Bali water levels reach crisis point

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