Watershed Sustainability Index for Langat UNESCO HELP River Basin, Malaysia

Abstract

The study on Watershed Sustainability Index (WSI) has been conducted to analyst the environmental condition in the area incorporating ecological baseline and socio-economic conditions. WSI is an integrated indicator based on basin Hydrology, Environment, Life and Policy (HELP) state condition. It is suitable to be applied in the Langat River Basin in Malaysia which has similar catchment area (up to 2,350 km2) and is one of the UNESCO HELP River Basin since 2004. The WSI analysis which uses a pressure–state–response function based on basin HELP Indicator was done for Langat River Basin by using relevant available 5 years data for the period of 2009 to 2013. It is found that Langat River Basin is having WSI value of 0.68 which falls under the category of medium sustainability (between 0.5-0.8). Based on the maximum value (i.e. 1) or high sustainability (i.e. WSI value more than 0.8) it can be said that Langat is in the good side in term of sustainability. Few management aspects need to be improved and maintained well to be more sustainable. The assessment provides Langat River Basin with more information that is crucial in managing the basin through the adoption of UNESCO’s HELP Framework.

Comparative Analysis of Water Sustainability Indices: A Systematic Review

“…Furthermore, it was found that to facilitate the development of integrated and holistic strategies for addressing water-related challenges and advancing the goals of sustainable development, in 44% of the publications, variables from all domains, i.e., social, economic, environmental, institutional, and built/infrastructure, were applied. Examples of indices that apply to all domain indicators include the watershed sustainability index [37], water sustainability index [38], West Java water sustainability index (WJWSI) [39,40], and river basin water sustainability index (RBWSI) [15]. It is apparent that these tools recognize the interconnectedness of sustainability.…”

“…In the case of the watershed sustainability index (WSI), we also found that different studies showcased variations in methodology and understanding. Elfithri et al (2018) focused on the Langat River Basin in Malaysia, employing the WSI to analyze the environmental and socio-economic conditions based on the UNESCO-HELP state condition indicators [37]. Mititelu-Ionuş (2017) conducted research in the Motru River basin in Romania, developing a WSI using indicators such as water availability, water quality, land use, and education [63].…”