City might try cloud seeding

City might try cloud seeding

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The prolonged drought, which might affect the city's water
supply, has so concerned Governor Sutiyoso that his
administration might be ready to finance cloud seeding.

Sutiyoso said that the project would likely be implemented if
it had not started raining by September.

However, the governor emphasized that seeding should be the
responsibility of central government as the prolonged drought had
not only occurred in the capital but in many other areas of the
country, too.

"We shall cooperate with the central government but we hope it
will take the lead. Our role will be based on our capability,"
Sutiyoso told the media at City Hall on Wednesday.

Many Jakartans, particularly those living in West and North
Jakarta municipalities, have been complaining about the ongoing
water crisis. Much of the area in both municipalities is not
served by piped water and residents cannot use underground water
due to its poor quality.

City-owned water company PT PAM Jaya and its business partners
PT PAM Lyonnaise Jaya (Palyja) and PT Thames PAM Jaya (TPJ) have
tried to supply water to residents by truck but the companies
cannot supply water continuously due to reduced raw water
availability.

President director of PT PAM Jaya Didiet Haryadi said on
Tuesday that the company would experience difficulty if rain had
not fallen by September.

The only source of raw water for the capital, the Jatiluhur
reservoir, Purwakarta, West Java, is experiencing a water
shortage.

Didiet said that the water level at the reservoir was 84
meters above sea level on Monday.

State Minister of the Environment Nabiel Makarim warned
earlier that the reservoir's water level would drop continuously
by 15 centimeters per day.

Water at the reservoir could only flow to Jakarta if the water
level were more than 60 meters above sea level.

Didiet also explained that both privately run tap water
companies had been operating well below capacity due to lack of
supply.

Palyja could only produce some 3,200 liters per second (lps)
of water from a possible 5,400 lps, while for TPJ it was 7,800
lps from 9,050 lps.

Cloud seeding was the only way of refilling Jatiluhur
reservoir if rain did not fall next month.

Sutiyoso also reiterated his call to Jakartans to save water
and limit its usage.

He also blamed the public for ignoring his call to sink
artesian wells, which could utilize rainwater.

"If each house had an artesian well, we would have had a
significant stock of groundwater available to use," he argued.

However, environmentalists have blamed the administration for
its failure to maintain green areas in the city. With a total
area of 600,000 hectares, Jakarta has set aside less than 10
percent to remain undeveloped. This is far from the ideal of
around 30 percent.