Managing Urban Rivers and Water Quality in Malaysia for Sustainable Water Resources

Rivers are rich ecosystems and sources of life, providing many functions for the survival of natural and human systems. In Malaysia, due to poor management and public apathy, they are severely degraded. Rapid development and urbanization have also overstressed and polluted them, and governance practices are mostly focused on managing water shortages, floods, and pollution. Limitations include low priority in the political agenda, inadequate economic, managerial, and human resources, poor enforcement of laws and regulations, poor public involvement, and inadequate use of non-structural measures. Recent government, private sector, and NGO partnerships, however, have shown great potential for improved management of rivers.