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Stormwater Management -
Manual Saliran
Mesra Alam
By Ir. Richard Yong, Director, River Engineering Division;
Dr. Md Nasir Md Noh, Senior Assistant Director, Department of Irrigation and Drainage

W
e have to live by the
consequences of
development for better or
for worse. Since 20 to 30 years ago
Malaysia has been straddled by fast
pace development projects. With
yearly precipitation between 2000mm
and 3000mm, the degree of excess
runoff generated from developed
areas apart from silts coming from
bare land areas are merely too taxful
to deal with. Without notice, flash
flood occurs in a few minutes leaving
most of the urban dwellers in awry.
The aftermath is even worse since the
left over is not only rubbish but also
a few inches of mud.
Scenes of garbage flowing into Flash Flood: The Livelihood of Urban Dwellers
rivers and chemical discharge from
industrial plants have been too designers, developers, the
common in the recent past. It all stems public and other
from the uncontrolled discharge of stakeholders towards
stormwater runoff into rivers. achieving sustainable
Imprudent urbanisation with nary stormwater management
care for the environment has in Malaysia. Replacing
contributed to the decline of our river the Department of
water quality. The time has come for Irrigation and Drainages
a change in the way we manage our 30-year old Urban
stormwater runoff. Drainage Design Manual,
MSMA could not have
MSMA Towards a New Paradigm arrived at a better time.
While the old manual
In 2001, a major move was taken was based on pure
in the course of Malaysian urban engineering solutions,
stormwater management. In January MSMA provides a more
that year, the Cabinet officially holistic solution that
approved the Urban Stormwater emphasises, among
Management Manual for Malaysia others, institutional and
(Manual Saliran Mesra Alam or legal issues, strategic
MSMA) to steer drainage planning, and larger
development. environmental issues
MSMA is a technical guide Pollution: Rampant Dumping of Rubbish into (stormwater quantity and
designed to assist regulators, planners, Concrete Drain quality controls), and

B U L E T I N I N G E N I E U R 48
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aesthetic aspects. Seen as a major step
towards an integrated water
catchment management in the
country, it illustrates the ever-
growing awareness among policy and
decision-makers of the need to
approach stormwater related
problems in a holistic and integrated
fashion.

Whats Ailing Our Rivers

In short, flooding and pollution.

In forested areas, most of the rainfall
infiltrates into the soil or is trapped
by the plants. A portion may reach
the groundwater table or flow to
rivers and streams. The fertile topsoil
layers serve as gigantic sponges River Siltation: Costly to maintain and increases water treatment cost

MSMAs fundamental principles

Accepted shared responsibility
DECISION-MAKING in sustainable stormwater management, based on the concept of sustainability, requires a healthy
cooperation, information exchange, communication and coordination between the various stakeholders.
Stakeholders are those who are affecting or affected by, the decision made with respect to the stormwater. They
extend from individual consumers, agricultural and industrial sectors, public authorities, non-governmental organizations
and grassroots groups, to scientific communities and politicians.
Stormwater management recognises the important part each stakeholder plays in developing and implementing
stormwater management strategies and action plans.

Integrated landuse planning

LAND-USE activities are crucial functions of the quality and quantity of stormwater.
For example, there are many instances where environmentally, socially and economically inappropriate or poorly planned
physical developments have been allowed resulting in flash flooding or worsening water quality.
To achieve an integrated land-use planning, there is a need to ensure the existence of sufficient information and
understanding of the area in question. On top of that, the decision-making process towards such aim should be participatory
in nature and holistic in its methodology.

Water-sensitive urban design

WATER-SENSITIVE urban design can be viewed as design which minimises the impacts of development on the total
water (or hydrologic) cycle and maximising the benefits of stormwater systems. Some of the key elements of water-
sensitive urban design are:
Minimisation of changes to the hydrological characteristics of a catchment;

Minimisation of pollution entering the stormwater system and rehabilitation of the system whenever possible; and

Minimisation of local biodiversity deterioration

Multi-purpose stormwater infrastructure

THE current practice of adopting only conveyance-oriented approach for runoff control is not cost-effective, socially or
economically.
Where such drainage facilities can fulfill other functions besides controlling water quantity, the results of the cost-
benefit analysis may turn to be much more appealing and desirable. Potential benefits of adopting a multi-use stormwater
facility include:
a reduction in the capital cost of providing drainage infrastructure;

lower cost open space and recreational facilities compared with non-drainage corridor areas;

access to a low cost secondary water supply source;

increased real-estate market values enabling a greater investment return; and

increased potential of commercial exploitation of the recreational values of drainage corridors and waterways.

B U L E T I N I N G E N I E U R 49
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acting as natural temporary water
retention media. Flooding is less likely
to occur in such areas and pollution
is naturally mitigated.
With urbanisation, more concrete
structures and thus less rainwater
infiltrates into the ground. Roads,
roofs, car parks, and paved surfaces
allow a significant increase in
rainwater runoff quantity. Stormwater
runs easily and rapidly into concrete
drains; sometimes too rapid that rivers
cannot cope with the sudden deluge.
To make matters worse, many of
our rivers are also heavily silted due
to massive ground clearing in the
upper water catchment. Siltation
reduces the river carrying capacity.
Combined with the rapid runoff, flash
floods occur or frequently mud floods.
Apart from flooding, a more
insidious problem exists water
pollution. It affects the aquatic
biodiversity, the recreational and
aesthetic values of the river. More
critically, the problem may result in
the decreased supply of raw water for
our clean water supply system.
Rainfall also absorbs
contaminants from the atmosphere.
They accumulate on surfaces and flow
into the concrete drains only to be
easily and rapidly transported into
rivers. This stormwater runoff
Grass Swale: Increases infiltration, safe and aesthetic
Detention Pond: Enhances property value, serves as water storage for food, pollution
control and recreational
contains massive concentration of
contaminated elements that degrade
the water quality.
As if that was not enough,
effluents from industrial activities,
domestic sewage and rampant
dumping of public solid wastes have
contributed to the worsening river
pollution problem. These polluting
activities have greatly usurped the
self-purification capacity of our
rivers. In normal circumstances, a
river is capable of purifying itself.
However, massive discharge of waste
has killed many of them.
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Why Pure Engineering Solutions
Sometimes Fail
Traditionally, engineers tend to
solve flooding problems by the rapid
disposal method, a method by which
stormwater is discharged into the
receiving waters or rivers as quickly
as possible. This is achieved by
constructing concrete drains that
allow brisk removal of water into the
rivers.
Under natural state, rivers purify
dirty water by means of physical,
chemical and biological processes.
With the introduction of concrete
drains inside the water body, the self
purification processes substantially
diminish.
So in an ironic twist, instead of
providing the solution, the rapid
disposal method has only exacerbated
the flooding and pollution problems
in Kuala Lumpur and other cities.
Only recently, dispensing with the
dominant idea of rapid disposal and
practice, a new breed of engineers and
professionals figured out that perhaps
concrete drains are not the solution
at all.
In fact, the drains are the source
of the problem. Equipped with better
understanding of the water cycle, they
hail the back-to-nature doctrine,
something often overlooked in the
conventional engineering discipline.
It is the doctrine that best embodies
the spirit of MSMA.

Focal Points of MSMA
The stormwater management
practice underlined by MSMA
emphasises on structural and non-
structural approaches. This is to
ensure that land development
activities that comprise property, road
and agriculture, among others, could
be balanced with the future capacity
of the river basin through sound water
and soil conservation techniques.
Water quantity and quality control
strategies in MSMA are set against
the overarching theme of sustainable
stormwater management. MSMAs
fundamental principles are defined in
the side story.
These underlying ideas give birth
to the various measures or strategies
under which water quantity and
quality issues are tackled. The main
objectives of proper stormwater
management in Malaysia are to:
provide safety for the public,
minimise and control nuisance
flooding and provide for the safe
passage of less frequent flood
events,
stabilise the landform and control
erosion,
protect property,
enhance the landscape,
optimise the land available for
development, and
minimise the environmental
impact of runoff on water quality
Water Quantity Control Strategies
A distinct character in the manual
involves the storage-oriented
approach to control water quantity,
that is, to reduce flooding or
inundation problems as opposed to
the conveyance-oriented approach.
Techniques under this approach
provide for the temporary storage of
stormwater runoff at or near its point
of origin and then gradually released
into the river, or infiltration into the
surrounding soil. The former is
categorised as detention while the
latter as retention.
Besides minimising flood damage
and disruption in the catchment, the
method offers a practical opportunity
Wetlands: Provides effective water purification - back to nature
to reuse stormwater runoff as second
class water supply for irrigation and
domestic purposes such as car
washing and plant watering.
Detention facilities can be
categorised into the following:
on-site storage: small-scale runoff
storages constructed on
individual, residential, commercial
and industrial lots;
community storage: facilities
constructed in public open spaces
and sporting facilities;
regional storage: large-scale
community facilities at the lower
end of catchments prior to
receiving waters.
Detention techniques include the
following:
small on-site tanks and above-
ground storage areas;
dry detention basins;
ponds and wetlands;
flood reservoirs; and
urban lakes.
Retention or infiltration
techniques include:
dispersion trenches, pits, wells,
and soakaways;
directing roof runoff to pond areas
within lots for infiltration;
grassed swales;
pervious stormwater pipes;
porous pavements or parking lots;
trenches and basins; and
recharge wells.
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Water Quality Control Strategies
The techniques to address
stormwater pollution into three
major areas: housekeeping best
management practices (BMPs),
source control BMPs, and
treatment control BMPs. The latter
two are relevant in MSMA.
Source Control BMPs
This category aims at keeping
stormwater runoff and pollutants
at their sources. Thus, it does not
involve direct significant flow
downstream to the receiving
waters. Its application is a two-in-
one technique to manage water
quantity and quality issues.
The techniques include pervious
areas and buffer strips towards
which runoff is directed,
infiltration controls and porous
pavements.
Treatment Control BMPs
Examples of these strategies are:
lakes primarily as biological
treatment systems
water quality control ponds and
wetlands as physical and
biological treatment systems,
upstream of lakes
gross pollutant traps on inlets
of lakes and water quality
control ponds and wetlands to
intercept trash, debris and the
coarser fractions of sediment.
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Gross Pollutant Trap (GPT): Engineered pollutant removal system
off-stream sediment basins into
land development to intercept and
chemically treat if necessary
runoff prior to its discharge to
stormwater systems and/or
receiving waters.
Sediment loading due to erosion
from land development is one of the
worst ecological impacts of
development. Techniques to control
these do exist but they are not widely
used.
Thus, one of the most effective
control measures facing this problem
is to ensure that developers submit
an Erosion and Sediment Control
Plan (ESCP) before earthworks
commence. This plan should be
posted at the construction site and
the relevant authority should
periodically visit the site to inspect
the control measures and enforce the
plan.
Conclusions
In a nutshell, MSMA attempts to
maintain or preserve our natural
water resources on a sustainable basis.
Stormwater management is a
dynamic discipline. MSMA is merely
a guide based on proven models.
Although the philosophy and the
principles behind it remain fixed at
least for now, a stormwater manager
is not restricted to stick to those
recommended in the manual. In fact,
it is encouraged and deemed a
positive move towards the
enhancement of stormwater and
water management in the country.
Stormwater management practice
in Malaysia is based on the basic
requirements generated from the
national needs in paving the right
track towards achieving sustainable
river basin initiatives. Developers,
plantation owners and various
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Government agencies involved in land
clearing activities have to work
together to ensure that excess runoff
and silts are not affecting the adjacent
areas as well as receiving water bodies.
For completed development
projects, property especially, the
measures proposed under MSMA
enhance the value added of these
properties and adjacent lands without
jeopardising its market value. This has
been proven in all projects involving
MSMA.
In the long term, total success in
the whole process should originate
from proactive actions with ample
support and good coordination
between government agencies, non-
Governmental organisations and
every stakeholder involved. One day,
with relentless effort, we can be
hopeful that our vision of achieving
Clean, Living and Vibrant Rivers
will come true. BEM