Sand mining effects, causes and concerns: A case study from Bestari Jaya, Selangor, Peninsular Malaysia

Abstract

The mining of sand resources from rivers and ex-mining areas in Selangor state is a common practice and may lead to destruction of public assets as well as impacts or increase stress on commercial and noncommercial living resources that utilize these areas. Hydraulic and sediment transport modeling study were carried out to determine possible sand deposition and their flow towards Selangor river. The Hydrologic Engineering Centers River Analysis System (HEC-RAS) software were used to perform one-dimensional hydraulic calculations for a full network of natural and constructed channels and to get input and output information in tabular and graphical formats. The resulting vertical and horizontal distributions of sediment show encouraging agreement with the field data, demonstrating markedly different dispersal patterns due largely to the differential settling of the various sand classes. The assessment of water quality shows that water has been highly polluted immediately downstream of station at Selangor River due to high concentrations of suspended particles. Transport modeling and water quality analyses performed have identified major physical environmental impacts. The issue poses a number of policy questions that are worth to be implemented by the government. Key words: Selangor river, water quality, sediment, transport, modelling. environment, illegal mining.