Addressing severe and interrelated water security challenges in Indonesia

Water insecurity challenges in Indonesia are of significant concern, particularly in regions that are critical for economic growth. A third of Indonesia’s river basins are under stress year round, and almost half are under stress during the dry season. Projections show that addressing water insecurity in a concerted and integrated manner could help to drive economic growth and result in positive development outcomes in the country.

The Greater Jakarta region has the most pressing water insecurity issues as it produces 22 percent of Indonesian total GDP output and is home to 12 percent of the country’s total population. The region, comprising 14 district and municipal governments under three provincial jurisdictions, is already experiencing extreme deficits in water balance, which are compounded by regular and widespread flood events and deteriorated water quality from poor sanitation. Climate projections also point to heightened vulnerability from extreme weather events, which are expected to cause more drought and increased rainfall.

Since 2019, Dr Olivia Jensen (IPUR Lead Scientist for Environment & Climate) and her team have been engaged in a joint project with the World Bank Jakarta to support the adoption of integrated urban water management (IUWM) in Indonesia, focusing initially on Greater Jakarta. The project has involved a major effort to collaborate with central and local governments to collect, analyse and visualise data with maps on the different facets of water security. In September and October 2020, a series of four interactive workshops were conducted online to share and validate the data and recommendations with stakeholders including the Ministry of Home Affairs (Directorate General for Regional Administration) and clusters of local governments and water utilities. 

Points from the workshop discussions were used to guide and develop the A National Framework for Integrated Urban Water Management in Indonesia which focuses on the potential for IUWM to address the severe and interrelated water security challenges faced by Indonesian cities. To offers recommendations to support the adoption of the IUWM framework, the Pathways to Integrated Urban Water Management for Greater Jakarta, was also developed to provide immediate actionable interventions in the short term, while building up the knowledge base and expertise for more strategic institutional planning and development approaches in the longer term.

Information from The World Bank was used in this article.