Drought tightens grip across Indonesia

JAKARTA – More regions across Indonesia are facing worsening water shortages as the El Nino-driven dry season intensifies, with the authorities warning that prolonged below-normal rainfall could deepen the crisis in the coming months.

Thousands of households across several regencies have already gone weeks without rain, prompting the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) to urge regional administrations to strengthen drought preparedness.

“BNPB urges all regional administrations and the public to strengthen preparedness against drought, clean-water shortages, and forest and land fires,” BNPB spokesman Abdul Muhari said in a statement on July 3.

He also urged the public to conserve water and avoid burning land or waste, which could trigger forest and land fires during the dry season.

In its latest update on July 3, BNPB added Gunungkidul in Yogyakarta, Semarang in Central Java and Jember in East Java to the growing list of areas facing water shortages. At least 700 households across the three regions have been affected, prompting local authorities to begin distributing clean water by tanker trucks.

The latest reports add to more than 7,100 households already struggling to access clean water in some of the hardest-hit areas, including Cilacap, Klaten and Jepara in Central Java; Bantul in Yogyakarta; and Karawang, Tasikmalaya and Sukabumi in West Java; as well as Seram in Maluku, where emergency water deliveries are also under way.

Several regions have declared 90-day drought alert status to speed up emergency response measures. Gunungkidul has been under alert since June, while West Java declared its drought alert in July.

In West Nusa Tenggara, the authorities in West Lombok declared a drought emergency on June 15 as around 3,600 households were affected. Banten, meanwhile, was still assessing conditions on July 3 before deciding whether to issue a province-wide drought alert to allow swift water distribution.

Food security concerns

As El Nino – the climate event marked by warmer sea surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean – intensifies, the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) has warned that 2026’s dry season could be “extreme”, increasing the risk of prolonged drought and crop failures.

By mid-June, 37 per cent of Indonesia’s climate zones had officially entered the dry season. Meanwhile, nearly half the country was already recording below-normal rainfall. BMKG expects the dry season to peak between July and September, with below-normal rainfall forecast across more than 80 per cent of the archipelago.

The agency called for immediate mitigation measures to reduce the risk of crop failures due to limited water supplies.

“Several measures need to be implemented immediately, including adjusting planting schedules, optimising the use of crop varieties that are drought-tolerant and early-maturing, and diversifying food crops,” BMKG deputy for climatology Ardhasena Sopaheluwakan said on July 3.

Experts have previously warned that a prolonged drought could threaten national food security and drive rice prices to record highs unless water supply and infrastructure are secured.

Agriculture Minister Amran Sulaiman said his ministry had anticipated the worsening drought conditions, minimising disruption to the planting season.

“We have accelerated a number of mitigation measures, including expanding the use of irrigation pumps to ensure water remains available and food production stays on track,” he said on July 3.

The government has also sought to reassure the public over food supply, with Amran repeatedly saying national rice reserves are at a “historically high level” and sufficient to meet demand until 2027.

The House of Representatives’ Commission IV, which oversees agriculture and food production, has urged the government to accelerate assistance in vulnerable regions, including the distribution of seeds, fertilisers, farming equipment and livestock feed.

Long-term solutions

While current efforts have focused on emergency water distribution, Bagas Yusuf Kausan, a researcher at water policy think-tank Yayasan Amerta Air Indonesia, said the country also needed long-term investment in water infrastructure, particularly in drought-prone areas with limited access to clean water.

“A longer-term solution for these areas is to provide affordable piped water services through regional water utilities. As a demonstration of the political commitment to drought-prone communities, those services should even be subsidised,” he told The Jakarta Post on July 3.

Bagas said recurring drought impacts were driven not only by the climate but also by environmental degradation caused by human activities, including land conversion and the depletion of groundwater reserves, which have left many regions increasingly vulnerable.

“The government should treat El Nino as an opportunity to tighten restrictions on land conversion, especially but not limited to water catchment areas.” THE JAKARTA POST/ASIA NEWS NETWORK