Bali water levels reach crisis point

DENPASAR, Bali: Head of the local forest management and conversion agency, I Nyoman Siliwana, said here on Thursday that the conversion of protected forests into farmland had drastically reduced water supplies on Bali island, particularly in Denpasar and Badung regencies.

Siliwana said that over the last five years Denpasar and Singaraja regencies had sourced some of their water supplies from the Anyar, Cipiran, Kayun and Batih rivers in Bangli, Tabanan and Badung regencies, where the majority of protected forests had been converted into orange groves.

"In the coming five years, it is feared that the city of Denpasar will face severe water shortages if this matter is not immediately dealt with," he warned.

He added that some other areas had been left barren due to illegal logging, which had resulted in severe flooding in Jembrana and Buleleng regencies a few months ago.

He further explained that the Agung River in Bangli supplied some 900 liters and the estuary dam 300 liters of water per second for Denpasar and Badung regencies, adding that the population density in Bali was five times higher than the national average.

Soeharjono, head of the local infrastructure development office, said that in a bid to increase the water supply his department had designed an integrated water system by widening several rivers in the district. --Antara