North coast of Java facing severe water deficit due to deforestation
North coast of Java facing severe water deficit due to deforestation
Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
A severe water crisis is looming for big cities along the
north coast of Java island, including Jakarta, Semarang in
Central Java and Surabaya in East Java, due to the rapid rate of
deforestation and excessive water consumption, State Minister for
the Environment Nabiel Makarim said on Monday.
Nabiel said the dry season droughts and wet season flooding
that plagued many cities along the north coast only confirmed the
bleak outlook for water supplies in northern Java.
He said that in one year, the northern coastal areas suffered
water shortages for four months.
"Deforestation and excessive water consumption have worsened
the water deficit. If deforestation is not stopped, and water
consumption continues to increase, the water deficit will worsen
in the coming years.
"Then, a water crisis will materialize," Nabiel told The
Jakarta Post in his office.
Nabiel was commenting on a report in the Kompas daily on
Monday that Jakarta would face a major water crisis in ten years
time if the city administration maintained its poor water policy.
It said Jakarta would need 33 million cubic meters of water
per second in ten years, up from 9 million cubic meters per
second this year.
Nabiel noted that Jakarta would face acute water problems in
the coming years, not only because of declining ground water
reserves but also because of the increasing level of pollution.
The pollution comes not only from chemical substances
discharged by factories in the city, but also from the soaring
amount of human feces, which was certainly "contaminating
underground water."
"With 12 million people in Jakarta now, the city produces
around 3,000 tons of feces per day, or more than 1 million tons
per year.
With the growing population here, the contamination will
become even worse in the coming years, he said.
He suggested that the city administration start now on drawing
up comprehensive plans to ensure sustainable water supplies for
the city.
One of the plans should cover coordination with the Bogor
administration, many of whose areas constitute water catchment
areas for Jakarta.
In the plan, Nabiel said, Jakarta could cooperate with the
Bogor administration in maintaining the water catchment areas,
including keeping the forests and other green areas in Bogor
intact.
Jakarta could provide financial help to maintain these green
areas.
According to Nabiel, other big cities along the north coast
must also work together with the neighboring administrations that
supplied most of the ground water to the cities.
Besides, he said, local governments had to be stricter in
enforcing regulations that banned both industrial plants and
households from drilling wells to a depth that exceeded what was
allowed by the regulations.
He said the central government could help local
administrations to coordinate their efforts in maintaining
sustainable water supplies.
"But the key is the local governments and local people who
must be made aware that they must conserve nature to ensure
sustainable water supplies," he said.