Sustainable tourism has emerged as a significant force in the global travel industry, driven by the imperative to conserve natural resources, protect cultural heritage, and ensure the well-being of local communities. As the tourism sector continues to grow at an unprecedented rate, travelers are increasingly choosing sustainable companies. 

IDSC (Indonesian DMC Sustainability Collaboration) collaborated with WSI to hold an "Implementation of Water Conservation to Achieve Sustainable Tourism" training activity on September 11, 2024. This aims to increase understanding, awareness, and sustainability practices for DMC and Tour Travel partners related to sustainable water management in the tourism sector. This activity was conducted online and attended by 33 DMC and Tour Travel partner participants. 

Officially opened by I Gede Dananjaya Bagaskara, Sustainability Coordinator of IDSC. He emphasized the importance of water conservation and sustainable water management by parties involved in the tourism sector. Moreover, collaboration between various parties is necessary to overcome water risks and support the creation of sustainable tourism. 

Water Stewardship Indonesia (WSI), represented by (Mr.) Catur Adi Nugroho, as Network Coordinator, discussed the importance of good and sustainable water stewardship in the tourism sector. It was emphasized that there are five main problems related to water in the tourism sector that can be a shared challenge and risk: 

• Excessive Water Consumption: The tourism industry often uses large amounts of water, especially in hotels, resorts, and recreational facilities. This creates an imbalance in water use between tourists and residents. 

• Water Pollution: Tourism activities can cause water pollution, whether from hotel and restaurant waste or recreational activities such as water sports. This pollution can damage local ecosystems and reduce the quality of available water. 

• Water Resource Depletion: In some tourist destinations, such as Bali, excessive groundwater use has lowered the water table and saltwater intrusion. 

• Conflicts Over Access to Water: The imbalance in water use between the tourism sector and residents can lead to conflict. 

• Lack of Good Water Planning and Management: Many tourist destinations lack adequate water planning and management. This can lead to unsustainable exploitation of water resources and damage the environment. 

Water stewardship is the socially and culturally equitable, environmentally sustainable, and economically beneficial use of water, achieved through a multi-stakeholder process involving site-based and catchment-based actions; thus, good water stewardship and sustainability are essential for the tourism sector. 

Understanding water-related risks in the tourism sector must be based on a comprehensive approach (landscape approach or catchment approach). These risks are not only about water pollution but also include disaster events such as floods, droughts, and land subsidence due to groundwater extraction, which can negatively impact businesses, workers, and the economy. 

This shared challenge risk can be used as a basis for collaboration between actors in the tourism sector. Some collaborative activities that can be applied in tourism such as: 

• Formation of Collaborative Action. Forming alliances/coalitions involving various Companies, hotels, travel tour services, travel accommodations, micro/small/medium enterprises (MSMEs), and local Community organizations to support and commit to sustainable water management. 

• Training and Education. Providing training and education to all stakeholders on the importance of sustainable water management in the tourism sector, such as technical training for hotel and resort staff and education for local communities. 

• Use of Environmentally Friendly Technology. Implement environmentally friendly water treatment technology in tourism facilities, such as water recycling systems and water-saving technology in hotels and resorts. 

• Collaboration with Local Communities. Involving local communities in the tourism sector in water management efforts. This can include joint projects for water conservation and sustainable water resource management. Developing and promoting local wisdom-based tourism that supports sustainable water governance. 

A closing statement from IDSC (Mr.) Dananjaya marked the end of the training, hoping that the knowledge gained could be applied in their workplaces to support sustainable tourism. 

As part of the Asia-Pacific Water Scarcity Programme (WSP), the Ministry of National Development Planning/Bappenas and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) convened the second National Multidisciplinary Team (NMT) Meeting online on Tuesday, August 13, 2024. Seventy-six members from various ministries and organizations participated in the webinar to review the progress of the WSP and discuss the updated framework for the Water Scarcity Action Plan (WSAP).

The meeting was inaugurated by Mr. Mohammad Irfan Saleh, Director of Water Resources at the Ministry of National Development Planning, who outlined key strategic issues in water resource management. He highlighted the challenges in meeting rising water demands, improving water productivity, and addressing the impacts of climate change alongside population and economic growth pressures. Over the past year, the WSP has been active through initiatives such as training in water accounting, field visits to the Cimanuk watershed, and the development of a water accounting roadmap. This second NMT meeting aimed to strengthen stakeholder commitments, optimize the implementation of the WSP, and plan the next steps for the focused working groups.

In developing the WSAP, several critical issues must be considered. These include the impacts of climate change, inefficiencies in water resource management, and rapid population growth, which provide the rationale for WSAP’s development. Additionally, the concept of water tenure, data availability, and the capacity to conduct water accounting, along with the necessary tools, must be integrated into the WSAP’s framework. A clear formulation guideline is essential to ensure that the WSAP is developed systematically, implemented effectively, and continuously monitored and refined by all stakeholders.

Moreover, the WSAP will not only address technical issues but will also analyze the primary challenges of water scarcity in Indonesia, with a particular focus on gender and inclusion, and propose solutions to emerging water scarcity challenges.

Session 1 – A refreshment on the Water Scarcity Program

This session was moderated by Mr. Ewin Sofian Winata, ST, MEM, from the Ministry of National Development Planning/Bappenas, with Mr. Fany Wedahuditama providing an overview of the Water Scarcity Programme (WSP), including its main objectives, benefits, and expected outputs.

Representatives from various supporting organizations, including the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime and Investment Affairs, and other relevant ministries contributed their insights on several key aspects of the WSP:

1. The climate rationale underlying the program.
2. The emphasis on optimizing water usage, promoting climate-smart agriculture, and ensuring that existing activities across ministries align with the WSAP, building on existing initiatives rather than starting from scratch.
3. Considerations related to population growth, pollution, and infrastructure development.

Session 2 – Progress and Lessons Learned

Throughout the implementation of the Water Scarcity Programme (WSP), several valuable lessons have been learned. Key insights include the need for a well-established regulatory and policy framework to guide water accounting and inform water allocation, the development of a water accounting and allocation process in the Cimanuk Basin, and the necessity of a strategic roll-out plan to implement these processes across other priority basins. Additionally, it was emphasized that local water resource managers in each basin should be more actively engaged as part of this roll-out strategy.

Another critical lesson learned is the significance of water tenure, which encompasses the relationships between water resources and various stakeholders, including Indigenous peoples, disability groups, women, and children. As a result, water tenure has been recognized as an essential component of the WSP.

In summary, the lessons learned highlight the need for comprehensive water accounting guidelines that address both surface and groundwater, the creation of clear and straightforward templates and tools for water accounting, effective data availability and management, and the benefits that extend beyond mere accounting. Additionally, the importance of conducting a thorough water tenure analysis and comprehensive piloting has been underscored.

Session 3 – Framework of Water Scarcity Action Plan (WSAP)

The National Water Scarcity Action Plan (WSAP) must address several key areas, including ensuring sustainable water supply, promoting efficient demand management, improving data management, and fostering coherent planning and budgeting.

Before formulating the WSAP, the following guidelines should be considered:

• Timeline: Decide whether the WSAP will be a three-year or five-year document.
• Level: Determine whether the plan will operate at the national level or be tailored to specific catchments.
• Protocol: Establish clear procedures for who can propose actions, who will approve them, who will monitor and review progress, and the timing for these activities.
• Focus: Decide whether to focus on water-scarce catchments specifically or include all catchments.
• Scope: Define the coverage areas, such as surface water, groundwater, environmental flows, agriculture, energy, settlements, industry, and commerce.

Key building blocks for the WSAP include:

• Current and future water scarcity context.
• Short-term and medium-term risk mapping.
• Forward-looking actions to address water scarcity, based on the identified short- and mid-term risks.

Participants representing various organizations provided feedback, emphasizing the importance of sharing data on related water programs across ministries and organizations. For instance, the Directorate of Watershed Management Planning and Supervision (P3DAS) could support the WSAP by sharing critical data on areas such as forest rehabilitation, spring locations, priority locations, and the water resilience index.

Session 4 – Thematic Working Groups (WG)

To effectively prepare the Water Scarcity Action Plan (WSAP), it is necessary to establish working groups composed of sub-directorate heads and technical staff. These groups will participate in workshops and discussions related to the WSAP's development. In alignment with the concept of water resource management, it is proposed that the working groups be organized around the following themes:

• WG for Sustainable Availability (Supply)
• WG for Efficient Demand
• WG for Improved Data Management
• Cross-Cutting WG

A plan for thematic Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) has been proposed:

• FGD 1 (All WGs): Current and future water scarcity context
• FGD 2 (Thematic WGs): Risk mapping
• FGD 3 (Thematic WGs): Identifying priority issues based on risk mapping
• FGD 4 (Thematic WGs): Identifying strategic actions to address risks

For the cross-cutting Focus Group Discussions, the following plan has been outlined:

• FGD 1: Regulatory gaps
• FGD 2: Institutional gaps
• FGD 3: Financial gaps
• FGD 4: Technological and infrastructure gaps
• FGD 5: Knowledge management and communication gaps

The meeting was concluded by the Director of Water Resources at the Ministry of National Development Planning, who expressed hope that all inputs and feedback would be considered and serve as valuable lessons learned. He emphasized that significant work remains to be done in Indonesia, including addressing groundwater management, balancing conservation efforts, promoting rainwater harvesting, and more. The NMT is expected to serve as a platform that unites relevant multi-stakeholders in safeguarding the management of water scarcity in Indonesia, ensuring the achievement of the country's water security goals.

For further information, please contact Mr. Fany Wedahuditama at fany@ws-indonesia.org or fany.wedahuditama@gwpsea.org.

The 2nd National Multidisciplinary Team (NMT) meeting is supported by the Australian Government through the Australian Water Partnership and the United Nations Food and Agriculture.

The provision of sanitation and proper and safe access is one of the national development agendas, as stated in the 2020-2024 Medium-Term Development Plan (RPJMN), which targets 90% access to proper sanitation, including 15% safe sanitation access, and 0% open defecation (BABS) practices, which is in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 6 regarding access to clean water and sanitation. However, about 100 million Indonesians still do not have access to proper sanitation facilities, and about 60 million Indonesians have no choice but to defecate outside the home, often on the ground or in rivers. This poor sanitation causes a high contamination rate of drinking water sources and households. There are at least 120 million cases of disease and 50,000 premature deaths in Indonesia, causing the country $3.3 billion in losses annually.

Coca-Cola Europacific Partners Indonesia (CCEP Indonesia) recognizes that improving access to sanitation is one key to improving clean water quality and public health, increasing economic growth, and achieving the sustainability agenda. This aligns with CCEP Indonesia's vision, making sustainability a crucial part of its business strategy. 

In June 2024, CCEP Indonesia initiated the Water Access, Sanitation & Hygiene+ (WASH+) program in Kutamaneuh Village, Karawang Regency, West Java, as a tangible manifestation of sustainability. Together with Safe Water Gardens (SWG) and Water Stewardship Indonesia (WSI), the WASH+ program will provide proper sanitation facilities, training related to sanitation and hygiene, and opportunities for the community to be entrepreneurial through micro-farming and waste management in Kutamaneuh Village. 

Embarking the WASH+ program, on July 17, 2024, the WASH+ (Water Access, Sanitation, Hygiene+) program socialization activity was successfully held at the Kutamaneuh Village Office, Tegalwaru District, Karawang Regency, which was attended by 77 people, consisting of the community, village communities (heads of RT/RW), community or religious leaders and representatives of the village and district governments. This socialization is very important to ensure that the implementation of the WASH+ program can run smoothly and that the community is supported and owned.

Output WASH+ program:

• Establish a Village Knowledge Center.
• Increased access to safely managed water.
• Increasing the technical capacity of the community in the construction of Safe Water Gardens. 
• Strengthening advocacy capacity and raising awareness.
• Has a better WASH+ monitoring system.
• Strengthening evidence-based planning and budgeting capacity
• Strengthen the capacity of WASH+ monitoring and evaluation. 

Implementation Stages of the WASH+ program:

1. Socialization of training and e-surveys.
2. Basic surveys
3. Survey analysis and identification of pilot households.
4. Construction of Safe Water Gardens (SWG).
5. Endline surveys and monitoring.
6. Establishment of SWG Knowledge Center.

This activity aims to socialize WASH+ activities and gather input for the design and implementation of the WASH+ program in Kutamaneuh Village.

For more information about this program, please contact the Coca-Cola Europacific Partners Indonesia (CCEP Indonesia) External Communications Manager (Mr) Radita Aulia Wicaksana: radita.wicaksana@ccep.com or Water Stewardship Indonesia (WSI) Network and Technical Coordinator (Mr.) Catur Adi Nugroho: catur@ws-indonesia.org. 

The WASH+ program is the initiative of Coca-Cola Europacific Partners Indonesia (CCEP Indonesia) in collaboration with Safe Water Gardens (SWG) and Water Stewardship Indonesia (WSI).

To increase the country's capacity to take practical steps to address and manage water scarcity under the pressure of rapid population growth and in a changing climate, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Ministry of National Development Planning/Bappenas, and Ministry of Public Works and Housing held the Water Accounting Roadmap (WARM) third workshop in hybrid setting from 7th – 8th May 2024 led by Alluvium, an Australian partner of the Water Scarcity Program (WSP). In this two-day workshop, 55 people from official staff from related ministries attended offline also online. This event was following the previous Water Accounting Roadmap (WARM) II workshop early this year.

Day 1 – Technical Guidelines and Data Platform and Suitability.

To open WARM III officially, Mr. Ewin Sofian Winata, ST, MEM, from the Ministry of National Development Planning/National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) gave his word to explain the strategic issues on water resources such as unequal water resources, and water shortages in certain areas and water demand is increasing rapidly. It is projected by 2045, 60% of Indonesia's population will be in river areas with high water pressure and 24 out of 128 river areas will not be able to meet water needs. In his remark, he hopes that the WSP can help the national government in developing a Water Scarcity Action Plan together with the National Multidisciplinary Team (NMT).

Then it continued to session 1 when the Alluvium team, which was led by Mr Adyn stimulated the participants' energy by giving the update on progress through key takeaways from the first to second WARM, along with the WSP Regional Technical Workshop in Bangkok. Further from Mr Tony, this WARM III is in the hope of identifying the trend and forecasting what will be happening in the future along with the gap identified between the required knowledge and data availability, and how this water accounting can be implemented beyond the project location.

Next in session 2 several representatives from related ministries talked about technical guidelines, such as from the Directorate of Operation & Maintenance, Directorate General of Water Resources – Ministry of Public Works and Housing, discussing Catchment Water Balance (Water Accounting) and Allocation Technical Guideline content and future updates. It explained the importance of water accounting to allocate water fairly and on an efficient target, paying attention to environmental protection, and sustainability. Moreover, there are a few steps in the water allocation planning process: Pola PSDA (Pola Pengelolaan Sumber Daya Air or the Water Resources Management Pattern is the basic framework for planning, implementing, monitoring and evaluating Water Resources Conservation, Water Resources Utilization and Water Destruction Control activities) → RENCANA (one of the references in preparing the Strategic Plan (Renstra) of the Directorate General (Ditjen) of Natural Resources which is the basis for annual programming and budgeting) → RAAT (Annual Water Allocation Plan) → RAAR (Detailed Water Allocation Plan).

Followed by the presentation from the Center for Applied Climate Information Services Deputy of Climatology (BMKG)’s presentation on the Hydrology Hydrometeorology and Hydrogeology Information System (SIH3) platform & challenges faced with discussion, which the discussion topic emphasises data platform and suitability. Through Hydrology Hydrometeorology and Hydrogeology Information System (SIH3), SIH3 aims to support water resource management in Indonesia, to reduce negative impacts caused by extreme natural conditions and to support local government policymakers on water resource management. SIH3 has three ministries as a role to handle and collaborate on the system, they are BMKG, Ministry of Public Works, and Geological Agency.

Lastly, the Ministry of Public Works and Housing discussed the Water Resource Data Platform development and the challenges faced. it was explained about the Water Resources Data Center (WRDC) application, a web-based information system that can be utilized to facilitate the fulfilment of information needs related to water resources throughout Indonesia. Its integration with applications in the water resources Directorate General environment with expected to increase the role of information system services and water resources data, which can be useful for disseminating information to internal and external directorates later.

To conclude the day, it can be agreed on the need to consider FAIR for data platforms.

• F, findable: where data should be easy to find for computers and humans.
• A, accessible: when people find the data, they need to know how the data can be accessed.
• I, interoperable: data needs to be easy to integrate with other data for analysis, processing and storage.
• R, reusable: Data needs to be well-described, and thus can be reused and replicable in different ways.

Day 2 – Institutional arrangements, setting of a showcase, policy and SMART next steps.

Presented by Mr. Ewin Sofian Winata, ST, MEM, from the Ministry of National Development Planning/National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) on the institutional arrangement for the water accounting to basin planning. There are 20 Super Priority Transformative Efforts in 2025-2045 in RPJPN, which are included in the categories of social transformation, trans-governance, trans-economic transformation, the foundation for rule of law, stability and toughness of diplomacy, socio-cultural and ecological resilience. Since we are now entering the first 5 years, what has been achieved in the 2045 vision is the provision of a sustainable raw water supply for various economic activities (ensuring the water balance in each WS) that is not in a deficit/stressed condition along with the responsibility for managing and protecting natural resources is integrated among several institutions.

It was followed by some discussion on the commitment to increasing the capacity, where there is a need for technical skills in all levels, coordination and integration to clarify responsibilities, strengthen the framework coordination, and align planning, data and information with ‘One Data Policy' or called ‘Kebijakan Satu Data’ and the derivative regulations2019 natural resources law to increase institutional framework and implementation of calculations and water allocation.

Next on the discussion on the showcase, Alluvium team was explaining the goal is to have a showcase water account to present to decision makers, and behind the important reason. It can be followed by the law, incentives for funding, leverage economic growth, justifies permit values of water supply, supports inter-basin transfers and provides a goal for river basion organisation to implement accounting.

Next in the discussion on the showcase, the Alluvium team explained the goal is to have a showcase water account to present to decision-makers, and behind the important reason. It can be followed by the law, incentives for funding, leverage economic growth, justifies permit values of water supply, supports inter-basin transfers and provides a goal for river basin organisations to implement accounting.

It also needs some points for the showcase such as a simple communication picture, conceptual process diagram, detailed model kind of level the account to be placed and types of the accounts, whether it is highly technical, moderate or poor data. There is also an input on the need to map who gets the benefits

The important discussion before closing the day was on the Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Timely (SMART) next steps. These include workshops with technical experts with PUPR and Cimanuk Cisanggarung watershed to understand and note what assumptions and limitations exist in the current water accounting process. Moreover, the technical guidance provided by PUPR aligns with the BBWS for the guidelines and adds scenarios on an extreme day for forecasting in the water accounting, which will be put into the technical guideline and finalisation by the end of 2024 or early 2025.

This Water Accounting Roadmap (WARM) Workshop III is the last part of the Workshop series, and it will be followed up by phase III of WSP, they are to prepare the showcase and NMT presentation with the national action plan.

For more information, please contact (Mr) Fany Wedahuditama: fany@ws-indonesia.org and/or fany.wedahuditama@gwpsea.org

This Water Accounting Roadmap (WARM) III Workshop is supported by the Australian Government through the Australian Water Partnership and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.

In the spirit of the new year, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Ministry of National Development Planning/Bappenas, and Ministry of Public Works and Housing successfully held the Water Accounting Roadmap (WARM) second workshop in hybrid setting from 23^rd – 25^th January 2024 led by Alluvium, an Australian partner of the Water Scarcity Program (WSP). This event was following the previous Water Accounting Roadmap Workshop last year and these three days' workshop attended by 25 offline and 7 trainees joining online.

Day 1 – Defining the purpose and scope of the data collection, processing, and storage in a national approach.

To officially start the workshop, Mrs. Titih Titisari from the Directorate General Water Resources of the Ministry of National Development Planning/National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas), gave her remarks in the hope that the next three days of a workshop can provide a strong understanding and basis for preparing efficient water balances and allocation, as well as a strong basis for preparing action plans for managing national water scarcity. In today’s workshop, the focus was to get clarification or identification on how the accounting is legislated at the national level, especially for water accounting is undertaken at a basin level and how both approaches fit. In this day workshop as well, trainees were actively participating in several sessions of discussion which were divided into three.

It is water user info that can be hard to get (actual not allocated), and accounting analysis should be user-friendly. The third discussion was to focus on the water accounting analysis of the model type used and the specific inputs and outputs required. The last was emphasizing the information on the reporting and communications which in Indonesia, a good template for reporting already exists.

Day 2 –WEAP vs RIBASIM, basin level approach, and the Cimanuk Cisanggarung basin.

It can be found that the Cimanuk Cisanggarung river basin profile is already comprehensive and uses the policy of one map for the river basin and all data are centered in the River Basin Management Center in the Ministry of Environment and Forestry also using the WEAP to model their river basin data. The Cimanuk Cisanggarung is already a good example of how river basin management is well-prepared not withstanding minor updates which may be employed and can be replicated in another river basin in Indonesia.

Day 3 – Reporting and communication.

Getting into the workshop, trainees were engaged in a group discussion offline and online, to explore what the essential water information for different users’ needs to be disclosed and how to guide for setting up the accounting, later to articulate into a template that can present to another group. This was through by simulating the team as end-user groups, which could include: industry, local government, and irrigation managers.

This Water Accounting Roadmap (WARM) Workshop will be followed up into stage three with a plan to be placed at the end of March 2024 led by the Alluvium team.

For more information, please contact (Mr) Fany Wedahuditama: fany@ws-indonesia.org and/or fany.wedahuditama@gwpsea.org

This Water Accounting Roadmap (WARM) II Workshop is supported by the Australian Government through the Australian Water Partnership and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.

Following the first Water Accounting and Allocation training held earlier in August, we successfully had the second in-person training from 4^th – 8^th December 2023 led by the trainers from FutureWater with the support of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Ministry of National Development Planning/Bappenas and Ministry of Public Works and Housing. In total, 25 participants attended the training with one trainee joining online.

Aiming to leverage the capacity to take practical steps to address and manage water scarcity while experiencing rapid population growth under a changing climate, this second Water Accounting and Allocation aimed to develop a water account using a variety of geospatial and water resources modelling tools for the Cimanuk basin as an example.

Day 1 and Day 2 – Tools for Water Accounting and Data Collection and Analysis through Remote Sensing.

Day 3 and Day 4 – Working with the WEAP (Water Evaluation and Planning System) Model and Scenario Assessment using WEAP.

Day 5 – Visit Cimanuk Basin.

This water accounting training will be followed up with the second Water Accounting Roadmap (WARM) Workshop in January where the group will come together again to start preparing the pilot water accounting and allocation for the Cimanuk Cisanggerung basin. This workshop will be led by the Alluvium team and is planned for mid-January 2024.

For more information, please contact (Mr) Fany Wedahuditama: fany@ws-indonesia.org and/or fany.wedahuditama@gwpsea.org

This Water Accounting and Allocation Training II is supported by the Australian Government through the Australian Water Partnership and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.

Having access to clean drinking water and sanitation services is a serious issue everywhere in the world. For hundreds of millions of people who live in areas impacted by violence or armed conflict, the situation has gotten worse. Such as Russia’s war in Ukraine and Israeli attacks against Palestinian water resources in the West Bank.

In Russia’s war in Ukraine, the infrastructure for the nation's water and sanitation systems has been completely destroyed by attacks on water supplies by both sides. Water supply and treatment systems used by civilians have been subjected to collateral damage, used as weapons in deliberate attacks, and put under pressure due to significant population movements.

Then, as hostilities have escalated beginning October 7, 2023, the humanitarian situation in Gaza has substantially worsened. The 2.3 million people who live in the Gaza Strip—of whom half are children—are currently struggling to meet their basic demands for water, sanitation, and hygiene. Some were compelled to start drilling wells near the sea in order to obtain drinking water, or they were depending on the saline tap water from Gaza's sole aquifer, which is tainted with sewage and saltwater. In addition, a blockade on the fuel that powers power plants result in the severe restriction or cessation of water and power supplies. In the north, water trucking—the practice of delivering water in lorries—has either completely ceased or is significantly hindered.

Since it is commonly known that having access to clean, affordable, and safe drinking water as well as sanitation services is a fundamental human right, Water Stewardship Indonesia (WSI) is calling and urge for an immediate halt to attacks and the urge to implementation of several measures, to guarantee that everyone, especially women and children, is protected in conflict areas and has access to enough clean water. The parties involved in the conflict, as well as world leaders and the humanitarian community at large, have an obligation to immediately cease hostilities, restore water supplies, and abide by international humanitarian law, which requires the protection of civilians and the preservation of infrastructure, particularly that pertaining to water and sanitation, which is vital to their survival.

As a series of Water Scarcity Program (WSP) activities, The Ministry of National Development Planning/Bappenas and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) held the first National Multidisciplinary Team (NMT) Meeting on Monday, 13 September 2023, via hybrid event to discuss the initial draft outline of the National Water Scarcity Management Action Plan. Ninety-one attendees attended the meeting.

The meeting was opened by the Director of Water Resources of The Ministry of National Development Planning/Bappenas, Mr Mohammad Irfan Saleh, informing the importance of the WSP program to help the formulation policy and strategic direction to manage water scarcity to achieve the Golden Indonesia Vision 2045. The opening was then continued by Caroline Turner from FAO Asia-Pacific, who explained the reality of increasing water scarcity in Asia-Pacific and the experiences of Africa region related to water scarcity management.

After the opening session, the following session was led by Fany Wedahuditama from Water Stewardship Indonesia (WSI) and Global Water Partnership Southeast Asia (GWP-SEA), focusing on the importance of National Multidisciplinary Team (NMT) in the implementation of WSP in Indonesia. The discussion was focused on the role and structure of NMT and the proposed membership of technical working groups. Below is the detailed information on the role of and structure of NMT.

Role of NMT:

• To create an enabling environment for policymakers to improve water management practices and inter-sectoral coordination under water-scarce conditions.
• To promote critical tenets of best practice water accounting and allocation by ensuring all water-using sectors are included and consulted to evaluate and understand trade-offs between competing water uses and sectors.
• To advocate for the institutional changes required to ensure sustainable water management in the future (including permanent Water Accounting Units, legal and regulatory development, and practical stakeholder engagement).

To develop the draft of the National Water Scarcity Action Plan (WSAP), Proposed Structure of NMT:

• High level decision-makers (Minister level).
• Inter-ministerial steering committee (Director level).
• Inter-ministerial Technical Committee (Director level).
• Technical Working Groups (Deputy Director level) with support from representatives of private sector and civil society organizations (CSOs).
• For Technical Working Groups defined by the categories for Technical dan Cross-cutting focus.
• For technical focus, categories based on sustainable availability (supply), efficient demand management and improved data management.
• For cross-cutting focus, categories based on Governance (policy & regulation, institutional and finance)

During the discussion, several members of NMT also proposed to add additional members that are important to be included in NMT, namely the Ministry of Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning / National Land Agency, Ministry of Health, and Ministry of Home Affairs. These proposed ministries have several directorates with direct interest and relevance to water scarcity issues.

After the discussion on NMT was closed, it was followed up by a presentation on the Water Scarcity Action Plan draft outline by Fany Wedahuditama. The water Scarcity Action Plan (WSAP) is the main output of NMT, and it will inform how the Government of Indonesia will address water scarcity challenges by emphasizing implementable action items, providing detailed infrastructure and institutional investment plans, and designating clear responsibilities for primary stakeholders. The WSAP offers an in-depth understanding of the current water situation, proposes advancements in national water accounting and allocation practices, and presents forward-looking initiatives for effective water management. The WSAP will underscore the importance of multi-sectoral cooperation, legislative modifications, and collaboration at both national and international scales to achieve sustainable water use in the face of worsening water scarcity.

One primary input of the WSAP was on the incentive and disincentive mechanisms to encourage every priority river basin authority to develop water accounting as the basis of water allocation. This item was not yet included in the draft outline. Furthermore, as the next meeting of NMT, it is expected that the NMT can already have an agreement on the final annotated outline of WSAP; it was suggested that NMT have a collaboration platform to work together. The director of Water Resources proposed for Water Stewardship Indonesia/GWP SEA to propose the best platform options. Moodle and Google Classroom were mentioned as common platforms.

At the end of the meeting, it was agreed that the next NMT meeting would be at the end of November or early December 2023. During October – November, the technical working Groups will have several meetings to discuss the WSAP outline and key issues that should be covered in the action plan. In addition, from the beginning, it would be useful to align the WSAP format with the existing government planning format. This will help in internalizing the WSAP into the planning and budgeting process.

For more information, please contact (Mr) Fany Wedahuditama: fany@ws-indonesia.org and/or fany.wedahuditama@gwpsea.org

The Water Security Program (WSP) is supported by the Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations in Partnership with the Australian Water Partnership (AWP) which is supported by the Australian Government.

Following the Kick-Off Meeting Workshop for the Water Scarcity Program (WSP) at the end of August, we have successfully embarked on the Water Accounting Training offline for 4 (four) days, from 29th August – 1st September. Trainers from Future Water led the training with support from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), The Ministry of National Development Planning/Bappenas, and the Ministry of Public Works and Housing. The event garnered an impressive 42 (forty-two) trainees.

This Water Accounting Training is the first part of a series of training workshops with the Water Scarcity Program which focused on building a solid technical understanding of the following concepts: 

• Defining water accounting, its components and domain dependencies.
• Designing a water account and evaluating the impact of different projections and interventions on the Water Accounting results.
• Distinguishing between apparent and actual water savings in agricultural systems through investigating the impact of field-scale interventions on basin scale water savings (using the REWAS tool).
• Quantifying the interactions between different irrigation blocks and accounting for return flows (using the Follow the Water tool).
• Characterising the Cimanuk basin using remotely sensed datasets and refining the preliminary Water Accounting further.

Day 3 – Water Accounting in Agricultural Systems at Different Scale

Through day three, the trainees learned and gained a better understanding of evapotranspiration, estimating real water savings in agriculture using REWAS tools, and understanding the impact of irrigation efficiencies through Follow Water Tool and hands-on exercises. Before diving into the practice, Prof. Dr. Drs. Waluyo Hatmoko, M.sc, a Research Professor in Water Resources Management, visited the training to share his experiences on knowledge in developing water accounting and water allocation in Indonesia.

Day 4 – Designing a Water Account

In the last day, the training was doing more actively by doing the group work for designing for water account. This involved developing basin summaries and conducting a scenario assessment for water accounting by exploring Earth Map to obtain data for Cimanuk.

After the training, trainees were expected to:

• Addressing data challenges through remote sensing.
• Hands-on experience with platforms like Earth Map and Google Earth Engine to extract and analyse data.
• Field visit; and
• Developing a water account and deriving policy options based on the results. 

Next, the agenda of the Water Scarcity Program following the training is establishing a National Multidisciplinary Team (NMT). This team consists of members from various water organisations (Government, private sector, university, and society) who will developing the Pilot Water Account, Water Accounting Roadmap, Water Scarcity Declaration, and Water Scarcity Action Plan (WSAP). The Water Scarcity Action Plan (WSAP) will be used as one of the key references in planning and budgeting for the Water Security program in Indonesia.

For more information about the Water Scarcity Program, please get in touch with (Mr) Fany Wedahuditama: fany@ws-indonesia.org and/or fany.wedahuditama@gwpsea.org.

The Water Security Program (WSP) is supported by the Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations in Partnership with the Australian Water Partnership (AWP), which is supported by the Australian Government. 

In the Asia–Pacific region, water resources form the basis of agrarian prosperity and economic development. However, increasing water demand due to population growth, rapid industrialisation and urbanisation, and a changing climate undermine those water resources. Like many parts of the world, the Asia–Pacific faces increasing water scarcity, with varying characteristics, causes and trends across a diverse range of countries at different stages of development.

Indonesia experiences three types of water scarcity: too variable water, over-utilisation and poor water quality. While Sumatra, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Maluku and Papua have surplus water availability, Java, Nusa Tenggara Timur and Nusa Tenggara Barat experience localised water scarcity of varying types and severities. There is seasonal scarcity in parts of Indonesia, resulting in too variable water; during the dry season, 24 of 128 river basins are unable to meet water demands. Over-utilisation of water resources is also an issue in Indonesia, with water conflicts between users. Water demand is increasing due to economic pressures; industrial water demand alone is expected to increase from 9 billion m3 to 36 billion m³ between 2015 and 2045.

The Ministry of National Development Planning/Bappenas together with other stakeholders, are collaborating with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to implement the Asia-Pacific Water Scarcity Program in Indonesia. The program is being implemented together with Australian technical partners Alluvium-Amperes, funded by the Australian Water Partnership, which is supported by the Australian Government. The Asia-Pacific Water Scarcity Program (WSP) aims to support countries in the Asia-Pacific Region to take practical steps to address and manage water scarcity while experiencing rapid population growth in a changing climate.

Outputs of WSP in Indonesia:

1. Establish National Multidisciplinary Government Teams:
   • High-Level National Multidisciplinary Team (NMT)
   • National Multidisciplinary Team Water Accounting Working Group (NMTWG)
2. Deliver Water Accounting Trainings
3. Develop Pilot Water Account (Cimanuk River Basin)
4. Deliver Water Accounting Roadmap
5. Deliver Water Scarcity Action Plan (WSAP)
6. Deliver Water Scarcity Declaration
7. Deliver High-Level Regional Technical Meeting on Water Scarcity
8. Deliver Regional Water Scarcity Symposium
9. Regional Practitioners Guide on Water Accounting

On Monday 21^st August 2023, BAPPENAS together with Water Stewardship Indonesia (WSI) a leading organisation on good water stewardship in Indonesia, Global Water Partnership Southeast-Asia (GWP-SEA) a multi-stakeholders platform to foster an integrated approach to water resources management (IWRM), FutureWater, Alluvium-Amperes and other stakeholders held a Kick-Off Meeting Workshop for the Water Scarcity Program (WSP) through a hybrid event to inform, discuss and obtain more inputs for the optimal implementation of WSP and cross ministries attended this Kick-off meeting, which reached 99 participants.

One of the important components in implementing the WSP is the formation of a National Multidisciplinary Team (NMT) whose members come from various organisations across waterusing sectors (government, private sector, university, and society). The NMT will have a key role in developing the Pilot Water Account, Water Accounting Roadmap, Water Scarcity Declaration, and Water Scarcity Action Plan (WSAP). The Water Scarcity Action Plan (WSAP) will be used as one of the key references in planning and budgeting for the Water Security program in Indonesia.

For more information, please contact (Mr) Fany Wedahuditama: fany@ws-indonesia.org and/or fany.wedahuditama@gwpsea.org

The Water Security Program (WSP) is supported by the Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations in Partnership with the Australian Water Partnership (AWP) which is supported by the Australian Government.