Conserving groundwater easier said than done

Soeryo Winoto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

UNESCO has chosen "Water for Development" as the theme of this year's World Water Day, which falls on March 22. Without better management of water resources and related ecosystems, two-thirds of humanity will suffer from severe or moderate shortages by the year 2005. The looming water crisis is one of the most critical challenges facing the world today, including Indonesia, particularly in Jakarta.

It is indisputable that the capital city, Jakarta, depends fully on its neighboring provinces' water resources.

The capital still obtains water from West Java's multipurpose Jatiluhur dam, which retains water from the Citarum River.

The Cisadane River in Tangerang, Banten, is also an important water resource for Jakarta.

The upstream areas of Bogor, Puncak and Cianjur, popularly known as Bopunjur, are the most significant water conservation areas for Jakarta.

Problems have arisen with water supplies, especially during prolonged droughts.

People persist in their ignorant dumping of household waste and garbage into rivers.

The water from Jatiluhur dam, which flows through West Tarum Canal and several waterways in the capital, became more polluted during the dry season as there was inadequate water to flush away both household and industrial pollutants.

This has apparently made the purification process more difficult and expensive.

West Java's water needs may, in the future, affect the Jatiluhur dam's supply to Jakarta, which buys the water for Rp 50 per cubic meter from the dam's management.

A hydrologist from the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) has suggested that the business deal between Jakarta and West Java (the Jatiluhur dam management) should be limited to between 25 years and 30 years. "In the next 20 years and 30 years West Java will need more water in line with its development. One of the suppliers is the Jatiluhur dam," Arwin Sabar, the hydrologist said.

Jakarta, home to some 8.5 million people, needs more than 22 cubic meters of water per second per day. (Greater Jakarta, which includes Bogor, Tangerang and Bekasi, has more than 11 million residents).

"Seventy percent of the water is obtained from ground water, and the remaining 30 percent from the existing rivers," said Mohd Ali, chief of the subdirectorate of hydrology at the Ministry of Resettlement and Regional Infrastructure.

Thirteen rivers flow into the capital and its surrounding areas.

The fact that the capital depends more on ground water is also a problem.

The city no longer has any more space for water catchment areas. Many green areas designated as water catchments have been developed into housing complexes.

Pasar Minggu in South Jakarta was earlier declared a water catchment. Development was supposed to be very restricted in the area. However, law enforcement has again been the main obstacle to upholding the policy. Violations have been perpetrated and no appropriate action has been taken by the authorities.

Each Jakarta governor also has his own "development policy". Areas that were declared water catchments by then Governor Ali Sadikin, for example, became residential areas after he had left office.

The IKPN housing complex on low-lying land in Bintaro, South Jakarta, can be cited as a clear example. No wonder the IKPN housing complex, which was supposed to become a water catchment in the 1970s, is now one of the notoriously flood-prone spots in Jakarta.

The number of natural lakes in Bogor, Tangerang and Bekasi has also dropped drastically, due to rapid development.

In the 1940s, Bogor had 122 lakes with a total catchment area of 649.5 hectares. Tangerang had 45 lakes, with 1,335 hectares of open land and Bekasi had 17, with 136 hectares of open area.

In 1994 the number of lakes in Bogor dropped to 102, 19 in Tangerang 19 and eight in Bekasi.

The result has been excessive groundwater exploitation.

Land subsidence in the city can be cited as proof of uncontrolled groundwater exploitation.

According to PT Thames PAM Jaya, which produces tap water for Jakarta, land subsidence ranges from 40 millimeters (mm) to 80 mm annually. Land subsidence has reached the Ring 1 area, including the National Monument (Monas), which is close to the presidential palace and other state buildings.

"In North Jakarta alone ground subsidence has reached a depth of almost one meter," one of the company's managers once said.

The quality of groundwater in such areas has deteriorated considerably, as sea water intrusion has been unavoidable.

The quality of groundwater in densely populated kampongs is another question. People install (shallow) wells very close to septic tanks (of their own or their neighbor's) as their houses are very close to each other. The recommended distance is at least 10 meters.

Research carried out some years ago found that groundwater in some residential areas in West Jakarta contained bacteria resulting from septic tank water infiltration.

These facts may have made everybody aware that clean water has become a scarce and expensive commodity in the capital. Unfortunately, only a few have been doing anything to help preserve water resources.

Two things that could be done by residents are to use water wisely and dispose of garbage properly.

Many high-rise buildings, hotels, factories and real estate housing complexes have their own wells to meet their water demands. However, many of the wells do not meet the regulations regarding deep-well drilling.

The question now is how to deal with water resource problems and what to do to ensure sustainable water supply in the future.

The destruction of the water conservation areas of Bopunjur has been excessive, despite presidential decrees and other bylaws to protect the areas.

In the 1980s the government tried to take protective steps.

Presidential Decree No. 48/1983 aiming at protecting the Bopunjur area from uncontrolled environmental damage.

Considering that more restrictions had to be enforced to protect the water conservation area, Presidential Decree No. 79 on the detailed pattern of the spatial use and planning of the Puncak resort was issued two years later.

Some illegal buildings standing on areas prohibited for development in the Puncak have been demolished. This was a popular action, which was then discontinued without good reason. People say that many of the illegal buildings, mostly villas, in the Puncak belong to "important people" living in Jakarta.

Presidential Decree No. 114 on the spatial planning in Bopunjur was then issued in 1999 to reiterate its designation as a land and water conservation area.

Adi Sarwoko, director of water resources planning and management at the Ministry of Resettlement and Regional Infrastructure, said that the new presidential decree was expected to maintain water resources in Bogor, Puncak and Cianjur.

According to Mohd Ali, a new approach to conserve groundwater has been made.

"In the past water was just a supporting factor in a development plan and the preparation of a spatial plan. Now spatial planning will not be done for an area that has limited water resources. Things must change, or we will face more problems in the future," Ali said.