Foundation for collaboration with water boards in Indonesia

The DWA Indonesia project was recently completed. It began in 2016 as a collaboration between Dutch water authorities and local governments to improve (waste)water management in Indonesia and was funded by the NWB Fund. DWA stands for Dutch Water Authorities, the name used for water boards abroad. Under the DWA Indonesia framework, projects were implemented in various regions of Indonesia. In 2016, the Urbane Sanitation Sumatra and Flood Control Pekalongan projects were launched. In 2017, the Integrated Water Management Tangerang project joined, and in 2019, the Water Quality Brantas River project followed. This has led to the establishment of a ‘government to government’ (G2G) network and laid the foundation for further collaboration within the Blue Deal.

Urbane Sanitation Sumatra

The Urbane Sanitation Sumatra project was a collaboration with the Kabupaten (regency) Lampung Selatan in Sumatra. The request from the regency was for support across the entire sanitation chain, from raising awareness about sanitation facilities among the local population, to managing the waste (water) flows, and ultimately reusing the end product. The ultimate goal of sanitation is to create a cleaner and healthier environment and to improve the prosperity of the region.

Flood Control Pekalongan

In the Kota (city) and Kabupaten (regency) Pekalongan in Central Java province, the area experiences flooding from the Java Sea. Because the area is sinking and sea levels are rising, homes are submerged in water on a daily basis. Both the mayor of the city and the regent of the regency requested technical and institutional support through the Dutch embassy in Jakarta. In the Netherlands, the Hoogheemraadschap van Schieland en de Krimpenerwaard and the Waterschap Aa en Maas participated in this effort. The project was introduced in the second quarter of 2016, but it was significantly delayed because the final Letters of Intent were only signed in April 2017, and due to the sudden passing of the mayor.

Firstly, technical solutions were formulated to tackle the inundation from the Java Sea via rivers and canals, such as the construction of polders with dikes and pumps. The plans from the Central Java province and the Ministry of Public Works were assessed for effectiveness and sustainability, and technical advice was provided. These plans have already been partially implemented.

Additionally, the municipality and regency explicitly requested to review the future organization of water management in collaboration with the Central Java province. This review focused particularly on the institutional setup chosen in the Banger Polder pilot project in Semarang, where a polder was constructed to prevent daily flooding, with a governance model similar to the polder administrations in the Netherlands. Given the execution timeline, this aspect of the collaboration was deemed highly urgent. Therefore, a stakeholder analysis was conducted to understand the interest groups within the polder. Extensive discussions were held with the municipality and regency about how they want to organize water management in the future.

Integrated Water Management Tangerang

The Kabupaten (regency) Tangerang is located in the Banten province, bordering and west of the capital, Jakarta. Water boards have been working here for some time to improve water management. In 2013, Wereld Waternet developed a long-term vision for an integrated approach to the water cycle in the Banten province. Starting in 2015, the Delfland water board joined efforts to address the water issues in this region. Over the years, there has been a shift in the focus of the Indonesian side: from drinking water and sanitation to wastewater and protection against increased flooding. The importance of sufficient and good-quality water during droughts has become more urgent in the region due to climate change.

Since 2016, the DWA Indonesia project has focused on knowledge development, raising awareness about the need for stakeholder collaboration, and strengthening organizational commitment. Specifically, the actions included training on wastewater management (for laboratory staff) and flood prevention (urban drainage, integrated catchment management based on strategic environmental management), as well as workshops with stakeholders from a catchment area. In early 2019, Wereld Waternet withdrew, but the Delfland Water Board and the Indonesian partner continued the collaboration.

Water Quality Brantas River

Since early 2019, the Hollands Noorderkwartier Water Board has conducted explorations to join an existing project aimed at improving the water quality in the Brantas River in East Java. This project is supported by the RVO Sustainable Water Fund, with TU Delft and Tauw participating as Dutch partners. On the Indonesian side, the following agencies were involved: Jasa Tirta 1, BBWS, DLH (EPA), and the NGO Ecoton. Thanks to the efforts of NGO Ecoton, the relevant government agencies are now united, and the governor of East Java has made a decision to improve the water quality in the Brantas River. The RVO project focuses primarily on water quality monitoring, communication/participation, and governance. The exploration revealed that water boards could assist in areas such as involving stakeholders in regional processes, staff training, monitoring, and setting up permitting, supervision, and enforcement.

Impact of COVID-19

The global COVID-19 crisis also had an impact on the projects in Indonesia. Almost all activities came to a standstill, resulting in significant delays to the original timeline. Additionally, the priority of the Indonesian government shifted (in terms of attention, personnel, and financial resources) towards poverty alleviation. After the travel restrictions were lifted due to COVID-19, collaboration was intensified once again.

Bridging Period to Blue Deal

Since 2021, it has been explored whether the collaboration between Dutch and Indonesian water managers could continue under the Blue Deal initiative. Within the Blue Deal, Dutch water boards are collaborating with the Ministries of Infrastructure and Water, as well as Foreign Affairs, to ensure sufficient, clean, and safe water for 20 million people worldwide by 2030. The NWB Fund also financed this bridging period.

Support for continuation was present among many mayors and regents, but not all projects will continue within the Blue Deal framework. For example, there was a lack of political support in the Kabupaten (regency) Lampung Selatan on Sumatra to continue the urban sanitation collaboration. After consultation with the Dutch embassy in Jakarta and the RVO Fund, it was decided not to include the project related to the Brantas River in the Blue Deal. Due to the large number of involved parties, it was unclear who the leading partner would be on the Indonesian side.

With the help of an external advisor in both the Netherlands and Indonesia, a proposal was successfully formulated for the continuation of the projects in Tangerang and Pekalongan, as well as renewed collaboration in Semarang. This brings the Blue Deal partnership into view, allowing the DWA Indonesia project to be completed.