The Netherlands’ activities in the water sector in Indonesia are directed to supporting the ongoing water management sector reform in the country (IWRM), which have started in 2004 and contribute to reaching the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) on water supply and sanitation.
Water Resources Management and Irrigation
In Water Resources Management two sectoral programmes are co-financed by The Netherlands: Participatory Irrigation Sector Project – PISP with the ADB and Water resources and Irrigation Sector Management Programme- WISMP with the WB. Both programs started in 2005 and are implemented by the Indonesian Government. The main goals are to increase farmer’s income and promote the development of an effective system of integrated water management.
Main elements of these programmes are the development of participative irrigation management through capacity building of water users associations and of local government agencies. The water users are responsible for the maintenance of the tertiary system. These users’ organisations are part of the new established river management organisations. Indonesia has a total of 131 river basins defined and the programmes support these entities through capacity building mainly.
By 2011, through PISP and WISMP participative irrigation and rehabilitate existing irrigation infrastructure should cover 1,600,000 ha in 105 districts of 15 provinces and with 70 river management boards.
Since the end of 2008, a technical assistance program for the 6-Ci’s is operational under the responsibility of the ADB and being co-financed by The Netherlands. It concerns the river basins around Jakarta and includes spatial planning and climate change as important components.
The Sea Defence Consultant (SDC) activity has been developed since 2006 and this on request of the BRR (the Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Agency for Aceh and Nias). SDC advises on flood protection from sea and river water. Many projects have been developed until the detailed engineering design and thereafter tendered by the BRR for their implementation. SDC supports also the development of an Early Warning System and the Risk map model is an important element thereof. This model is introduced at the crisis centre in Banda Aceh and provides information on the tsunami intensity, several minutes after receiving information on an earthquake. Since 2009 this Risk Map is also placed at other crises centres.
Water Supply & Sanitation
The Netherlands support a great number of activities in the water supply & sanitation sector.
WASAP (Indonesia Water and Sanitation Program) is the largest program regarding its funding, implemented by the World Bank, and supports policy development and capacity building as to strengthen the enabling environment for this sector. An integrated approach for urban drainage, waste and waste water has been initiated in 6 cities and steps are underway to upscale this approach to all 260 cities of Indonesia. Assistance is provided to central and local governments to define modalities to improve the service delivery by the local water companies (PDAM). Finally through the IWRM component participative management of basins are being developed and the development of a strategy for sustainable development of the lowlands is in process.
More details regarding WASAP can be found on the 
WASAP website and on the website of the World Bank.
The Netherlands support, in joint cooperation with UNICEF in East Indonesia, and with the ADB in Aceh, the development of water supply and sanitation in rural areas. UNICEF is active in 28 districts of 6 provinces and also in slums of 5 cities of these provinces. Schools have an important role in the behaviour change process, which is the basis for environmental sanitation. This is a difficult process since sanitation is mostly about change in behaviour. The Unicef program will result in improved services for 500,000 persons and the ADB program will cover 400 villages.
In cooperation with Netherland’s water companies assistance is provided to local governments in the Aceh province (SABSAS project), in Pekanbaru and six cities in East Indonesia to organise their water companies (PDAMs) effectively, so they can deliver, in term, drinking water during 24 hours a day to 80% of the households.
In cooperation with USAID the programme focuses on water supply and sanitation in the slums of Manado, Ambon and Jayapura. Some of the activities, which will be developed, are the introduction of master meters, and micro-credit for new service lines and the establishing of working groups for the development of environmental sanitation in these 3 cities.
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Pilot Dredging |
In close cooperation with technical Dutch Ministries, a number of programs are financed by Partners for Water within the water sector. Most of these activities are considered by both Governments as pilot project from which lessons can be learnt and strategies being developed. A good example of such a project is the Jakarta Flood Management, which introduced cleaning of canals with small floating bulldozers and manual operations including separation of the dredged material so that part of the dredged material can be re-used. Flood hazard mapping was introduced and now-a-days the basic data of many canals and most rivers are part of this model. Community participation has been stimulated regarding water management issues in general: flooding, sanitation, urban drainage. Other examples are the polder development in Semerang and assistance with the situ-situ (small dams) inspections and irrigation improvement in areas with tidal influences on rivers.
