However, in 2016, the myth that water is difficult to find was dispelled. For decades, the village on the outskirts of the city of Salatiga, Central Java, only had one well. The water from the 37 meter deep well was only enough for a family.
"The well could only provide 300 litres of water a day. If the water was taken in the morning, we had to wait until afternoon to get some more,” Sukimin Budhiono, the owner of the well, who also works for the village administration, said recently.
Before 2016, the difficulty of finding water was part of village life. In 2012, a severe drought hit the cool-air villages. The village of 1,392 families often asked for water assistance from the Salatiga city-owned water company PDAM. For a period of time, the village received six tanks of water a day.
Joko Waluyo, 59, one of the community leaders in Patemon, said the villagers got water from a water spring in Ngguwo area. Water was channeled by a hose with a length of nearly 4.5 kilometers. However, due to the limited supply, the villagers often fought each other in order to get to the water supply. As so many people tried to get water from the spring, water reserves continued to decline. The spring totally dried during the peak of the dry season in 2012.
The difficulty to get water was also caused by the increase in the number of factories being built in the village, reducing water catchment. Most of the factories also made artesian wells that further dried up water reserves in the areas.
With this situation, Joko and his neighbors welcomed an absorption well program that was offered by the Urban Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (Iuwash PLUS) program by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in cooperation with the Coca ColaFoundation Indonesia in 2014.
In Semarang regency, the program was implemented with the help of farmers grouped under the Qaryah Thoyyibah (SPPQT), who are well known for their capability to manage water.
The program, which had US$1 million in funds for all parts of Indonesia, was launched to encourage villagers to build absorbing wells.
In 2014, Joko and a number of villagers joined the program by establishing two absorbing wells each, measuring 2 x 2 x 2 cubic meters. They built a total of 296 absorption wells. The absorbing well is designed to absorb rain water and increase water reserves in the area.
Initially, many people were reluctant because they did not believe the program would help resolve the water shortage. However, the program brought a major change in the village. Since 2016, the village has had an abundant water supply.
The wells now provide water for 20 families. "The amount of water in my well began to increase after my neighbors built their absorbing wells. So, I have the responsibility to give some of the water to them," he said.
The Iuwash PLUS program functions to initiate the building of wells. Most of the villagers in Patemon village made the absorbing wells themselves. Now, the number of absorbing wells has reached 320. The development of
absorbing wells has become part of the village midterm development plan (RPJMDes). Now, the village has issued a village-regulation obliging all the families in the villages to construct absorbing wells.
Involving companies
Patemon Village Regulation (Perdes) No. 3/2015 requires all villagers who own houses to build absorbing wells. In addition, all companies who run factories in the village are required to build absorbing wells every year depending on the capacity of their artesian wells.
The head of the Village Consultative Board (BPD) of Patemon, Kabul Budiono, said the village regulation was issued to demand the companies in the village act responsibility to compensate for the depletion of the water reserves due to their artesian wells.
"All the factories have taken the water as they wish and have never accounted for it to the residents. Now they have the responsibility to build absorbing wells too," he said.
There are three factories in Patemon village and they are all obliged to build absorbing wells. According to the regulation, the factories are required to build a 20-cubic-feet absorbing well for every artesian they have. Furthermore, Patemon village has also allocated Rp 12 million to build two absorbing wells every year in the village and another Rp 50,000 for the maintenance of each well.
This year there are 320 absorption wells in Patemon village. The number is still far from the target, which is for all families to have their own absorbing wells.
Vulnerable to water crisis
The Iuwash PLUS Program is aimed at preventing a water crisis in Salatiga and its surrounding areas, which occurred due to the decline of water reserves in the Senjoyo water spring in the district of Tengaran, the main water source of the city.
The program aims to construct absorbing wells in six villages of the Senjoyo water catchment area, namely in Patemon, Noborejo, Gogik, Candirejo, Need and Jetak. The number of absorbing wells has now reached 1,060.
The construction of the absorbing wells gradually increased the water reserves of the Senjoyo springs. According to data from Salatiga City’s PDAM water company, the water reserves of the Senjoyo springs in Tegalwaton village, Tengaran, Semarang regency, increased to 1,100 liters per second in 2017. The water flow from the Senjoyo springs fell to 838 liters per second in 2008 from 1,115 liters per second in 1995.
Iuwash PLUS’s crude water researcher, Asep Mulyana, said Salatiga and surrounding areas were vulnerable to a groundwater crisis due to the large number of land conversions and the construction of many factories. In fact, according to his research, during the period between 2011-2014, the decline in the level of the ground water in areas where many factories were built had reached four meters per year.
"If no preparations are made, Salatiga will suffer a water crisis around 2025," he said.
The board of trustees of SPPQT association, Bahruddin, said the water crisis had begun to be felt by farmers around Salatiga since the 1990s. The limited source of water has lead to fights among the villagers. In order to resolve the program, the farmers group would try to develop a sustainable source of water.
Ironically, Salatiga was known in the past as a source of water. Now, a water crisis is looming, while the city has not yet issued a local regulation that could promote water conservation efforts.
The director of Salatiga City’s PDAM Samino said the company had proposed the issuance of a local regulation to encourage residents to make absorption wells. Patemon villagers have never enjoyed the water from the Senjoyo spring because the village is located in a different area than the spring.
However, they did not really count the advantages and disadvantages of the absorbing wells. The most important things for them was to provide water for their grand children.
They just hope that the people in Saltiga city who enjoy the water from the Senjoyo spring do not sit idly, without a sense of responsibility to return the water back to the earth.
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