Population Growth in the Upper Garang Watershed Semarang Regency, Central Java Province, Indonesia

Abstract

More and more people in the world, with increasingly complex needs, all need space to live, water is the most important need. Some residents choose residential areas near water sources, water catchment areas are reduced, land use changes occur, so most watersheds experience degradation. This study aims to examine population growth in the Upper Garang Watershed of Semarang Regency. The population is all villages in the Upper Garang Watershed. Sampling was carried out with a purposive area sample, in the first segment of the upper Garang river area, and included in the Semarang district. The research variable is population growth. Data analyzed has been carried out in a quantitative descriptive way, using exponential population growth formula, overlay, and presented in the frequency table, and figure. The results showed that the villages in the Upper Garang Watershed experienced population growth including high, 2.49 percent each year during the period 2010-2016. Population growth rates in each village vary widely, ranging from low to very high, ranging from low to very very high, from 0.10 to 8.18 percent. Villages that have high population growth rates are followed by house growth and non-agricultural land use changes, this is because some villages are the center of new activities, such as the development of industrial centers, freeway access (TOL), and public facilities.