What is sluice gate management?
A question any curious visitor would pose to understand this operation.

The practice of sluice gate management in the Park is a concept rather different from the one adopted by the traditional prawn or fish farmer. Farmers stock their ponds and practice water exchanges to drain waste and let in nutrient-rich water regularly. Before harvesting, a complete draining of the pond is required to attain the yield.

At the Park, apart from one prawn pond that we use for demonstration purposes, we regulate some ponds for migratory birds as the mudflat is a feeding and roosting ground for them. (For more about Prawn Pond demonstrations)

During high tide, there will be less exposed coastal areas for the birds to feed and roost around Singapore. At the Park, we have twelve sluice gates placed at strategic points of each pond and facing the sea. Tide movements into some of these ponds are regulated. When the tide is high, at least one of three ponds in the Park will have low water level so that birds can feed and roost on the exposed mudfiats. As these ponds cannot be left unattended for a long period, there is a strict schedule to follow to allow both the organic nutrients and crustaceans (crabs, prawns and allies), different species of fishes and molluscs (snails, slugs, mussels and clams) to procreate within the ponds. Sluice gate gate management ensures a flux of vibrant oxygenated water teeming with rich minerals to rejuvenate the ponds.

This is the time Buloh Nature Park can present to Park visitors exciting moments of viewing migratory birds by the thousands in shallow ponds. The scenario is like that of many customers enjoying their meals in a crowded seafood restaurant.

In this sluice gate operation, the method practised here is of a conventional type and is carried out regularly at the Park. A pulley system called "Chain Block" is used in this operation. The number of sluice gates stationed at each pond depends mostly on the size of the pond. It can vary from a minimum of one gate to four or more gates.

The timing to work on the sluice gate has to be right in relation to tide movements. As we know, time and tide wait for no man. When the timing is right, the job is smooth going, even though it is heavy. But when the timing is out, this is the toughest job of the day.