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.