Management of Water Reservoirs (Embungs) in West Timor, Indonesia

Abstract

Communal water storage reservoirs (embungs) that serve many villages in West Timor, Indonesia, during the prolonged annual dry season are plagued with sedimentation problems. Sedimentation progressively reduces water storage capacity, and consequently the benefits that community can derive from embungs. This paper investigates four alternative strategies for managing the sedimentation of a typical village embung: (1) current management (a "no management" situation), (2) soil conservation in the embung catchment, (3) periodic sediment removal and (4) a combination of soil conservation and sediment removal. Without periodic sediment removal, an embung has a finite life dependent on the rate of sedimentation. The results indicate that periodic cleaning is worthwhile. Strategy (4) gives the highest net present value followed by strategy (3). The study shows that the current "no management" strategy is the worst strategy. Sensitivity analyses were conducted to investigate how robust the ranking is to alternative discount rates and to assumed effectiveness of soil conservation measures in reducing sedimentation.

Identifying potential sites for rainwater harvesting ponds (embung) in Indonesia’s semi-arid region using GIS-based MCA techniques and satellite rainfall data

“…Farm ponds ( embung in Indonesia) are a common form of RWH technology in Indonesia’s semi-arid region. In the early 1980s, the government started constructing ponds in Timor island with assistance from international donors [ 10 ]. Prior to that, however, several ponds had already been constructed in a cattle grazing area on the north coast of the North Central Timor also known as Timor Tengah Utara (TTU) district in the 1970s by Timor Livestock Company (Timlico).…”

The landlords, the peasant, and the retention basin: Local political ecology of water management in the small island of Semau, Kupang, Indonesia

“…Although the development of retention basins is considered a solution to increase freshwater reserve, several studies on sustainability of retention basins showed that retention basins are not effective (Bunganaen 2013;Notoatmojo and Rivai 2001;Pradhan et al 2011;Triastono and Lidjang 2007). For example, Triastono and Lidjang (2007) and Bunganaen (2013) explained that water volume of retention basins in Timor was only 40-60% of its capacity on average.…”

“…Whereas, after a retention basin is built, the government transfers the basin management to the local community. It was expected that a self-governing system could be emerged and be established to sustainably manage the basin (Pradhan et al 2011;Triastono and Lidjang 2007).…”

Area-Storage Capacity Curve of Historic Artificial Water Reservoir Ottergrund, Slovakia – Assessment of the Historical Data With the Use of Gis Tools

“…Changes of the reservoir bottom morphology can be caused also by processes of shoreline erosion [Pelikán and Šlezingr, 2015]. Processes of the accumulation of the sediment cause the variety of negative effects; such as loss of the reservoir storage capacity due to siltation and affecting of the biota and ecological water quality [Ahmed and Sanchez 2011, Pradhan et al 2011, Jurík et al 2015. However, pollution caused by various human activities is far more dangerous to the environment [Policht-Latawiec et al, 2015] as the sediments are ultimate source of potential chemical and biological pollutants.…”