Jakarta's Flood Defences Overwhelmed by Rising Rainfall
Floods continue to plague Jakarta as extreme rainfall intensities exceed the capacity of the provincial government’s flood control infrastructure. The Jakarta Water Resources Agency (SDA) acknowledges this as a consequence of climate change, which has made rainfall patterns increasingly unpredictable.
Ika Agustin Ningrum, Head of the Jakarta Water Resources Agency, stated that the city’s flood control infrastructure was designed to handle rainfall of 100-150 millimetres (mm), encompassing water pumps, river embankments, drainage systems, reservoirs, and retention ponds.
“The design capacity is determined by the probability of rainfall occurrence. In Jakarta, the design capacity used is 100-150 mm,” Ika said on Thursday (28 May).
However, in recent years, Jakarta’s rainfall has increased to 150-250 mm due to climate change, rendering the existing infrastructure unable to optimally manage water flow during extreme downpours.
“Flood control infrastructure in Jakarta is effective for 100-150 mm of rainfall, but higher intensities require greater infrastructure capacity,” she added.
According to Ika, expanding flood infrastructure capacity requires more land and substantial construction costs. Nevertheless, the Jakarta provincial government is implementing mitigation measures, including strengthening both stationary and mobile pumping systems.
As of 18 May 2026, the SDA has 683 stationary pumps distributed across 246 locations, with an additional 540 mobile pumps deployed across five administrative cities and the Thousand Islands Regency.
Alongside bolstering pumping systems, the Jakarta provincial government is continuing river and reservoir construction and maintenance from 2025 to 2027 via the JakTirta project and the National Capital Integrated Coastal Development (NCICD), also known as coastal protection barriers.
Ika stated that the projects include phased polder system construction, river and canal embankment upgrades, reservoir and retention pond development, and enhanced drainage channels in flood-prone areas.
“These projects will introduce various flood control infrastructures to enhance Jakarta’s water management capacity,” Ika said. (Far/P-3)