Muchanad Awal, Chief Executive of the IDEP Selaras Alam Foundation, has publicly warned that the Island of Bali is facing a severe water crisis.
Founded in Bali in 1999, IDEP is a non-governmental organization that aims to build resilience in the local community through championing permaculture and sustainability, community-based disaster management, enhancing capacity-building through training and consulting, and public education programs.
Over the past two decades, IDEP has successfully assisted over 25,000 people in 78 separate rural locations and facilitated over 500 training and consulting events.
As reported by Beritabali.com, the IDEP Executive explained Bali’s worsening water crisis is caused by climate change and explosive growth in the Island’s tourism industry. The impact of unbridled tourism development is most acutely felt in the southern part of the Island, which is facing significant challenges in the areas of water supply and water quality.
Speaking at a press conference in Sanur, Bali, on Tuesday, 30 July 2024, Awal said, “The water crisis is the main challenge confronting Bali at this moment.”
Awal commented: “In addition to the problem of climate change, the massive growth in the tourism sector in Bali’s southern region has dramatically increased the volume of water consumption, which, in turn, has hurt both the quantity and quality of groundwater resources.”
As one solution to water shortages, Awal recommends creating storage facilities to retain rainwater. These facilities must first be constructed in central and northern Bali, in the Regencies of Bagli, Karangasem, Tabanan, and Buleleng.
Since 2018, the Idep Selaras Alan Foundation has cooperated with the Politeknik Negeri Bali (PNB) to construct 91 rainwater harvesting facilities. PNB has completed 24 water wells out of a targeted total of 136 wells.
Awal explained that each rainwater harvesting facility costs approximately Rp.36 million to construct, and well depths, depending on the area selected, average between 32 and 50 meters.
IDEP hopes that new wells operated with rain-harvesting facilities will help make Bali water-sustainable.
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