South Kalimantan PUPR Forms Water Resources Council to Address Floods and Droughts
Banjarmasin (ANTARA) - The South Kalimantan Provincial Public Works and Spatial Planning Department (PUPR) has formed the Water Resources (SDA) Council Team, which will address problems including flooding, drought, environmental degradation, land use conversion, and river pollution.
South Kalimantan PUPR Secretary Alain Filmore Harris stated that issues such as flooding, drought, environmental degradation, land use conversion, and river pollution not only impact a single area but also extend across districts/cities and even between provinces.
“This situation requires serious attention and the involvement of all stakeholders. Cross-sectoral coordination is key in handling various water resource issues,” he said in Banjarbaru on Wednesday.
This aligns with the mandate of Law No. 17 of 2019 on Water Resources, which regulates the importance of establishing councils at the regional level.
According to him, the South Kalimantan Provincial Government has a responsibility to promptly form the Water Resources Council, as its membership has not yet been actively established to date.
“Through this meeting, it is hoped that a team will be formed to compile the membership of the Water Resources Council, so that various problems such as flooding, drought, forest conversion, and river pollution can be handled more effectively through structured input and coordination,” he explained.
Head of the Drainage, River, and Coast Section of South Kalimantan PUPR, Dewi Noviaty Azizah, added that the Water Resources Council in South Kalimantan was actually formed in 2014.
However, during its course, it experienced a vacancy, necessitating re-formation in accordance with central government directives.
“Today, we are starting by forming a team to select members of the Water Resources Council. This team will be filled by representatives from various provincial-level agencies such as Bapeda, PUPR Department, Environmental Agency, Forestry, Marine Affairs, and BMKG,” she said.
She explained that the formed team will function as a forum for coordination in studying and managing water availability in the region, including the preparation of the Water Resilience Index (IKA) and handling various disaster potentials, such as flooding and drought.
“With this team, it is hoped that inter-agency coordination will be strengthened, enabling water resource management to be carried out in an integrated and sustainable manner,” she stated.
Through the formation of this team, the South Kalimantan Provincial Government hopes that the Water Resources Council formation process can be realised soon, thereby providing concrete solutions to various water resource problems in Banua.