BMKG Prepares Cloud Seeding to Anticipate Drought in Java

The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) is preparing cloud seeding operations for early October to anticipate potential water shortages caused by a hotter and drier dry season in Java. Tri Handoko Seto, Deputy for Weather Modification at BMKG, stated that the operations are crucial to increase rainfall, thereby supplying water to reservoirs that support agriculture and the livelihoods of communities facing the threat of drought. “Currently, the main reservoirs in Java, such as Saguling, Cirata, and Jatiluhur on the Citarum River, and those on the Brantas River in East Java, are still at safe levels. However, deficits are likely in September and October, so we will conduct operations in Java at the start of October,” he said following the Clean Water Distribution Operation ceremony for the impacts of extreme drought due to El Nino 2026 at the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) logistics warehouse in Jakarta on Tuesday. Seto explained that the documentation for the cloud seeding operations has been coordinated with the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) in line with the drought emergency status in several areas of West Java, Central Java, and East Java. “The peak of the extreme drought is predicted to occur in August and September, so preparedness from various humanitarian agencies, including clean water distribution by the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI), is very much needed by the community,” he said. In addition to anticipating drought in Java’s food production centres, he confirmed that national cloud seeding operations are also being directed in parallel to maintain the water volume capacity of Lake Toba in North Sumatra and the Poso region in Central Sulawesi. The intervention is being optimised to ensure that shrinking reservoirs can be refilled, while also suppressing the potential spread of forest and land fires that trigger haze disasters. “The hope is that these cloud seeding operations can assist the agricultural sector and support human survival, especially for our brothers and sisters in Sumatra and Kalimantan who are vulnerable to the impacts of haze,” he said.