Groundwater Management Problems, a Jakarta and Bandung (Indonesia) Comparative City Case Studies

Soetrisno S.

ABSTRACT: Goundwater resources played an important role in supporting development in Jakarta and Bandung. Both cities have two main groundwater management instruments, legal and technical. However a number of factors including, continuously increasing water demand which is highly reliant upon groundwater, a rising population, changes of land usage, partial and sectoral management, weak law enforcement, and low awareness of the need to manage groundwater in a sustainable manner has made management ineffective and led to the degradation of groundwater resources in both cities. Efforts have been made in both cities, which appear to have achieved promising results, in reversing this degradation.

1 BACKGROUND

Water is essential for life, without water is not possible. Therefore this gift of God should be managed properly for the benefit of mankind.

As stipulated in article (3) Paragraph 33 of the Indonesian Constitution of 1945, "Land and water and natural riches contained therein belong to and are controlled by the state and are to be used for the benefit of the people", therefore groundwater in Indonesia must be used to both meet the water demand and to the benefit of the people.

In Indonesia, groundwater resources, primarily shallow groundwater, have been developed for centuries. Groundwater from deep aquifers, however, was first developed in the mid nineteenth century, following the successful deep well drilling in 1848 at Prins Hendrik fort, one of the Dutch fortresses in Batavia (now Jakarta). Since then, deep groundwater has become one source of drinking water for several towns in Java. The Government of Dutch East Indies at that time accepted the need to manage groundwater and accordingly put into effect a series of water regulations for the islands of Java and Madura.

During the late 20^th century as Indonesia began to develop; the populous cities especially in Java which serve as centres for service and manufacturing, industries, education, and tourism, grew rapidly. The demand for water, also increased and matched the population and economic growth. Indonesia is highly reliant upon groundwater to meet this increasing demand for water; unfortunately degradation of groundwater both in terms of quantity and quality is apparent especially in the cities of Jakarta and Bandung. Both cities use groundwater to supply the majority of their water supply.

This paper presents Jakarta and Bandung as a comparative case study, describes the groundwater management problems experienced and the efforts to solve them.

2 DESCRIPTION OF CITY

2.1 Jakarta

Jakarta which is the capital of the Republic of Indonesia, lies on the coastal plain of the Java Sea (to the North) and is bordered by West Java Province in the south, west, and east.

The surface area of Greater Jakarta is about 652 km². Its population which was about 800,000 at independence (1945) has increased to 8.2 million in 1990 according to a recent census. The annual increase during the period 1980 - 1990 has been 2.4%. In the year 2005, the population of Greater Jakarta is estimated to be 12 million. Unlike other region over 75% of this population is in an urban setting.

Actual land use in Greater Jakarta is mostly occupied by housing, industry and commerce whilst some agriculture is practiced in the urban fringe areas.

Greater Jakarta has a humid tropical climate; annual rainfall is high between 1500 - 2500 mm due to influence of monsoon.

2.2 Bandung

Bandung is the capital of West Java Province and had a population of about 2.5 million in 1995. The city is surrounded by several medium sized towns which form Greater Bandung, with a total population of about 3.5 million. Greater Bandung lies in the catchment area of the upper Citarum river and is surrounded by a range of hills and volcanoes, some of which are still active. As an inland city, unlike Jakarta, Greater Bandung lies within an inter-montane basin which has an area of about 2250 km². The central part of the basin, where most of the urban and industrial areas are located, is a plain measuring 40 km east-west and 30 km north-south. The mean annual precipitation within the basin, is dependent upon the altitude, but is typically between 1900 - 2200 mm.

The traditional economic basis of Greater Bandung is agriculture. Intensive irrigated rice is growing in the floodplain whilst rain-fed vegetables are cultivated in the hills. However, due to rapid urbanisation and associated population increase, Bandung like Jakarta, has become increasingly dependent upon manufacturing and service industries. This has changed land use of the area from open land or rain-fed and irrigated paddy field to housing complexes, business districts, and industrial areas.

3 GROUNDWATER SETTING

3.1 Jakarta

Greater Jakarta is located in the groundwater basin known as the Jakarta Groundwater Basin.

The base of the aquifer system is formed by impermeable Miocene sediments which also crop out at the southern boundary of the basin. The basin fill, which consist of marine Pliocene and Quaternary sand and delta sediments, is up to 300 m thick. Individual sand horizons are typically 1 - 5 m thick and comprise only 20% of the total fill deposits. Silts and clays separate these horizons. Fine sand and silt is very frequent component of these aquifers (Schmidt et al, 1985)

The horizontal permeability (Kh) of tested layers was found to be between 0.1 m day^-1 and 40 m day^-1. Transmissivity (T) for the entire Quaternary sequence of 250 m thickness are some 250 m² day^-1 near the coast but increases to about 500 m²/day near hinge line about 20 km to the south. The vertical permeability (Kv) is estimated as varying between 1/100 and 1/5000 of the horizontal permeability. The Quaternary deposits may be conveniently divided into three aquifer systems on the basis of the hydraulic characteristics and depths; these are: (1) Phreatic Aquifer System (0-40 m), (2) Upper Confined Aquifer System (40-140 m), and (3) Lower Confined Aquifer System (>140 m).

Under natural flow conditions the recharge area of the deep aquifer system is located in the hilly area at elevations of between 25 and 200 m. Discharge from the confined aquifer to the natural base level in the flat coastal area occurred mainly by upward leakage, evapotranpiration and outflow to the surface water system. Today, recharge to the deep aquifer system, other than horizontal inflow, may occur throughout the city area by downward leakage, as head levels of the confined aquifer system have dropped regionally (2 - 4.6 m year^-1) to below the water table of the unconfined shallow aquifer system.

Groundwater quality in general was very good at the beginning of this century although the top aquifer within the coastal plain deposits was slightly brackish to saline. At present, the exploitation of deep groundwater has caused salinization of the deep aquifer, whereas the rapid urbanization and the consequent high population densities within the urban areas have led to the contamination of the shallow aquifer.

The supply of water is a pressing problem in Greater Jakarta. The 1995 total water demand is estimated at 750 million m³year^-1. Although the volumes of groundwater presently abstracted for public supply are small in comparison to those of surface water, groundwater is of considerable economic and social importance, because about 70% of the population in Greater Jakarta and the majority of the industries rely on this resource.

The groundwater contribution to the actual supply is about 250 million m³ year^-1 and is mainly abstracted from innumerable shallow wells (80%) and more than 3,000 deep wells (20%). Between 1900 and 1950, groundwater abstraction was below 10 million m³ year^-1 but since that time, mainly after 1970, it has steadily increase in step with the growth in population and industrial development. In the year 1994, deep groundwater abstraction was estimated to be 53 million m³ year^-1 which was about 50% higher than could be accounted for by registered wells (33.8 million m³ year^-1).

3.2 Bandung

The multi-layer aquifer configuration of the Bandung basin may be simplified into two hydrogeologic systems. The shallow aquifers which are unconfined, and occur within the upper 40 m are commonly exploited by dug wells or driven wells and have a high vulnerability to pollution. These aquifers are composed of both volcanic product, from the volcanic complexes bordering this basin, and from lake sediments which were deposited within the central part of the basin.

The deep aquifers which are semi confined to confined, are present at depths between 40 m and 150 m. The most prominent aquifer is the Cibeureum aquifer which is comprised mainly of arenaceous tuff and volcanic breccias of young volcanic deposits. The permeability of this aquifer is moderate to high within the coarse pyroclastics and within the lava flows, producing an average transmissivity of between 111 and 877 m² day^-1. Due to its high productivity, the Cibeureum aquifer is the most widely utilised aquifer in the basin and is intensively exploited, primarily by textile industries.

The other aquifers are the Cikapundung aquifer, which consists of old volcanic deposits, and the Kosambi aquifer, which is composed of mostly fine grained lake deposits. Both aquifers have low to moderate transmissivities (112 to 150 m² day^-1), and therefore are not so widely exploited. The northern area of the basin which is situated at elevations between 1050 and 1300 m above mean sea level (amsl) is considered to be the main recharge area of the groundwater exploited in the basin; this was based on a study of the natural stable isotope content of groundwater (Geyh 1990). Groundwater through flow from an elevation of 1000 m amsl to the basin is calculated to be about 107 Mm³ year^-1 (Schmidt and Tirtomihardjo 1991), of which 70% comes from the north.

The chemical composition of groundwater is characterised by low to moderate salinity (< 1000 m S cm^-1), high HCO^-₃ concentration (45 - 90 meq%), low concentration of SO^-2₄ (<20 meq%), and high concentrations of Fe (exceeding 1 mg l^-1) in practically all areas of the basin.

Due to excessive abstraction by industries, the current piezometric head of groundwater in the basin has declined markedly. In the early 1900’s the piezometric level in the areas which are now occupied by industries, was usually present between 20 and 25 m above surface, while now it lies generally more than 50 m below the surface. In the area where many textile industries are concentrated, a cone of depression has developed. The piezometric head as recorded by 48 observation wells throughout the basin, has been declining continuously almost over the entire basin at a rate of between 2 - 4 m year^-1.

Lowering of the piezometric heads has changed the groundwater flow system because the piezometric head is now generally below the phreatic head almost everywhere within Greater Bandung. Downward recharge from the upper system to the deep system, therefore, has occured, making the deep aquifer system vulnerable to pollution. However, up to now there is no evidence of pollution in the deep system.

Since the early development of the city of Bandung in the late 19^th century, groundwater resources have played an important role in supplying water demand. Following the industrial era in the 1970’s, Bandung became a great urban area which attracted people from surrounding rural areas. Groundwater abstraction in 1970’s was 10.5 Mm³ year^-1, and the number of wells was less than 300.

By 1995, municipal water supply abstracted 6.7 Mm³ year^-1 of groundwater. Together with spring and surface water, it supplied about 43% of drinking water demand in the Greater Bandung. The remaining water users rely on groundwater resources. In the same period, 66.9 Mm³ year^-1 of groundwater has been abstracted from deeper aquifers, 80% of which is used by the industrial sector. This figure was recorded from 2225 licensed wells, while it was believed that many additional illegal wells tapped the same aquifer. It is estimated that 80 Mm³ year^-1 of groundwater was pumped by the textile industries alone in 1995.

Local domestic supply of groundwater is from dug wells or shallow boreholes. There is no exact figure concerning the total abstraction from the shallow aquifer. However, assuming that 60% of the total population of 3.5 million use 90 l per capita per day of groundwater, it is estimated that 69 Mm³ per annum of groundwater was abstracted from the shallow aquifers in Greater Bandung in 1995.

4 MANAGEMENT

Management of groundwater in both cities from the legal point of view is based on:

• Law No. 11 of 1974 on Water Resources
• Government Regulation No. 22 of 1982 on Water Resources Management
• Regulation of Minister of Mines and Energy No. 02.P/101/M.PE/1994 on Management of Ground-water.

As stipulated on this regulation, management of groundwater is defined as all efforts that covers inventory, regulating, developing, licencing, controlling, and supervising in the frame of groundwater conservation.

• Decree of Director General of Geology and Mineral Resources No. 005.K/10/DDJG/1995 on Guidance of the Implementation of Management of Groundwater.

Referring to the above legislation, both cities have groundwater regulation which is approved by their government and their local parliament respectively.

To comply with the above legislation, the Governor of Greater Jakarta and the Governor of West Java issues licence for groundwater abstraction within their respective area following technical recommendations from the Ministry of Mines and Energy.

Although a series of groundwater regulations have been published and implemented, there is clear evidence in both cities that the groundwater resources are suffering degradation both in terms of quantity and quality, as shown on Table 1.

 

Table 1 Degradation of groundwater resources

	Jakarta	Bandung
Lowering of groundwater head	2 - 4.6 m year-1	2 - 4 m year-1
Changes of quality	Yes - sea water intrusion - waste water (domestic and industry)	Yes - waste water (domestic and industry)
Changes of recharge - discharge pattern	Yes - downward leakage almost in the entire basin	Yes - downward leakage almost in the entire basin
Land sub-sidence	Yes 34 cm year-1	No evidence

 

The degradation in both cities is due in part to groundwater mining which has occurred, presumably during the last decade.

Groundwater management requires a full understanding of the groundwater system; groundwater monitoring and modelling are valuable tools in this respect.

In both cities, targets for maximum groundwater abstraction have been set to avoid further deterioration of water quality and other negative impacts. Groundwater levels are monitored with continuous recorders in some wells. Surveys of water quality are undertaken annually.

Despite awareness of the problems and the attempts to arrest degradation continued deterioration of the resource occurs.

Among the major problem which appear to be the main causes of continued resource degradation are: :

1. The need of water demand is continuously increasing while water resources is becoming more scarce.

This situation to be impetus the management to demand management approach rather than supply management which is used so far. By demand approach groundwater resources will be used based on the real capacity of the aquifers and water usage will be optimized. Need to restrict demand to match the capacity of the aquifer rather than simply increase supply.

2. Highly reliant upon groundwater resources while other water resources are inadequate.

For both cities groundwater resources supplies nearly 60% of their water demand. Management strategy should be to reduce groundwater abstraction and to enhance the usage of surface water resources. Conjungtive use of groundwater and surface water should be instigated where possible in both cities.

3. Increase in population and changes in land use.

The high population density in both cities creates a demand for land for housing and for industry. As a consequence permeable soils are replaced by impermeable concrete cover whilst the demand for water rises.

Further small scattered natural lakes which occurred in many areas in the south of Jakarta have now has been infilled and built upon. Nearly 70% of these natural lakes have disappeared. The role of these lakes as retention basins to protect Jakarta from floods and to provide opportunities for excessive surface water to infiltrate to the sub surface has been lost.

4. Partial and sectoral management rather than holistic and integrated management.

Although groundwater management is the responsibility of the Ministry of Mines and Energy, other agencies are also involved in groundwater management. As stipulated by law, groundwater and surface water are managed separately. The Ministry of Public Works is responsible for the surface water, while licencing for water abstraction is the responsibility of. the Governor. This situation ignores how surface water and groundwater are interrelated and that one can impact upon the other. In addition duplication or effort between the two ministries can occur.

Since groundwater is only a part of the hydrologic cycle, groundwater management needs to consider total water resources and should involve management of the recharge areas, land usage, river basin and even the social behaviour related to water use.

Both Mining Bureaus in Jakarta and Bandung are responsible in management of groundwater of their respective areas. However, it seems that integrated management still needs to be enhanced.

5. Weakness of law enforcement.

The law, stipulates that any violation of groundwater regulation will result in the offenders being prosecuted or penalized. However, both in Jakarta and Bandung, offenders are rarely penalised. Provided the offenders pay for the excess water abstracted they are unlikely to be prosecuted.

The revenues which are collected from groundwater tariff are regarded as local revenues and used to finance regional development rather than utilised exclusively for groundwater conservation efforts.

Further, the regulations relating groundwater and its use is still largely ignored.

6. Low awareness of groundwater users to the sustainability of groundwater.

Unfortunately too many people have an inadequate understanding of groundwater resources and this has led to inappropriate development of groundwater. It is true that groundwater is a renewable resource, but the time required for renewal is much greater than for surface water. For example, the recharge to the deep aquifers beneath Jakarta and Bandung takes many hundreds of years.

Referring to the meaning of management as defined in Regulation of Minister of Mines and Energy No. 02.P/101/M.PE/1994, the problems as described above are actually a reflection of that function of management, which are planning, organizing, actuating, and controlling, has not yet been properly conducted.

5 EFFORTS - MANAGEMENT ACTIONS

The administration in both Jakarta and Bandung realized that the degradation of groundwater detrimental to the resource itself and to the environment and should be stopped. Therefore, in both cities the local and central government made efforts to solve the problems in order to restore groundwater.

These efforts in both cities were in part successful and produced a rise in the piezometric heads (1.1 - 3.6 m in 1995/1996). Although the rise of the water level throughout these cities is still low, those efforts seem to be in right direction.

Specific actions that were initiated were as follows :

1. Reducing abstraction by substitution with surface water.

The local government of Jakarta boosted the capacity of the municipal water supply by using more surface water. By the year 2019 the quantity of groundwater consumed will be half the current abstraction, while the population serviced by piped water supply will be increased 50%.

The groundwater abstraction in North Jakarta has stopped increasing since 1990, and new abstraction in this area is prohibited.

In Greater Bandung, new abstraction of groundwater for industries has been banned since 1993 in an area of 200 km² within the basin. The local government plan to relocate industries close to Saguling dam in west part of the basin, where they will be supplied by surface water.

2. Strengthening coordination and integration among related agencies.

Central government and the local governments in the cities of Jakarta and Bandung are trying to strengthen coordination and integration of groundwater management by more frequent meetings. All aspects of management including planning, organizing and controlling (as shown on Figure 1) are discussed and involve all sectors that use water.

3. Educating the people or groundwater user to conserve water and obey the regulation.

Conservation of water has been declared as a national programme. The people are encouraged not to pollute water nor to treat water carelessly but as God’s gift. Water has an economic value and should be used for the benefit of the whole population.

People need to be taught that replenishment of groundwater requires time, often hundreds, if not thousands of years. Therefore, groundwater may not be a ‘renewable’ resources when compared with a man’s lifespan. With this understanding it hoped that people will treat and use groundwater wisely to pass on the legacy to the next generation.

4. Conducting law enforcement consistantly.

Any violation of groundwater regulations, especially the excessive or illegal abstraction, must be penalized.

5. To consider groundwater resources into spatial planning.

Both cities have begun to consider the occurrence and condition of groundwater resources in their regional planning. Local authorities include the groundwater resources into spatial planning, for example, any land-use which might need a new groundwater supply can be rejected at an early stage where water resources are scarce.

Further, in both cities, building permit are only granted where a shallow recharge well is included within the plans.

6 CLOSING REMARKS

Similar groundwater management problems occur in Jakarta and Bandung. This has led to the degradation of groundwater both quantity and quality in both cities..

The administrations in both cities realise the need to ensure sustainable development of water resources.

Efforts have been made to solve these problems and have produced encouraging results, however, in a broad sense a significant restoration of groundwater in either city has not as yet been achieved.

7 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The author wishes to thank to the Organizing Committee and Prof. Stephen Foster, Assistant Director, British Geological Survey, for giving the opportunity to present this paper. The author also sincerely thanks the Director of Environmental Geology for the direction of the contents of this paper.

REFFERENCES

Geyh, M.A., 1990. Isotopic Hydrogeological Sounding in the Bandung Basin, Indonesia. GEGATI - DEG, Bandung.

Schmidt G., Haryadi T., Kohler G., 1985. Jakarta Groundwater Study - Groundwater Modelling. Working Paper (HAG) 116, Directorate of Environmental Geology - Bandung (Indonesia), Federal Institute of Geosciences and Natural Resources - Hannover (Germany).

Schmidt G. and Tirtomiharjo H., 1991. Groundwater Quanti-fication for Four Urban Development Areas. Federal Institute of Geoscienses and NaturalResources - Hannover.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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