The Fate of Famous Rivers

Kompas/AGUS SUSANTO

A man ride bicycle over the old Brantas River bridge which ends at the Chinatown in Pakelan Village, Kediri, East Java, Sunday (15/12/2019)

Five Muhammadiyah students in East Java played soccer on Saturday (14/3/2020) atop the sedimentation that had collected in the Kalimas River near Pemuda Bridge in Surabaya. It was an act of defiance at the condition of the Kalimas, a late tributary of the Brantas River.

Next year, Surabaya is likely to be one of the host cities of the U-20 World Cup. The river delta could be used as a soccer field if is not dredged, while the riverbanks could become a recreational spot. This is light satire, but on target.

Ali Yusa, an advisory board member of the Sepuluh November Institute of Technology’s East Java Alumni Association, once said that the sedimentation in the Kalimas River was so heavy that the river could not be utilized optimally. A number of studies have shown that the Kalimas’ sedimentation is 1.35 million cubic meters and spans 18 kilometers from Jagir to Tanjung Perak. The sedimentation is 1 meter high in several undredged spots where it rises above the water’s surface.

The Brantas supports the lives of more than 20 million people, half of the provincial population, and irrigates 60 percent of East Java\'s agriculture.

The siltation of the Kalimas has prompted the Surabaya municipal administration to implement a rigorous daily dredging program. The sedimentation is a result of the rate of erosion and the amount of sediment and household waste that flows into the river from the upstream to the downstream.

The Kalimas is a tributary of the Surabaya River in Wonokromo and flows into Tanjung Perak, while another tributary, the Jagir River, flows through Wonorejo to the Madura Strait. The Surabaya River is a stream of the Brantas River that starts in Mojokerto. Another stream of the Brantas that starts in Mojokerto is the Porong River.

The Brantas is the longest river in Java after the Bengawan Solo. Its headwater is in Bumiaji, Batu, and flows 320 kilometers with a watershed of 11,800 square kilometers – a quarter of the area of East Java. The Brantas supports the lives of more than 20 million people, half of the provincial population, and irrigates 60 percent of East Java\'s agriculture and food production industry.

The Brantas has been the source of civilizations in East Java since the 8th century, providing a life source along with Java’s longest river, the Bengawan Solo.

The Bengawan Solo traverses East Java through Ngawi, Bojonegoro, Tuban, and Lamongan, to end in Gresik.

KOMPAS/IQBAL BASYARI

Suro and Boyo Statue in Skateboard Park, Surabaya on the banks of the Kalimas or behind Jalan Pemuda on Wednesday (11/3/2020).

Pollution

The two large rivers are enormous gifts from God, but their importance has not been matched by significant conservation efforts. According to an Ecological Observation and Wetlands Conservation (Ecoton) survey, the Brantas River has become a dumpsite for around 1,000 tons of used diapers. The figure is for just diapers, and excludes other waste. The Bengawan Solo has also become a giant garbage bin, although it has not been surveyed comprehensively like the Brantas.

There is a long-term waste treatment program for the Bengawan Solo and the Brantas, but the program still focuses primarily on flood control measures like building embankments, reservoirs, sodetan (manmade canals), reservoirs and floodgates.

To date, neither the central government nor the administrations of the provinces and regencies/cities that the two rivers pass through have implemented the latest technologies for pollution control. When it rains, the water pushes the various types of waste are pushed down towards the estuary, moving the problem to the coast.

IndoWater CoP coordinator Risma Darmawanti said that the Brantas and the Bengawan Solo provided habitats for biodiversity that had ecological and economic value. The Surabaya River, which passes through Mojokerto, Sidoarjo and its namesake East Java capital, offers recreational spots, water products and water resources. Several published research papers have noted that the same river is polluted with microplastics.

Microplastic elements are believed to have the potential to cause health problems, so there must be a policy on it

"Various studies have found microplastics from waste, including used diapers, in human intestines and feces," said Risma. Microplastics can interfere with the reproduction, endocrine, digestion and gene systems and could cause mutation.

Environmental engineering lecturer Nita Citasari of Airlangga University added that river pollution should be of serious concern. This was because the Surabaya River, which is a part of the Brantas river network, is the water source for the PDAM Surya Sembada utility company, which has 3.2 million customers. "Microplastic elements are believed to have the potential to cause health problems, so there must be a policy on it," she said.

Disease threats due to unclean environments and the lack of adherence to environmental and personal hygiene practices include Covid-19. By Monday (30/3/2020), 1,414 people had tested positive for the disease and 122 people had died of it.

Brantas Tuntas

Realizing the importance of the Brantas, East Java Governor Khofifah Indar Parawansa has tried to integrate the “Brantas Tuntas” program, launched late last, year with the field study programs of state-run universities in East Java. The Brantas River passes through 17 regions, almost half the province’s 38 regencies and cities. The governor has called on university students to be the driving force in community initiatives to clean and sustain the river.

What should be noted, however, is the fact that around 150 large manufacturing plants are located along Brantas River, including factories that produce paper, food and beverages, and metals. This does not include the hundreds of micro, small and medium businesses that are also located near the river. Several factories allegedly still use the Brantas to dispose of their industrial waste. Repeated enforcement measures has failed in creating a deterrent effect.

The fate of the Bengawan Solo is not much different from that of its cousin, the Brantas.