Gunungkidul hard hit by chronic water shortages

Text and photos by Tarko Sudiarno

YOGYAKARTA (JP): It's dusk in Pegunungan Seribu (Thousand Hills) in Gunungkidul regency. From the top of Planjan Hill, there is a beautiful lake of the same name. The scenery of blue water and leafless trees in the vicinity is simply breathtaking.

But a closer look at the lake reveals something different. The lake has lost 70 percent of its water and is extremely dirty and stinky. It turns out the blue color is from widespread algae.

The five-hectare lake is the only source of water in the current dry season for the thousands of residents of Saptosari subdistrict.

Scores of people flock to the lake at dusk. Some bathe, while others wash clothing or household appliances. Many bathe their cattle, all in the same heavily polluted water.

It's not surprising that the lake with a water level that progressively drops is getting dirtier every day with the uninhibited use of detergent and uncontrolled release of dung by the bathing cattle.

A similar view is common in other places in Gunungkidul every dry season. Local officials say that the seven subdistricts of Saptosari, Panggang, Rongkop, Paliyan, Tepus, Semanu and Ponjong are seriously affected by drought. Only a few of the 262 lakes in the area have some water left and can be used for all purposes.

A water crisis happens almost every dry season to some varying degree. Some nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and local governments have built pipelines to distribute groundwater in badly affected areas.

Unfortunately, the system does not work as well as expected. In some areas, the water is inadequate and in other places, the water leaks. Many have complained that the pipelines do not provide enough water for household purposes.

To overcome the problem, the government has rotated the water distribution. Planjan and neighboring Tritis, for example, receive water from the pipeline system once a week. Residents say that they do not receive enough. Each family receives about five cubic meters to be used for a week.

Better-off residents are compelled to buy water from hawkers or wait for water donated by the local government.

Hawkers sell 5,000 liters of water for between Rp 50,000 and Rp 75,000. Before the financial crisis, residents could also expect aid from philanthropists.

The dry spell also affects cattle. Feed has to be imported from outside Gunungkidul. Corncobs cost Rp 1,000 and the farmer has to spend some Rp 5,000 for a cow a day. This explains why many people have to sell some of their goats or cows to buy feed.

"A cow eats a cow or a cow eats goats," is a popular joke in Gunungkidul.

A food shortage for humans is also a problem, although it is not that serious. Affected residents have to lower their meal standards. Those who cannot afford rice turn to corn or cassava.