Analysis of River Flow Regime Changes Related to Water Availability on the Kapuas River, Indonesia

Abstract

Rivers are major sources of fresh water, which is a basic need in society. The availability of water is affected by river basin characteristics such as rainfall and land cover type. Along with population and economy growth, there has been a change in land use that leads to changes in land cover types, thereby changing the river flow regime and affecting the availability of water in the river. Thus it is necessary to analyse water flow regime changes in the river to determine water availability for proper action plans in the future. Studies on these aspects were conducted in the Kapuas River Basin with an area of about 100 000 km2, in West Kalimantan, Indonesia. The study was conducted by analysing the trend of annual rainfall and change of land cover during the last three decades, by analysing land cover types and comparing the availability of water in the Kapuas River from measurement results in 2002 and 2012. The results showed that the rainfall trend had increased 4.3% over the last 30 years. The changes in the hydrological aspects of the study area have altered the river flow regime of Kapuas River within the last 30 years and have influenced river water availability. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.