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Fri, May 25, 2012
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Bali Officials Divining Solutions for Looming Water Shortages
Made Arya Kencana | May 04, 2011

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Denpasar. The resort island of Bali could experience a severe water shortage as early as 2015 if population growth continues unimpeded, officials warned on Wednesday.

Tjokorda Ngurah Pemayun, head of the Bali Development Planning Agency (Bappeda), said the crowded southern tourist spots of Denpasar and Badung would be the worst affected.

The problem, he said, was that demand from the ever-increasing population was already outstripping groundwater supplies.

He said the current annual demand for water in Bali was around 5.3 million cubic meters, while groundwater resources only amounted to 4.7 million cubic meters a year.

Tjokorda said the projection over the next four years was based on a 2009 study by Japanese scientists, who predicted that the island’s population would increase by 300,000 from the current 4 million, mostly through transmigration from elsewhere in the country.

In response to the threat of a water shortage, Tjokorda said the Bali administration had in 2009 proposed a significant rate hike on groundwater extraction.

Hotels and restaurants on the resort island had been charged between Rp 2,000 and Rp 7,500 (23 cents and 88 cents) for every cubic meter of groundwater they extracted. But under a rate hike stipulated in a gubernatorial decree, they could have been paying Rp 20,000 to Rp 30,000 per cubic meter. H owever, Tjokorda said the administration had halved the target rates following protests from consumers.

Suharto Sarwan, director of water resources at the Public Works Ministry, said the water shortage could be exacerbated by the effects of climate change, which he blamed for erratic rainfall patterns.

“We’re seeing both protracted rainy seasons and shorter ones,” he said. “So there needs to be better management and conservation of water resources, such as through the development of dams or reservoirs.”

He also stressed the need for greater public awareness of the importance of conserving water.

Tjokorda said a feasibility study on drawing clean water from the Unda River in Klungkung district was currently being undertaken by a group of Korean investors.

If it goes through, he said, the project could be supplying water as early as next year, and would be sufficient to cover demand for the next 15 to 20 years.