Dam Environmental Impact Assessment in Java Island, Indonesia

Abstract

Increasing demand for water requires the improvement of water infrastructure. Dams are one of the most prominent infrastructures for water supply, especially as water demand increases. Due to its size, the dam is bound to affect the local environment, including the hydrometeorological and hydro/geological condition. The impact of dam on the local scale is supposedly dependent on several variables, namely, the height of the dam, its age, and the area of the river basin. This study studies the impact of dams on the surrounding environment by investigating 12 dams located in Java and are spread all throughout Java in particularly West Java, East Java, Central Java and lastly Jogjakarta. The dam environmental impact will be analyzed using: firstly, linear regression to determine the relationship between dams and environmental impact and secondly cluster analysis to divide the researched dams into categories. Dams in the study area could be divided into three clusters based on the similarity in height, age and river basin area. Additionally, this study finds that there is no correlation between the river basin area and both (ground) water quality and local climate. However, there was a correlation between the dam height with temperature and precipitation, as well as the dam age with Dissolved Oxygen (DO), Total Dissolved Solid (TDS) and pH. Regarding groundwater, the values of DO, TDS and pH are higher in dams located inside of groundwater basins compared to the opposite.