Water for life<\/p>\n
It is only proper that \"Water for Life\" has been picked as the
\nslogan for the annual commemoration of Earth Day in Indonesia.
\nWater, of course, has been a familiar feature of the Indonesian
\nlandscape for as long as there have been people inhabiting the
\nland. Every Indonesian school child knows that seas make up
\nthree-fourths of the country's national territory. Streams and
\nrivers flow across fertile plains, and lakes dot the landscape in
\nmany regions of this archipelago.<\/p>\n
This prevalence of water over land is probably the reason why
\nthere is no equivalent in the Indonesian language for the word
\n\"fatherland\". Indonesians refer to their native country simply as
\ntheir \"land and water\", or tanah air. Indeed, according to a
\nrecent Worldwatch Institute survey, Indonesia, together with only
\nfive other countries in the world -- Brazil, Canada, China,
\nColombia and Russia -- account for half of the world's total
\nrenewable freshwater supplies. In short, many Indonesians
\nconsider themselves fortunate to be living in a country thus
\nblessed with water aplenty.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, however, human behavior over the past several
\ndecades has rendered the notion of water in abundance outdated,
\nespecially in the more densely populated areas of Indonesia.
\nOverpopulation and overbuilding, overexploitation of resources,
\ndenudation of the country's forest cover, mismanagement and plain
\ngreed for monetary gain have drastically lowered groundwater
\nlevels in many areas. As a result, rainwater that decades ago
\nwould have seeped safely into the soil to replenish rivers,
\nlakes, irrigation ditches and wells, now runs in devastating
\ntorrents off the surface of the land, triggering floods and
\nlandslides.<\/p>\n
In many urban areas, clean water is no longer free and has
\nbecome a luxury tradable commodity that most people among the
\npoor can scarcely afford. Legal limitations on the tapping of
\ngroundwater for private use do exist in urban centers such as
\nJakarta, but appear to have little or no effect at all on the
\nbehavior of the well-to-do. The rich continue to drill deeper and
\ndeeper wells to access the ever deeper groundwater. And while the
\nrich can afford to meet they daily needs for clean water and fill
\ntheir swimming pools, the poor have to scrape together whatever
\nmoney they can to buy clean water from street vendors.<\/p>\n
The new bill on water use that was recently passed by the
\nHouse of Representatives promises little in the way of ensuring a
\nfairer distribution of that most vital support for life -- clean
\nwater. Many observers fear that the new law will fail to ensure
\nthat the free use of water will remain a basic right for
\nIndonesia's farmers, who make up the backbone of the country's
\neconomy, while at the same time improving the efficiency of water
\nuse on farmland. Essentially, as they see it, the new law is
\nbound to turn clean water into a tradable commodity that will
\nbenefit mainly business concerns.<\/p>\n
In the meantime, the importance of properly managing the
\ndemand for clean water makes it possible for us to forget that
\nmaintaining a healthy ecosystem to support natural water
\nresources is no less important -- indeed, probably even more
\nimportant as it involves keeping the sources intact. It seems
\ncurrently to be a scientifically accepted fact that a healthy
\necosystem requires not only a minimum quantity and quality of
\nwater, but also a pattern of water flow that is close to its
\nnatural flow regime. Many such ecosystems have in the past
\ndecades been destroyed by human intervention in the form of dams,
\nreservoirs and other engineering works.<\/p>\n
Obviously, then, it will take a good deal of effort to ensure
\nnot only that clean water, which is a basic right of every human
\nbeing, is distributed fairly and equitably, but also to that our
\nlife supporting water resources remain healthy and intact.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/water-for-life-1447899208",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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