Indonesia's Unclear Groundwater Management in Achieving Sustainable Development Goals: Regulations, Environmental Impacts, and Strategic Solutions

Abstract

Indonesia is one of the countries committed to realising Sustainable Development Goals, but at the implementation level, Indonesia faces challenges in the form of unclear groundwater management regulations. This paper aims to examine the ambiguity of groundwater management from the aspects of regulation and impact on the environment to the formulation of strategic solutions. Through the analysis of various data sources, this paper succeeds in revealing three facts. Firstly, Indonesia still needs to have a special regulation on groundwater management. The current regulation still focuses on the approval of groundwater use. Still, it needs to regulate in detail the mechanisms of planning, implementation, monitoring, conservation, utilisation (except licensing), and control of groundwater damage. Secondly, the high percentage of groundwater use in Indonesia is evidence of the government's inability to fulfil the mandate of Law No.17 of 2019 Jo. Law No. 6 of 2023 recommends prioritising the utilisation of surface water over groundwater. Consequently, excessive use of groundwater has a negative impact on the environment, namely the emergence of a water crisis accompanied by a decrease in groundwater levels and a decrease in groundwater quality. Based on the lessons learnt on participatory groundwater management from Australia, this paper offers a strategic solution: the government needs to reconstruct the specific regulation of groundwater management in Indonesia to guarantee aspects of legal certainty. The reconstruction needs to be followed by ensuring public access to information, public participation in decision-making and public access to justice. These three elements are prerequisites for resolving groundwater governance issues in Indonesia to achieve water security and Sustainable Development Goals. To overcome the fragmentation of groundwater management, a national water information system in the form of a ‘One Data Policy’ is needed to provide real-time information on the quality and quantity of surface water and groundwater. The government must involve the community in national groundwater management planning to ensure public participation and community access to justice.