Hyacinth overgrowth ruins Ambarawa livelihood

Hyacinth overgrowth ruins Ambarawa livelihood

Ressi Fadjar Himawanti, The Jakarta Post, Semarang

Thousands of farmers in the zone of Rawapening, Java's largest
natural lake in Ambarawa district, Semarang regency, Central
Java, have suffered considerable losses of income this year as
the water is submerging hundreds of hectares of surrounding rice
fields.

Water hyacinth, locally known as eceng gondok, has covered
three fourths of the lake's surface, causing floods particularly
during the rainy season. While normally a hectare of land
cultivated by Surdi (45), a farmer in the district's Tambakbayan
village, can produce seven tons of paddy, "Now even in the dry
season the output has dropped to five tons," he said recently.

Another farmer, Trisno (51), complained about his decreasing
harvests due to rat-infested fields. "It's hard to eradicate the
rats because they are hidden under hyacinth leaves," said Trisno,
also living near Rawapening, which includes eights villages in
four districts.

Other farmers around the lake, like Zhugin (50) and Maarif
(68), put fishing nets in the water basin. They told The Jakarta
Post that their catch had decreased substantially in the last two
years, from around 20 kilograms to only three kilograms daily.
"Hyacinth has increased the lake's fish population but it is more
difficult to catch under the leaves," said Maarif.

Semarang Regent Guritno meanwhile said out of Rawapening's
total surface area of 2,670 hectares, more than 75 percent has
been blanketed by water hyacinth, leaving only around 200
hectares open, thus posing a threat to the livelihood of 29
groups of 2,200 local farmers and fishermen.

Guritno also referred to the high rate of sedimentation as
nine rivers emptying into the lake carried debris of erosion and
deforestation besides other agricultural and household waste. A
survey team has predicted that Rawapening will dry up within the
next 10 to 15 years.

Guritno added that Rawapening's flow rate reached 65 million
cubic meters and its stream provides water for 200,000 hectares
of fields in the regencies of Semarang, Grobogan and Demak as
well as the cities of Semarang and Salatiga. The same source also
supplies energy for the Jelok hydro power plant with an installed
capacity of 32,980 KW and the Timlo plant with 25,000 KW.

Joko Sutrisno, head of the provincial environment impact
control agency, told The Jakarta Post amid a ceremony declaring
the local community's hyacinth control drive at Bukit Cinta,
Banyubiru, Semarang recently that this plant caused a high rate
of lake water evaporation.

The average degree of evaporation is more than 10 percent of
the lake's annual flow rate, according to Sutrisno, while the
fast growth of hyacinth will result in shallowing and high
content of organic materials, which make algae flourish and turn
sediment into peat.

Peat utilization by a company, PT Dieng Jaya, on Dieng
highland in Wobosobo for growing straw mushrooms has been
discontinued, whereas dryland vegetable planting by farmers in
Getasan, Bandungan and Salatiga has proceeded without
conservation, leading to erosion in the wet season.

The rivers carrying pesticide residue from the vegetable
planting area have raised the content of trace elements in
Rawapening's sediments, which in turn causes eceng gondok to grow
faster. The use of hyacinth leaves for handicraft products even
speeds up the plant's vegetative regeneration.

Sutrisno disclosed that hyacinth on the lake surface had been
cleared during the Dutch colonial administration in 1931,
followed by further efforts in 1947 and 1952. The Central Java
water resources management board (PSDA) has done the same on a
routine basis, but the growth of this water plant remains beyond
control.

As the largest water reservoir in Central Java, Sutrisno
emphasized the necessity of conserving Rawapening. Apart from
favorably affecting the climate for agriculture, the lake also
serves to control floods from the upstream of Tuntang river.
Unless curbed by the lake, Demak and Grobogan areas would be
severely flooded.

Central Java Governor Mardiyanto said on the occasion the best
way of overcoming the problem was to control eceng gondok because
this plant, while harming the interests of farmers and fishermen,
had favored craftsmen by increasing the value of their products.

He therefore indicated that for the handicraft industry, water
hyacinth would be maintained so that its total eradication should
be avoided.

Sutrisno suggested that the hyacinth area in Rawapening should
be zoned to reserve several hectares for the industry but this
portion retained should be controlled, while the rest must be
eliminated so as not to harm agriculture and fishing.

Rawapening conservation has in fact been under Semarang
regency's planning with a Rp 30.2 billion allocation for five
years, comprising Rp 16.2 billion for hyacinth control and Rp 14
billion for nine-river dredging and reforestation of over 200
hectares.

The provincial PSDA provides Rp 700 million annually for
Rawapening water control, and the United Nations Development
Program (UNDP) has made available US$1.7 million or around Rp 170
billion through several non-government organizations engaged in
lake conservation.

In 2003, the provincial administration has budgeted Rp 320
million for Rawapening conservation and the Semarang regency has
also allocated Rp 600 million for the same purpose.

The various funds for the conservation of this vital lake,
however, are not being utilized in an integrated fashion. That is
also the case with the efforts undertaken by different
stakeholders. Consequently, the lake community has not yet
enjoyed any positive effect of the endeavor and much of the money
is being wasted due to a lack of cooperation or coordination.