BMKG Issues Warning for 10 Districts in NTB as Drought and El Niño Intensify

Residents of West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) have been asked to conserve clean water in anticipation of the widening impact of drought caused by the dry season, according to the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG).

“The areas entering alert status due to prolonged days without rain are expanding. We hope the public can use water wisely to anticipate a clean water crisis,” said Cakra Mahasurya, a forecaster at the NTB Climatology Station in Mataram, quoted by CNN Indonesia on Monday (13 July 2026).

BMKG has declared meteorological drought alert status for ten districts across six regencies, namely Gerung and Lembar districts in West Lombok Regency, West Praya and Pujut districts in Central Lombok, and Jerowaru district in East Lombok Regency.

Also included are Lenangguar and Moyohulu districts in Sumbawa Regency, Dompu district in Dompu Regency, as well as Soromandi and Tambora districts in Bima Regency.

BMKG has been monitoring rainfall for the first ten-day period of July 2026. The results show NTB is generally in the low category, ranging from 0 to 10 millimetres per ten-day period. The highest rainfall recorded was only 5 millimetres per ten-day period at the Lambu rain station in Bima Regency.

Meanwhile, days without rain have been observed to vary, from the very short to the very long category. The longest duration of days without rain reached 53 days, recorded at the Belo and Bolo rain stations in Bima Regency.

Cakra said all areas of West Nusa Tenggara have now officially entered the dry season, reinforced by the El Nino phenomenon.

Separately, monitoring shows the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) is currently in the neutral category with an index of minus 0.36, with a chance of shifting towards positive from August to December 2026.

Meanwhile, the sea surface temperature anomaly deviation in the Nino3.4 region indicates ENSO is in the El Nino category with an index of +1.69, and is predicted to strengthen from the middle of this year.

“We urge the public not to burn waste carelessly or leave fire sources unattended, so as to prevent forest, land and settlement fires,” he concluded.