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The Jakarta city administration will next week drastically increase the tariff for well-to-do households and industries using groundwater in order to prevent rapid land subsidence.

Peni Susanti, head of the Jakarta Environmental Management Board (BPLHD), said that a gubernatorial decree on the increase of the groundwater tariff had been issued and would come into effect coinciding with the start of its promotion.

The groundwater tariff will be raised by up to six times the original rate for industries and 16 times the usual rate for wealthy households.

“The decree has been approved by the governor. We plan to promote the information about it starting next week,” Peni said, adding that the decree needed to be coordinated with the Jakarta City Council.

Peni said the groundwater tariff had not been raised since 1999, in contrast with city-owned water operator PAM Jaya, which raises its rates every six months.

She said the increased tariff was important to reduce the unchecked use of groundwater in this city of some 11 million people, which Peni said topped a list of 530 cities around the world that were vulnerable to land subsidence.

“With the new tariff, users will think twice about using more groundwater than they should,” Peni said.

Beritajakarta.com, the city’s official news portal, reported that the tariff for wealthy households would be increased from Rp 525 (5 cents) per cubic meter to Rp 8,800 per cubic meter, while industries would see the tariff increased from the current Rp 3,300 per cubic meter to Rp 23,000 per cubic meter.

The news portal also cited research conducted by the BPLHD as saying that the city’s groundwater level was now at around 40 meters deep on average, and that the city would face a groundwater crisis in the next few years.

The agency’s data shows that 53 percent of water consumed in Jakarta is groundwater.

Groundwater users include households, offices, apartments, malls and industries.

Several areas in Jakarta face critical groundwater conditions, with water being drawn from depths of at least 16 meters. Cited were areas such as East Jakarta’s Pulogadung, Matraman, Pasar Rebo, Duren Sawit and Ciracas, and South Jakarta’s Tebet and Pasar Minggu.

Other areas, where water can still be found at a depth of 8 meters to 12 meters, are prone to imminent water crises. Included in those areas are West Jakarta’s Kembangan and parts of Kebon Jeruk, Central Jakarta’s Tanah Abang, Menteng and Senen, and Cakung in East Jakarta.

Muhayar Rustamudin, deputy chairman of the City Council’s Commission D, which oversees development and the environment, said the council had agreed to the tariff increase. “The rise could be one way to control the environmental damage due to a drop in water levels in Jakarta,” Muhayar said.

He said the commission had long suggested that the city administration raise the groundwater tariff.