THE ROLES OF SOIL AND SOIL WATER

The presence of ground water has the function of social, environmental and economic. Therefore, management should be able to ensure the preservation and availability are berkesinambungan.Peningkatan rapid exploitation of groundwater in various sectors in Indonesia have demanded the need for preparation in the form of concrete steps to address them, in particular minimize the negative impact caused. Groundwater as a water resource has now become a national issue. Groundwater which is a renewable natural resource (renewal natural resources) is now playing an important role in the provision of water supplies for a variety of purposes, thus causing a shift in the value of the groundwater itself. Groundwater in the past is the free stuff (free goods) that can be used freely without limit and do not require the use of surveillance, but in the current era of development, coupled with the increasing need for rapid groundwater has transformed the economic value of groundwater into goods (economic goods) , meaning that groundwater traded like any other commodity, even in some places groundwater has a strategic role. Given the increasingly important role of groundwater, groundwater use will be based on the balance and sustainability of groundwater itself, with another term use of groundwater must be environmentally sound. To ensure environmentally sustainable groundwater utilization and preservation, it is necessary to manage groundwater.

Introduction to Groundwater.

Water is the main need in life to meet basic needs and to support development. All aspects of life require water. The need for water is always increase in line with population growth for use in a wide range of needs such as for household, agricultural, industrial, etc..

In the future, the supply of water will become a complicated issue if its use is not managed properly from now on. This problem can be overcome if the use of water has been known and used efficiently in addition to looking for other sources.

One source of water is groundwater. Globally, if viewed in terms of volume, groundwater is an important source of water and the potential for large capacity (30.61%) compared to other freshwater sources. The study of groundwater is hydrogeology. Apparatus Regency / City Government and the Provincial Government in carrying out their duties need to be equipped hydrogeology, tailored to the job function.

Hydrogeology (hydro-meaning water, and-geology, the science of the rocks) is part of hydrology that studies the distribution and movement of groundwater in the soil and rocks in the Earth's crust. In the process of this study concerns aspects of physics and chemistry that occurs near or below ground level includes keterdapatan, material transport (flow), distribution, chemical reactions, temperature changes, and other changes in topography.

Groundwater is water contained in the soil or rock beneath the soil surface. Ground water is one of the existence of water resources are limited and can lead to damage vast impact and difficult to restore.

In addition to river water and rain water, ground water also has a particularly important role in maintaining the balance and availability of raw water for the household (domestic) or for the industry. In some areas, the dependence of water supply and groundwater has reached ± 70%.

Benefits / Role of Ground Water

Basic needs (drinking water and household), more than 70% of the population still use ground water.

Needs of the industry, about 90% still rely on ground water.

The need for agriculture, in some areas has been developed from ground water (P2AT);

The need for clean water for urban and rural areas are filled with a lot of ground water (PDAM, PPSAB, DGSDM);

The need for oil, many developed by sugar cane, palm oil, tea, rubber;

Needs in mining: washing, dewatering, and for public facilities;

Public facilities (toilets, drinking water), in many offices, worship, hospitals, orphanages, etc.;

Negative Impact of Groundwater Withdrawal

           

As groundwater is one of the renewable natural resources (renewable), then this understanding often leads to a false understanding of the groundwater users. We are indeed blessed by God's abundant rainfall, the main source of affixes (recharge) groundwater, but not all the rainwater to seep into the ground and replenish the aquifer depends on the conditions / factors hydrogeology, land use factors on the surface, and even the behavior of people who live and work on it. Therefore recharge generally takes place immediately, in the number of days, months, years, decades, centuries, or even millennia. So the ground water is renewable, but it is comparatively time updates.

Given the nature of the ground water as mentioned above, unlike surface water, groundwater recovery of which have been declining in both quantity and quality, will require high skills, high cost, and a long time. Based on the experiences of other countries, attempts recovery (restoration) teresebut will never be able to restore groundwater in the initial conditions (initial state).

Groundwater abstraction which only emphasizes the principle of expediency, but not giving enough attention to the principle of balance and sustainability will be a negative impact on the resource, in the form of degradation of groundwater quantity and quality, which in turn can also cause damage to the surrounding environment.

The negative impact of excessive groundwater abstraction on groundwater itself and the surrounding environment are:

Decrease in Groundwater face.

Withdrawal of ground water continues to rise in areas of intensive groundwater abstraction will cause a decrease in ground water level which reflects the widespread decline in groundwater quantity.

Groundwater Pollution.

As a result of intensive groundwater abstraction in a given area can lead to ground water contamination from shallow ground water, so the water quality of the original well is lowered and can not even be used as raw material for drinking water. While in coastal areas due to excessive groundwater abstraction will cause sea water intrusion due to the movement of seawater into the groundwater.

Land subsidence.

Land subsidence (land subsidence) arising from the excessive extraction of ground water bearing layer (aquifer) is depressed (confined aquifers), water stored in soil pores layer aquifer would cover squeezed out resulting in the shrinkage of the cover, resulting in land subsidence at the surface.

Problems and Challenges of Groundwater Management

Problems.

Problems encountered in groundwater management is how to address the limited availability of ground water in nature and increased groundwater abstraction because the demands for water from year to year continues to increase.

Environmental damage in the area of ​​groundwater accretion due to deforestation and land conversion cause a drop in water absorption capacity. Formation of ground water is reduced causing ground water reserves in the basin groundwater has decreased, as shown by the shrinking flow of springs and groundwater regionally became deeper. Every dry season in some areas experiencing drought and water shortages. In contrast to the rainy season in the same area flooding.

In some major cities, making groundwater is so intense. As a result, in several places in these cities there has been deterioration of quantity, quality and even the ground water. In areas of intensive groundwater abstraction, many residents of the well is dry or contaminated groundwater. As a result the area is clean water shortages in some places there has been a conflict between the industry and the community.

One of the causes of the water crisis in the world as revealed in the 2nd World Water Forum in The Hague is the weakness of administration (governance) water management in developing countries, including Indonesia. The challenge is getting more severe with the increasing demand for water to meet the basic needs of the growing population of many public services in the centers and office expenditures, industry, agriculture, mining, and for purposes other sectors that continue to experience growth.

Weaknesses in implementing groundwater management in Indonesia encountered various problems, such as:

In the management of water resources, which consist of rain water, surface water, ground water, in coordination difficult.

Centralized management is too strong, resulting in extending the decision-making system.

Decentralization of management to the district / city tend to ignore the principles of ground water basin.

Management policies are not guaranteed:

The right of every individual to get the water including ground water to meet the basic needs of life;

Basic rights of the public to obtain access to the supply of water for various purposes;

Sustainable utilization of groundwater for the prosperity and welfare of the people;

Protection of ground water to be always available in sufficient quantity and quality for the benefit of mankind;

The powers and responsibilities of the implementation of groundwater management;

The implementation of groundwater management coordination between agencies or between the Government and the Local Government in order to optimize the implementation of conservation and utilization of ground water;

The integration between groundwater and surface water in an effort to streamline the management of water resources;

Implementation of the use of mutual support between ground water and surface water in order to overcome the shortage of water.

Data networks and has not formed a good ground water information across agencies collecting or managing ground water data.

Partial utilization of ground water, lack of justice, especially for the poor to get the water to meet their basic needs.

Utilization is more focused on the exploitation of mendatkan income for the area of ​​the conservation.

Data and information is inadequate groundwater both quantity and quality.

Degradation of quality, quantity and the ground water due to excessive ground water extraction, pollution and changes in land use, particularly in urban ground water basin.

Lack of resources (people, equipment, cost) both at central and local levels, leading to less effective groundwater management implemented.

Enforcement of supervision and weak law for any violations of the rules of existing groundwater management.

The concept of management of soil and water conservation is not based on the concept of ground water basin management, but rather based on the management of the wells (well management) and also based on administrative boundaries.

There is still limited knowledge of people's understanding of the ground water, so it is less concerned about the existence and function of the soil water, good quality, quantity and continuity.

Challenge.

Many problems and obstacles that still exist, both technical and non-technical greatly affect the objectives of the management of soil and water conservation. Thus, in the framework of the implementation of regional autonomy, the implementation of groundwater management faces several challenges, including the following:

Integrated management between ground water and surface water, it is by realizing that the ground water is an integral part of the ecosystem and interact with the water surface.

Applying the basic concepts of the total ground water management that combines management concept and River Basin Groundwater Basin.

Decentralized management by empowering regions to manage groundwater within the territory without neglecting keterdapatan properties and groundwater flow as well as the principles of transboundary aquifers.

Basic right that guarantees the right of every person to obtain water from groundwater in areas of groundwater conditions allow for the basic needs of daily life in order to meet a healthy, clean and productive.

Availability of data, information and network integrated groundwater information is based on the data keaitanahan a reliable, precise, accurate, and continuous, covering the entire territory of Indonesia.

Firm the soil water availability by ensuring a balance between utilization and availability of groundwater as part of the ecosystem.

Utilization of complementary water, creating integrated utilization of ground water, surface water and rain water.

Availability of resources (skills, equipment, and cost) management, by empowering resources from public, private, interested parties, local government and central government.

Platform for Groundwater Management Policy

Groundwater has an important role to the lives and livelihoods of the people of Indonesia, given its function as one of the basic necessities of life.

Ground water must be managed wisely, comprehensive, integrated, sustainable, and environmentally sound.

Technically groundwater management need to be adapted to the behavior of ground water include keterdapatan, deployment, availability, and quality of ground water and environmental existence.

Groundwater management shall refer to groundwater management policy on ground water basin, this policy refers to the Law. 7 of 2004 on Water Resources (NR)

Groundwater management policy determined by the Minister, Governor or Regent / Mayor in accordance with their respective authority.

Groundwater management must be on the balance between conservation and utilization of ground water policy and integrated water resources management scheme.