Jakarta, ABIM (5/5/2024) – The Indonesian government plans to propose the implementation of a river basin management policy, known as Zero Delta Q, as a flood control at the 10th World Water Forum in Nusa Dua, Bali, from May 18-25, 2024.
The Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing’s Director General of Water Resources, Bob Arthur Lombogia, confirmed the plan in a statement on Saturday (May 4) in Jakarta.
Bob emphasized that effective disaster management, particularly flood control in Indonesia, requires coordination between structural methods, such as water behavior management, and non-structural methods, such as human behavior management.
“The Zero Delta Q policy can be presented during the political discussions at the 10th World Water Forum and needs to be implemented. If most or all Indonesian regions adopt this approach, it would result in numerous water reservoirs. This would help achieve our goals in disaster mitigation and flood control,” said Bob.
Government Regulation No. 13 of 2017 outlines the Zero Delta Q policy, which requires that no construction should increase water discharge into drainage or river flow systems. This policy is necessary to obtain land use permits, such as building permits (IMB), within a river basin.
Bob further explained that in mitigating floods, structural strategies are needed in managing water behavior for disaster mitigation, including the construction of water reservoirs such as dams, ponds, retention basins, infiltration wells, and others. Furthermore, measures like increasing river capacity, diverting river water, increasing river flow speed, controlling sedimentation, organizing drainage systems, and preventing seawater from flowing inland can also be taken to address the issue.
Actual examples of infrastructure projects for water management and flood disaster mitigation include the normalization of the Ciliwung River, retention ponds combined with embankments in Cilincing, North Jakarta, and the Ancol Sentiong pump.
The PUPR Ministry’s program to control water’s destructive power has involved the construction of flood control infrastructure and coastal protection spanning 1,901 km, as well as 423 sediment and control structures spread across Indonesia.
The 2023 World Risk Report ranks Indonesia as the second most disaster-prone country, with a World Risk Index (WRI) of 43.50. This study took into account issues such as disaster exposure owing to non-climate-resilient infrastructure and vulnerability as a result of inadequate disaster risk reduction management.
Meanwhile, data from the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) indicate that the number of floods increased from 2019 to 2021. Despite increased rainfall from El Niño since 2022, the number of natural disaster has reduced. This demonstrates the effectiveness of flood disaster mitigation efforts through structural solutions such as the construction of flood control infrastructure.
The 10th World Water Forum is expected to provide as a platform for exchanging experiences and best practices in disaster management, particularly floods, through three major processes: thematic, regional, and political.(ABIM)
