East Java faces water crisis as demand outstrips supply
East Java faces water crisis as demand outstrips supply
Indra Harsaputra, The Jakarta Post, Surabaya
Water supplies in East Java, which has suffered from serious
forest destruction, are being constantly depleted due to
increasing demands from industrial and domestic users, sparking
fears of further water crises in the future.
Such crises would affect more than 23,000 hectares of rice
fields across the densely populated province.
The executive director of the East Java branch of the
Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi), Sardiyoko, said the
number of water sources in the province was continuously
declining.
Currently only 1,500 cubic meters of water could be allotted
per person annually, which meant that existing water supplies
were not enough to meet the needs of about 34 million people in
East Java during the dry season, he said.
"In Indonesia alone, 80 percent or 168 million of its people
are threatened by shortages of clean water, even though there are
around 300 local water utilities (PDAM)," he told The Jakarta
Post over the weekend.
Statistics show that the amount of ground water used by
industry in Mojokerto increased by 53 percent last year to about
16 million cubic meters, while in Sidoarjo the industrial
consumption of water rose by 48 percent to around 13 million
cubic meters. In Pasuruan, industry used up to 33 million cubic
meters last year, an increase of 29 percent over the previous
year.
The figures would appear to show that water is being diverted
away to industrial users away from irrigation projects.
Sardiyoko said that due to the worsening situation in East
Java, around 23,000 hectares of rice could be in jeopardy in
event of a drought.
The high risk areas were the regencies of Bangkalan, Sampang,
Sumenep, Pasuruan, Probolinggo, Situbondo, Bondowoso, Madiun,
Magetan, Ngawi, Ponorogo, Pacitan, Banyuwangi, Gresik, Sidoarjo,
Mojokerto, Jombang, Kediri, Blitar, Trenggalek, Bojonegoro, Tuban
and Lamongan.
In addition to crop failures, the looming shortages of water
have threaten hundreds of thousands of local people with draught-
related illnesses.
This could trigger social conflicts among farmers and others
as they struggle to get water -- ranging from physical clashes to
economic problems in which many of them lose their livelihoods.
Meanwhile, environmentalist Syafruddin Ngulma Simeulue from
the Peduli Indonesia group said that the droughts experienced in
East Java were the result of damage to water sources in
agricultural areas and the felling of the province's forests.
A report from the East Java forestry office revealed that out
of 1,357,206 hectares of forests, 50 percent, or 660,000
hectares, had been damaged by illegal logging and forest fires.
Of that figure, 500 hectares consisted of protected forests,
while the remaining 160,000 hectares consisted of protected areas
controlled by state forestry company Perhutani.
Another area that had suffered severe damage was the Great
Forest Park. According to the East Java administration, more than
1,000 hectares of this park were being damaged annually.
Syafruddin said that shrinking water catchment areas were one
of the main factors that contributed to the water crisis that
threatened East Java.
A large part of those catchment areas has been converted to
residential and industrial uses, he added.
Another factor blamed for the decreasing catchment areas was
unchecked illegal logging in upstream areas.
"The size of the catchment areas has drastically declined,
which has caused Java island to experience water deficits,"
Syafruddin said.
In an effort to restore critical agricultural land, more than
80 villages in Trawas, Mojokerto regency, have become involved in
organic farming, which eschews the use of chemicals like urea
fertilizer and pesticides.