Government Urged to Mitigate Potential Prolonged Drought in 2026

Sudjatmiko, a member of the House of Representatives’ Commission V, has urged the government to mitigate the potential drought forecast to arrive earlier and last longer in 2026. He said the government should not wait and only react when the long drought affects communities. ‘Risk management for the impacts of drought must be prepared well in advance, especially in areas sensitive to climate change. The Government needs to prepare mitigation steps so that the drought season this year does not pose a fatal risk,’ Sudjatmiko said in a statement on Friday 6 March 2026. He called for BMKG reports to be used as reference by the relevant ministries and regional authorities when formulating mitigation steps. As mitigation, he advocated expanding reforestation and building as many reservoirs as possible to store rainwater. He also called for more groundwater recharge wells to be built in residential areas, farmland, and forest areas to allow water to infiltrate the soil and become groundwater reserves. ‘The Government must ensure the availability of water reserves through the optimisation of reservoirs, embungs and existing irrigation networks. In addition, a programme for distributing clean water in drought-prone areas must also be prepared now, do not wait for an emergency,’ he said. ‘Coordination between the central government, regional governments, and relevant agencies must be strengthened. Climate information from BMKG must be translated into concrete policies on the ground so that communities, especially farmers and drought-prone areas, can adapt earlier.’ BMKG predicts the 2026 dry season will arrive earlier in many regions and last longer than normal. Furthermore, most areas are expected to experience drier conditions than the climatological average. BMKG notes that most of Indonesia is forecast to enter the dry season between April and June 2026. Then in May 2026, 184 seasonal zones or 26.3 percent of areas will follow into the dry season. Meanwhile, in June 2026, 163 seasonal zones or 23.3 percent of areas are forecast to begin experiencing the dry season. In addition, about 400 seasonal zones or 57.2 percent of Indonesia is expected to experience a longer-than-normal dry season.