Oyos Saroso H.N., Bandarlampung – Illegal logging and land clearance around Bukit Barisan Selatan and Way Kambas national parks have destroyed the water catchment area for the Batutegi hydropower plant in Lampung, an official said Friday.
Head of the Lampung forestry office, Arinal Junaidi, said rampant deforestation had led to the depletion of the water debit in the nearby reservoir. Only 9,200 hectares, or 21.6 percent, of the 42,200-hectare catchment area around the reservoir remains forested.
"A huge fund of Rp 240.3 billion (US$25.3 million) is needed to restore 32,200 hectares of the catchment area, without which the power crisis in Lampung will get worse, and hundreds of thousands of farmers in Lampung will face water shortages," Arinal said.
Apart from being a catchment area for the Batutegi reservoir, the area is the source for major rivers in Lampung, including the Sekampung and Sangharus rivers, which provide irrigation water for thousands of farmers in Tanggamus, Central Lampung, Metro and East Lampung regencies.
In addition to illegal logging, the condition of the reservoir, with a capacity of 690 million cubic meters at an elevation of 274 meters, has deteriorated due to sedimentation that has reached 9.1 million tons per year, from the normal amount of 1.7 tons, thus reducing its lifespan.
"Economically, the decrease in the lifespan of the reservoir will bring a reduction in electricity generating capacity, losses to the agricultural sector due to a decline in rice production, and water shortages," said Arinal.
The Batutegi reservoir is located about two kilometers from the upstream area where the Way Sangharus and Way Sekampung rivers meet in Way Harong village, about 100 kilometers west of the provincial capital Bandarlampung.
The reservoir, which was built at a cost of Rp 1.3 trillion in 1994, and inaugurated by former president Megawati Soekarnoputri in 2003, was intended to irrigate 108,663 hectares of rice fields in Way Sekampung.
The 3,005-hectare reservoir also feeds the nearby power station with a capacity of 28 megawatts. It also supplies drinking water to Bandarlampung, Metro and Branti, with a capacity of 2,250 liters per second.
"Due to its crucial role, it is time to rescue the forest, initiate integrated farming methods and socio-economic development in the area, which is estimated to cost Rp 240 billion," said Arinal.
The project is scheduled to be completed in 10 years, and would include reforesting 31,000 hectares of the forest, constructing 15 control dams, carrying out land conservation projects, and developing 7,000 hectares for mixed crop cultivation and fish and livestock husbandry in four priority locations.
The extent of damage done to the catchment area around Batutegi reservoir has caused farmers in major rice producing areas in Lampung to face acute water shortages.
A rice farmer in Metro Kibang, East Lampung, Sarjiono, 45, described the difficulty in growing rice twice a year. "The water flowed endlessly when the reservoir started operating... but it is even hard to plant rice once a year now, let alone twice a year, due to water shortages," said Sarjiono.
An agricultural expert at Lampung University, Muhajir Utomo, said the multipurpose Batutegi reservoir was expected to drain gradually through 2020.
According to Muhajir, this conclusion was based on the outcome of a study conducted by a team of European research scientists working on the factors of water debit and the condition of the river basin area of the Sekampung River that feeds the reservoir.