The Social Aspects in Water Management of Semarang’s Drainage System (Case Study of Banger Polder and Water Board BPP Sima)

Abstract

The climate is changing, rainfall will increase, the sea level is rising and the river discharges
will change more. Delta areas are faced with the increasing risk of flooding. A traditional solution
against flooding is the Dutch polder system. These polder areas in the Netherlands are for many years
managed and maintained by water boards. The Dutch water board model has not been used much in
other countries. At this moment it is not known what the social aspects of water management are,
which are important in the implementation of a polder system and institute in another cultural context
outside the Netherlands. For this research, the Banger Polder pilot Project in Semarang is used as a
case study, where a polder is constructed and the first public organization for water management in
Indonesia has been established. The new water board named BPP SIMA, is similar to the Dutch water
board model and is responsible for creating and maintain of dry feet in the area. The water board
should work with the stakeholders to know what the important aspects of the social side in water
management are.
This research looked at the available knowledge by the selected stakeholders, the acceptance of
the water fee and the main interest of the selected stakeholders in the Banger polder . The method that
is developed in this research gives insights of the social aspects in water management. The focus of
this research is on the social dimension of water management. The developed method is the existing
three layer model of water governance in combination with a 360 degrees evaluation. The three layer
model is a method to analyze the risks and opportunities within the water management. The three layer
model consist of three layers, content layer, institutional layer and relational layer. This requires
different information which are collected by existing literature, field visits, discussions, surveys and
interviews.
In the survey results appears that not all local stakeholders are familiar with the project and BPP
SIMA. This is because the communication with the existing hierarchical structure between RW/RT
and inhabitants about the knowledge transfer of the project is lacking. According to existing literature
in this research, it is important that inhabitants feel involved and feel ownership of the project to
increase the acceptance of the water fee. They are the most important stakeholders and must feel
involved with the water management. Inhabitants need knowledge about water problems to accept the
policy and measures are implemented more efficient.
Keywords: social aspects, water management