Management of an Underground River to Overcome Water Scarcity in the Gunung Sewu Karst Area, Indonesia

Abstract

Since people living in a karst area periodically face a crisis due to a lack of fresh water, it is necessary to re-evaluate the ability to use water resources. An appropriate and effective management is required to use available water resource sustainably. We describe a management process of exploring underground river in karst region as water resources. The activities completed included four phases, namely exploration, pre-lifting activities, the water lifting and post-lifting activities. The exploration phase included speleological surveys and data collection for the cave mouth using remote sensing instrument. The pre-lifting was done to prepare various requirements before the lifting process was completed. The water lifting phase consisted of the construction of an underground river dam, the installation of submersible pumps, the construction of reservoirs and the installation of piping to connect to the public hydrant. The post-lifting phase was mainly conducted to organise water distribution evenly. This management model was evidenced to successfully overcome drought in Pucung village by providing fresh water to the local community. Moreover, this model promoted residents’ cost savings by reducing their expenses for buying water from IDR 50,000/m3 to IDR 3,500/m3 (1,300 percent).

Toponymy analysis as geosocial cultural approach on disaster mitigation studies in Sumberagung Village Pracimantoro District Wonogiri Regency

“…In addition, it is also necessary to have tree planting activities that are in accordance with the characteristics of the area to maintain the sustainability of underground water resources in karst. [3] The toponymy of Sumberagung Village is valued from the aspect of natural resources, especially water resources which means Sumberagung "Great Water Source". However, at that time it did not describe the embodiment of the water and was proven after 1972 after the Paseban Cave water source was discovered.…”

“…An example of this is the toponymy of Wonogiri Regency derived from the Javanese Wana (means pedestal/forest/rice field) and Giri (means mountain(s)). This name is very appropriate to describe the condition of the Wonogiri Regency area which is indeed mostly in the form of rice fields, forests and mountains [2][3][4].…”

Potensi Serapan Karbon Inorganik pada Kawasan Karst Tropis di Karst Biduk-Biduk, Kalimantan Timur

“…(1) CO 2 + H2O + CaCO3  Ca 2+ + 2 HCO 3http://dx.doi.org/10.14710/jwl.10.3.267-281 Sumber: Haryono, 2011 Gambar 2. Sebaran Kawasan Karst di Indonesia Ciri khas bentang alam Karst di Indonesia yaitu memiliki curah hujan yang tinggi dan ditutupi oleh ekosistem hutan (Amin et al, 2017). Curah hujan di Indonesia memiliki nilai sebesar 2000 -3000 mm/tahun sehingga dapat mempercepat proses pelarutan di bentang alam Karst.…”

Karst of Gunung Sewu Land Use and Land Covers Dynamics: Spatio-Temporal Analysis

“…Hilly landforms and land slopes also result in soil erosion, leading thin soil and making it difficult to cultivate crops. This may lead to disasters and disturbances which could affect the people's livelihood, such as drought and flooding (Amin et al, 2017;Marfai et al, 2013;Wijayanti & Noviani, 2020).…”