Watershed Crisis, Spatial Planning and Sectoral Development
The fundamental cause of unhealthy watersheds is spatial planning and spatial use that do not pay attention to watershed principles.
Kompas' main reportage (23/2/2023), Rivers in Indonesia are Increasingly Dangerous, is actually very late because this has been the condition for a long time. It is not only the rivers that are in a critical condition, the entire watershed (DAS) is also in an emergency condition.
Disasters related to water and seasons (hydrometeorology) have not just started happening recently, although lately the intensity and magnitude of their impact have been increasing.
A watershed is not only the body of the river or either bank on the sides a river, but the whole area surrounding the river system in the basin. The river is part of the watershed and river water is a product of the watershed. The condition of a river is the mouth of the health of the watershed. A healthy watershed is one whose hydrological conditions are maintained, not drying out in the dry season, not flooding in the rainy season. With these indicators, it is clear that most of the watersheds in Indonesia are unhealthy.
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> Rivers in Indonesia Increasingly Dangerous
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Watershed health is the final result of space utilization in the watershed area. The upstream of a watershed functions as a catchment area that captures and stores rainwater and produces groundwater sources (springs) in the middle and the downstream.
As a water catchment area, the upstream part of a watershed should be protected in the form of areas with perennial plants or forests, kept from land use for intensive agriculture or settlements. The damaged water catchment area, no longer an area with perennial plants, no longer functions to capture and store water, but drains surface water downstream. When rainfall is high, flooding and erosion occur. There are lots of watersheds in Indonesia where the water catchment area is far from what it should be.
As a water catchment area, the upstream part of a watershed should be protected in the form of areas with perennial plants or forests.
Economic activities and settlements should only be in the middle part of a watershed, which is relatively sloping. Even this must be done wisely, paying attention to ecological principles. For example, the development should not confiscate areas where excess surface water from the upstream is naturally stored, or lakes.
The downstream part of a watershed is the discharge area. This is where the water channel ends or is ultimately overflowed. Utilization of the downstream area for settlements or for economic activities must be selective, coupled with mitigating the potential for flooding due to river overflow.
Underlying causes and remedial steps
The fundamental cause of unhealthy watersheds is spatial planning and spatial use that do not pay attention to watershed principles. The easiest example is the Ciliwung watershed beginning in the Puncak area, West Java. The Puncak area, which is filled with settlements and intensive agriculture, is not a water catchment area conducive to a healthy Ciliwung watershed area. Likewise in the middle of the watershed zone, the removal of lakes for physical development have caused surface runoff to overflow downstream.
Moreover, downstream, the river body narrows due to the illegal use of the river bank and the river has become shallow due to erosion-sedimentation and garbage. Not only that, some areas of water runoff areas have been turned into settlements.
Spatial planning that is wrong or breaches these needs is exacerbated by development that tends to be sectoral and uncoordinated. Sectors, especially those that utilize space, only ensure the achievement of sector goals without considering the impact on other sectors. The end result actually creates a massive collective loss. Increases in certain agricultural production (for example, potatoes), are paid for by high erosion which leads to floods and landslides, the silting of rivers and a decrease in the service life of water reservoirs/dams.
The National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) at the regional development planning boards (Bappeda) at the regional level are the institutions where development coordination takes place. The planning mechanism through development meetings (musbang) is routinely held, however, planning based on administrative areas is not necessarily compatible with the concept of watershed management because administrative area units rarely coincide with watershed areas. Apart from this, development plans are often in the form of aggregation of sectoral plans.
Such an approach needs to be changed, the sectors should instead plan their portions for multiple objectives that have been agreed across sectors using the watershed as a planning unit.
Therefore, the first thing that must be done to overcome the ongoing damage to the watershed and to minimize disasters is to review the spatial plans, especially in water catchment areas, revise them according to the principles of watershed management and apply these new plans consistently. Even if it is not possible to bring back a water catchment area to an ideal state (it is impossible to displace a settlement even though the settlement is in the wrong place), at least a technical remedy is made.
The construction of a retention reservoir in Ciawi is one example of this. Another is increasing efforts to suppress surface water, for example requiring infiltration wells and biopores. Agricultural practices that damage the watershed must be stopped and replaced with watershed-friendly practices. The remaining areas that are still natural must be absolutely protected and rehabilitated, both vegetatively (with annual plants) and civil-technically (with erosion prevention buildings). Water bodies in the middle and downstream must be restored to their capacity as much as possible.
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The remedial measures above will only occur if the sectors or ministries/agencies coordinate effectively. So, a permanent and comprehensive solution to the watershed problem is to achieve solid and effective coordination across sectors.
It must be admitted that this is not easy. The idea of having an agency with a special watershed portfolio capable of coordinating sectors is worth considering. Putting the watershed management portfolio only at the echelon I level of a ministry has proven to be ineffective. It is very difficult for an echelon I in a ministry to coordinate other sectors.
The DAS forum is a place for coordination
Government Regulation No. 37/2012 concerning watershed management recommends that the community play a role in creating a healthy watershed. A form of involvement could be in the form of a DAS forum.
Currently there are around 150 DAS forums throughout Indonesia. There are forums with provincial, regency/city or watershed specific coverage. These forums were formed by regional heads with the main function of providing input related to watershed management, becoming a platform and facilitating coordination, accommodating aspirations and increasing public awareness. In addition, there is also a national DAS forum formed by the Environment and Forestry Minister, chaired by the director general who handles watersheds. The national DAS forum consists of a number of echelon I members from various ministries, run by the daily chairmen I and II assisted by the Council of Experts.
With the current critical condition of DAS, national leaders and regional leaders should be more open to the existence of DAS forums, and make optimal use of them.
In the midst of weak cross-sectoral coordination and the absence of an effective formal coordinator, the DAS forum can be a vehicle for coordination. However, of the approximately 150 DAS forums in Indonesia, not many can really function as a vehicle for coordination. There are many causes. One of them is that the DAS forum is less proactive toward regional heads or regional heads are less open to DAS forums, or a combination of both.
With the current critical condition of DAS, national leaders and regional leaders should be more open to the existence of DAS forums, and make optimal use of them. The investment required is insignificant compared with the potential material and immaterial losses due to the watershed damage disaster.
IB Putera Parthama
IB Putera Parthama, Daily chairman of the National Watershed Forum, former watershed management and protected forest director general and sustainable production forest management director general, the Environment and Forestry Ministry.
This article was translated by Kurnia Siswo.
