1998 Klang Valley water crisis

{{short description|Water shortage in Malaysia}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2015}}

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The 1998 Klang Valley water crisis occurred in Malaysia in February 1998 when the three reservoir dams in Klang Valley, Klang Gates Dam, Batu Dam and Semenyih Dam suffered a substantial drop in water level following the El Niño phenomenon. The subsequent water shortage affected almost all the residents in the Klang Valley causing the government to impose water rationing prior to the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur.

The shortage was blamed on El Nino despite actual rainfall in the months leading up to February 1998 in Federal TerritoryHistorical rainfall records in Federal Territory http://infokemarau.water.gov.my/rp/State/Wilayah.htm {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071017083811/http://infokemarau.water.gov.my/rp/State/Wilayah.htm |date=17 October 2007 }}

not being significantly below average.Historical rainfall at Gombak (not far from Batu dam) http://infokemarau.water.gov.my/rp/State/TablePDF/W1.pdf{{Dead link|date=February 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} In fact in November 1997, Klang Gates Dam had its highest recorded rainfall.Historical rainfall at Klang Gates Dam http://infokemarau.water.gov.my/rp/State/TablePDF/W2.pdf{{Dead link|date=February 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Similarly in October 1997 the Kajang station not far from the Semenyih dam had its highest rainfall in record.Historical rainfall at Kajang http://infokemarau.water.gov.my/rp/State/TablePDF/B4.pdf{{Dead link|date=February 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}