MEMR: Government optimises groundwater use control to improve environmental conditions

Jakarta – Through the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (EMR), the government has taken a significant step to optimise efforts to control groundwater use by a ministerial regulation on groundwater usage standards. This step aims to ensure that groundwater use can be carried out sustainably, positively impacting the environment.

The Acting Head of the Geological Agency of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, Muhammad Wafid, explained that this control benefits the environment and prevents land subsidence and seawater intrusion.

Wafid emphasised that restoring groundwater levels and reducing the subsidence rate are indicators of successful groundwater management. As an example, Wafid detailed groundwater monitoring efforts in the Jakarta Groundwater Basin since 2014. Through the Groundwater Conservation Centre (BKAT), they monitor 220 locations yearly, including monitoring wells, production wells and dug wells. This includes groundwater level measurements and analyses of the physico-chemical properties of groundwater.

“The monitoring results show the rate of land subsidence is between 0.04 to 6.30 cm per year in the 2015-2022 period. This signifies a significant increase compared to the 1997-2005 period, where the subsidence rate reached 15-20 cm per year,” Wafid explained in an official statement.

Mr Wafid added that the slope of land subsidence was also observed in a manual monitoring well at the North Jakarta Groundwater Conservation Centre office site. However, Wafid emphasised that the groundwater use permit regulation only applies to households with water usage of more than 100 m3 per month.

Such permits are not required for most households in Indonesia, which use an average of 20-30 m3 per month. The Government’s objective in issuing this groundwater control policy is to maintain groundwater availability while ensuring minimal environmental impact, in line with the vision of sustainable natural resource management. (Hartatik)

 

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