Government Regulation on Ground Water Confirmed

After a somewhat long and tortuous journey the government has confirmed and issued a Regulation on Ground Water. This Regulation is No. 43 of 2008. The Regulation has been in force since the date of its confirmation, 23 May 2008.

The need for this Regulation was that the following Articles from the Law on Water Resources (Law No. 7 of 2004) regulate the exploitation and management of ground water, specifically Articles 10, 12(3), 13(5), 37(3), 58(2), and 59.

The rationale for the Regulation is that ground water plays a critical role in the sustaining of life generally but more importantly is that it sustains the life of the broader community. The Regulation provides for the taking of an inventory of ground water resources while promoting conservation and sustainable management of the resource for the long-term.

Recent debate on the need to more strictly regulate ground water usage is that experts have stated that parts of Jakarta have sunk up to 1.5 meters over the last decade because of the unregulated pillaging of Jakarta’s ground water. It is expected that further subsidiary legislation at the local level will see an increase in fees and levies on those that use ground water as their primary water source.

Ground water policy has a national, provincial, and municipal element in that each of the distinct government levels has a degree of policy control over the water resources. Nevertheless, it is clear that provincial and municipal policies will not be permitted to run counter to any national ground water policy determined by the Central Government.

Generally, ground water management will cover aspects of planning, implementation, monitoring, evaluation, conservation, and exploitation. The terms themselves are self-explanatory and need to be as some of them are only briefly regulated in the Regulation. However, other provisions are much more comprehensive such as the taking of an inventory of ground water resources which states that the inventory process will include mapping, examination, research, exploration, and evaluation of the data obtained.

The Regulation also stipulates licensing provisions; who needs a license, what licenses are to be granted, and the procedures for securing a license.