers in order to foster the political will and leadership necessary to achieve the Malaysia Water Vision.

3. To assist the Malaysian Government achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDG).

Some of the Action taken by research group members was by building up the consensus to formulate an IWRM research blueprint (2008-2020). Some activities related to IWRM have already been conducted and carried out at various levels involving multi disciplines and multi stakeholders as initiatives to move forward towards the implementation of IWRM in Malaysia. This is done through outreach programmes and multi-stakeholder participation with special consideration for special groups.

Dr. Rahmah Elfithri

Institute for Environment and Development (LESTARI)

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM)

43600, Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia

elfith_ukm@yahoo.com

+60162844210

Main references supporting the solution:

1. Mohd Ekhwan Toriman, Mazlin Mokhtar & Rahmah Elfithri. 2012. Impact of Climate Change on Regional Hydroclimate Projection in Peninsular Malaysia.Journal of Environmental Science and Engineering B, Vol 1, Number 1, January 2012 . Scopus.
2. Rahmah Elfithri, Mohd Ekhwan B. Toriman, Mazlin B. Mokhtar and Hafizan B. Juahir. 2011. Perspectives and Initiatives on Integrated River Basin Management in Malaysia: A Review. The Social Sciences 6 (2): 169-176, 2011.  Medwell Journals. Scopus.
3. M.E. Toriman, A.C. Er, Mazlin Mokthar, Rahmah Elfithri, Muhammad Barzani Gasim, Othman Karim, Mokhtar Jaafar, Nor Azlina Abdul Aziz and Nor Rohaizah Jamil, 2011, Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences, River Regulation and its Impact on River Channel Platform Changes, 6(6):423-427. . Scopus.
4. Muhammad Barzani Gasim, Salmijah Surif, Mohd Ekhwan Toriman, Sahibin Abd Rahim, Rahmah Elfithri and Pan Ia Lun. 2009. Land-Use Change and Climate-Change Patterns of the Cameron Highlands, Pahang, Malaysia. The Arab World Geographer/Le Géographe du monde arabe Vol 12, No 1-2 (2009) 51–61. AWG Publishing, Toronto, Canada.
5. Rahmah Elfithri, Mazlin B. Mokhtar and Nik Mohd Noor Faizul B. Md. Saad. 2008. Data and Information for Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM): Needs and Challenges. Asian Journal of Water, Environment and Pollution 5(4): 49-57, 2008 ISSN 0972-9860. Capital Publishing Company.
6. Mohammad Fawzi Al Ajlouni, Mazlin B. Mokhtar and Rahmah Elfithri. 2008. Integrated Water Resources Management Improving Langat Basin Ecosystem Health. American Journal of Environmental Sciences 4 (4): 380-382, 2008 ISSN 1553-345X. Science Publications.
7. Mazlin B. Mokhtar, Rahmah Elfithri, Daria Mathew and Wan Nur’ashiqin Wan Mohamad (Eds.). 2009. Training Module on Developing the Capacity of NGOs for the Practical Implementation of IWRM in Malaysia. Institute for Environment and Development (LESTARI), Malaysian Capacity Building Network for IWRM (MyCapnet) and International Capacity Building Network for IWRM (CapNet). ISBN 978-983-9444-91-9.
8. Mazlin B. Mokhtar, Rahmah Elfithri, Wan Nur’ashiqin Wan Mohamad and Daria Mathew (Eds.). 2009. Training Module on Developing the Capacity of Academia for the Practical Implementation of IWRM in Malaysia. Institute for Environment and Development (LESTARI), Malaysian Capacity Building Network for IWRM (MyCapnet) and International Capacity Building Network for IWRM (CapNet).  ISBN 978-983-9444-98-8.
9. Mazlin B. Mokhtar, Rahmah Elfithri, Daria Mathew and Wan Nur’ashiqin Wan Mohamad (Eds.). 2009. MyIWRM: What Can I Do? Manual for NGOs. Institute for Environment and Development (LESTARI), Malaysian Capacity Building Network for IWRM (MyCapnet) and International Capacity Building Network for IWRM (CapNet).  ISBN 978-983-9444-99-5.
10. Mazlin B. Mokhtar, Rahmah Elfithri, Wan Nur’ashiqin Wan Mohamad and Daria Mathew (Eds.). 2009. MyIWRM: What Can I Do? Manual for Academia. Institute for Environment and Development (LESTARI), Malaysian Capacity Building Network for IWRM (MyCapnet) and International Capacity Building Network for IWRM (CapNet).  ISBN 978-983-5227-00-4.

Additional references supporting the solution:

1. Department of Irrigation and Drainage (DID) Malaysia. 2004. Sungai Langat Integrated River Basin Management (IRBM) Study. Final Report. Malaysia: Jabatan Pengairan dan Saliran.
2. Department of Irrigation and Drainage (DID) Malaysia. 2006. National Study on the Effective Implementation of Integrated Water Resources Management in Malaysia. Interim Report. Malaysia: Jabatan Pengairan dan Saliran.
3. Malaysian Water Partnership (MyWP). (n.d.). Malaysia’s Water Vision: The Way Forward. Retrieved from Food and Agriculture Organisation website: http://www.fao.org/docrep/004/AB776E/ab776e02.htm
4. MENGO. (2007). Training Module on Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM). Malaysian Environmental Non-Governmental Organisations (MENGO) & Malaysian Water Partnership (MyWP).