Institutional and Legal Aspect of Water Resources Management in Sabah

1. 3rd Sarawak-Sabah Environmental Convention 2004Mega Hotel, Miri5th-7th October 2004 Institutional and Legal Aspect of Water Resources Management in Sabah Yap Siew Fah & Miklin Ationg Department of Irrigation and Drainage Sabah http://www.did.sabah.gov.my Department of Irrigation and Drainage

2. Presentation Outline • Introduction • Water Resources Management Institution • Legal Instruments for the Management Activities Related to Water Resources • Other Legislations related to Water Resources Management • Conclusion Department of Irrigation and Drainage

3. Introduction • Water Resources Management in Sabah is governed by a water resources law • Sabah Water Resources Enactment (1998) • Enacted in 1998 • Enforced in 2000 • The law provide : • Water Resources Institutions • Legal Instrument for Management of activities related to Water Resources Department of Irrigation and Drainage

4. Water Resources Institutions • The enactment provide for the establishment of the Institutions • Minister • Council • Director • Catchment Management Committee Department of Irrigation and Drainage

5. Minister Water Resources Council Water Resources Director Catchment Management Committee District Water Resources Manager Water Resources Management Section District Catchment Management Committee District Technical Taskforce Water Resources Institutions • The Minister • Minister responsible for water resources • Currently is the Chief Minister as a minister responsible for natural resources in the state Department of Irrigation and Drainage

6. Minister Water Resources Council Water Resources Director Catchment Management Committee District Water Resources Manager Water Resources Management Section District Catchment Management Committee District Technical Taskforce Water Resources Institutions • Water Resources Council • Functions • Membership • Appointment by the Yang di-Pertua Negeri Department of Irrigation and Drainage

7. Water Resources Institutions • Water Resources Director • Functions • Appointment by the Minister from amongst members of the State public service • Assisted by other officers appointed by the Minister from amongst the members of the State public services • Currently assumed by the Director of DID Sabah as recommended in the Sabah Water Resources Master Plan pending formal appointment. • A Water Resources Management Section at State level has been established in DID to assist the Director Department of Irrigation and Drainage

8. Minister Water Resources Council Water Resources Director Catchment Management Committee District Water Resources Manager Water Resources Management Section District Catchment Management Committee District Technical Taskforce Water Resources Institutions • Water Resources Director (con’t) Department of Irrigation and Drainage

9. Water Resources Institutions • Catchment Management Committee • Established by the Water Resources Council • Currently District Catchment Management Committee were established under the administration of district office headed by the District Officer • Members of the DCMC comprises of relevant public authorities and key stakeholders • DID district head who assumed the district water resources manager role is also the secretary to the DCMC • The DCMC is technically supported by a District Technical Taskforce headed by the District Water Resources Manager Department of Irrigation and Drainage

10. Minister Water Resources Council Water Resources Director Catchment Management Committee District Water Resources Manager Water Resources Management Section District Catchment Management Committee District Technical Taskforce Water Resources Institutions • Catchment Management Committee (con’t) Department of Irrigation and Drainage

11. Management of Related WR Activities • Management of Water Activities • Management of Catchment/Land Activities • Management of Activities In and On Water Bodies Department of Irrigation and Drainage

12. 1. Management of Water Activities • Rights to water • Government has the right to the use and flow and to control of the water • Private rights to water • Land owner/occupier can exercise a private right to take, use and control groundwater under the land and directly from a water body, where the land has frontage to a water body • Works on the right conferred does not • Cause significant obstruction to or diversion of the flow of water • Store more than 1 megalitre of water • Take water at a rate of flow exceeding 20 litres per second Department of Irrigation and Drainage

13. 1. Management of Water Activities (con’t) • Authorisation of Water Activities • There is a need for a licence to carry out water activities • “Water activities” means : • Take or use water from a water body • Return water to a water body directly or indirectly by artificial means • Control, divert or mitigate flood waters outside a floodplain management area • Carry out a water body alteration activity Department of Irrigation and Drainage

14. 1. Management of Water Activities (con’t) • “Water body” means : • A river, estuary, lake, lagoon, swamp, marsh or other wetland • An aquifer • Coastal waters • Declared channel • “Water body alteration activity” means : • Excavating material from the bed, bank or shore of a water body, or from a river or shore reserve • Obstructing, diverting or detrimentally affecting the flow or movement of a water in a water body • Changing the course of a water body • Reducing the capacity of a water body to contain water by filling or other means • Reclaiming land within a water body Department of Irrigation and Drainage

15. 2. Management of Catchment/Land Activities • The Council have to ensure the development of Catchment management plans for the whole of the state • Catchment plans to be developed by the Director in coordination with relevant public authority • Plans shall be accompanied by : • A description of • The water resources of the catchment • The condition of the catchment and its contribution to the quantity and quality of water resources and the aquatic environment • An analysis of the sources and causes of the degradation Department of Irrigation and Drainage

16. 2. Management of Catchment/Land Activities • Contents of the plans (cont’) : • A summary of existing and proposed legislative and administrative controls and measures for protecting, using and developing land in the catchment • The strategies, actions and measures which are recommended for • The orderly and planned development and use of the water resources • Maintaining or improving the quantity and quality of water • Maintaining or improving the condition of the catchment and the aquatic environment Department of Irrigation and Drainage

17. 2. Management of Catchment/Land Activities • Legal Instruments • Water Protection Area (WPA) • Area of State Land include Forest Reserves which requires specific protection to ensure a source of water is adequately protected from reduction in flow or from pollution or degradation • No land shall thereafter be alienated under the provisions of the Land Ordinance • No person shall thereafter be authorised to erect a new structure, establish new plantation or clear land • Alienated land need to be acquired if to be declared as WPA • Land within a WPA is subject to the control of the Director, except that land within a forest reserve which is included in a WPA shall be subject to the control of the Director of Forestry Department Department of Irrigation and Drainage

18. 2. Management of Catchment/Land Activities • Legal Instruments (cont’) • Water Conservation Area (WCA) • An area of land where it is necessary to control, limit or modify activities within it to prevent the pollution or degradation of surface water or groundwater, or the loss of its availability • Director may direct the owner/occupier of land within WCA to • Take measures or construct works to slow, reduce or prevent water from running off land into a water body • Plant specified types of vegetation • Relocate structures • Undertake an activity, including an agricultural activity, in a specified way • Take other measures toprevent degradation of water resources • Director shall take into account the likely economic and social impacts on the owner/occupier to whom a direction is given Department of Irrigation and Drainage

19. 2. Management of Catchment/Land Activities • Legal Instruments (cont’) • Floodplain Management Area (FMA) • Area of land with the identified flood characteristic needs a controlled, limited or modified activities to minimise damage and water degradation caused by flooding • There is a need of Floodplain Management Plan to declare an area as a FMA • Contents of a Floodplain Management Plain : • A description of the flood characteristic and a summary of technical investigations of flood behaviour Department of Irrigation and Drainage

20. 2. Management of Catchment/Land Activities • Contents of a Floodplain Management Plan (con’t) : • An evaluation of the economics, social and environmental consequences of flooding • Measures for minimising the impact of flooding which may include : • Relocation or physical alteration of existing structures • Guidelines for future placement of structure to minimise the impeding of flood waters • Contruction of works to divert or mitigate the impact of flooding • Development of or amendment of a scheme of plan made under the Town and Country Planning Ordinance Department of Irrigation and Drainage

21. 2. Management of Catchment/Land Activities • Legal Instruments • River and Shore Reserves • Established for the purpose of protecting the volume or flow of water in water bodies and prevent degradation of the quality of water resources and aquatic environment • Established from the date of the commencement of the enactment with specifications as : • River reserves – within 20 m of the top of the bank for river channel not less than 3 m • Shore reserves – within 20 m of the bed of all coastal water Department of Irrigation and Drainage

22. 2. Management of Catchment/Land Activities • Legal Instruments • River and Shore Reserves (cont’) • Amendments of the reserves • River reserves with specified width established to a river whose channel is less than 3 m • Witdh of an existing river reserves or shore reserves is increased or decreased • Approval is needed from the Director to undertake activities within reserves which involves : • Removal of natural vegetation or the removal or deposition of material • Erection of structures • Carrying out of a commercial or agricultural activity Department of Irrigation and Drainage

23. 3. Managementof Activities In and On Water Bodies • Navigation • To prevent degradation of the quality of water and stability of the bed, banks and shores of water bodies and the aquatic environment • Director may by order determine matters that are appropriate for navigation on a specified river or stretch or river or other water body which includes : • Types or classes of vessel • The maximum speed • Maximum draught of a vessel • Person shall not dispose waste from vessel which pollutes water in a water body or damage aquatic environment • Director may require a vessel to be fitted with facilities for storage and safe discharge and facilities for the same purpose to be installed on land. Department of Irrigation and Drainage

24. 3. Managementof Activities In and On Water Bodies (cont’) • Recreation • To protect : • the bed, banks or shore of a water body • the quantity and quality of a water in a water body • the aquatic environment • authorised water activities • safety • The Director may require recreational or leisure activity specified in a rules to be registered • Director may issue direction to a person undertaking such activities regarding the manner and timing according to which the activity may be undertaken. Department of Irrigation and Drainage

25. OTHER RELATED LEGISLATION • Federal • Environmental Quality Act 1974 • Fisheries Act 1985 • Pesticide Act • State • State Environment Protection Enactment • Land Ordinance 1930 • Forest Enactment 1968 • Park Enactment 1984 • Fauna Conservation Enactment • Town and Country Planning Ordinance 1950 • Pubic Health Ordinance 1960 Department of Irrigation and Drainage

26. CONCLUSION • The law governing the management of water resources in Sabah are in place • The institutions ie. The Water Resources Council and the Water Resources Director as required in the law are under establishment • The ground work for the administration of the legislation is under way Department of Irrigation and Drainage

27. Thank you Department of Irrigation and Drainage

28. Functions of the Water Resources Council • Advise the Mnister on the management and use of water resources • Report to the Minister on the condition of the water resources • Make recommendation on the improvement of the quantity and quality of the water for the benefits of human use, the aquatic flora and fauna and the aquatic environment, including wetland and floodplains • Determine the water activity licence application which have a State or regional significance or are of particular significance in a local area • Adopt and review plans for the orderly and effective development of water resources Department of Irrigation and Drainage

29. Functionsof the Water Resources Council (con’t) • Set priorities for, ensure the development of, recommend for approval and review catchment management plans developed and other plans for the improvement of the management of water resources • Develop and issue, with the approval of the Minister, State policies and guidelines for the management and protection of water resources • Require pubic authorities to - • Take action to implement the recommendation of approved catchment management plan including taking enforcement action where relevant • Act to minimize or prevent harm to water resources Department of Irrigation and Drainage

30. Members of the Water Resources Council • Chairman appointed by the Head of State • The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Culture, Environment and Tourism or his authorised representative • The Secretary for Natural Resources or his authorised representative who shall be the secretary of the Council • The Director of the Department of Lands and Surveys or his authorised representative • The Director of Forestry Department or his authorised representative • The Director of Department of Agriculture or his authorised representative • The Director of Water Resources or his authorised representative • The Director of State Economic Planning Unit or his authorised representative • The Director of the Department of Town and Regional Planning or his authorised representative Department of Irrigation and Drainage

31. Members of the Water Resources Council (con’t) • The Director of Department of Irrigation and Drainage or his authorised representative • The Director of Fisheries Department or his authorised representative • The Director of Water Department or his authorised representative • The Director of Department of Ports and Habours or his authorised representative • The Director of the Federal Department of Environment (Sabah Region) or his authorised representative • The Director of the Department of Geological Surveys or his authorised representative • Two other members with appropriate technical or academic expertise in matters related to water resources appointed by the Head of State Department of Irrigation and Drainage

32. Function of the Director of Water Resources • Manage the State’s water resources • Take action to protect the quantity and quality of water resources and aquatic environment • Identify opportunities for water use and promote and facilitate the beneficial use of water • Decide on licence application for water activities other than those determined by the Water Resources Council • Plan for the orderly development and use of the water resources and take measure to resolve conflict between water uses • Protect river and shore reserves • Develop, implement and monitor catchment management plans and other plans for water management, including floodplain management plans, surface water management plans and ground water management plans Department of Irrigation and Drainage

33. Function of the Director of Water Resources (con’t) • Collect and maintain data on water resources and report to the Water Resources Council and the Minister on the condition of water resources • Manage water protection areas to maintain the quality ad quantity water and the aquatic environment • Promote the value of water resources through education and information programs • Develop guidelines, objectives and policies to assist public authorities to manage water resources within their controls • Co-ordinate administrative actions for water resources management Department of Irrigation and Drainage