Anticipating Drought This Year, PUPR Ministry Ensures Water Basin Performance

Anticipating Drought This Year, PUPR Ministry Ensures Water Basin Performance

In an effort to anticipate the effects of a long drought that has caused drought in water sources for agriculture and raw water, the Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing (PUPR) will optimize the operation of water storage infrastructure throughout Indonesia. This aims to maintain the availability of agricultural staples and clean water especially when the outbreak of a COVID-19 pandemic is where food and water are needed by the community.

PUPR Minister Basuki Hadimuljono conveyed President Joko Widodo's instructions that the government must guarantee several things during the COVID 19 pandemic for water needs, namely food, health, and basic services. "For this reason the Ministry of PUPR seeks to anticipate measures to guarantee the availability of water when the dry season arrives," said Basuki in Jakarta, Wednesday (5/20/2020).

Based on the results of field monitoring, recorded a total number of operational reservoirs of 241 reservoirs covering 16 main reservoirs with a volume of water availability of 4,721 billion cubic millimeters with an appropriate irrigation area can be served at 512,515 Ha (96.57 percent) of a total of 530,738 hectares. Of the 16 main dams / reservoirs, 10 reservoirs have normal water levels including: Jatiluhur, Cirata, Saguling, Batutegi, Sutami, Wonorejo, Bili-Bili, Kalola, Way Rarem, and Ponre-Ponre. While 6 reservoirs have below normal water levels including: Kedungombo, Wonogiri, Wadas Lintang, Cacaban, Selorejo, and Batu Bulan.

In addition to the reservoir, the Ministry of PUPR also monitors water availability from 4,227 reservoirs and 344 situ with a total reservoir volume of 338.8 cubic meters. Besides that, also prepared 7,914 bore wells by utilizing an irrigation network of ground water and raw water covering an area of ​​118,652 hectares and ground water for raw water of 2,386 cubic millimeters per second, 4,098 bore wells functioning normally, the remaining 3,816 bore wells experienced operational disruptions.

From 4,098 wells that are functioning normally are spread in 7 Provinces namely Sumatra Province 488 Wells, Kalimantan 46 46 Wells, Sulawesi 701 Wells, Java 1.514 Wells, Bali-Nusa Tenggara 1.190 Wells, Maluku 2 Wells, and Papua Province 148 Well.