Completed, This Great Capacity Dam Is Ready To Be Inaugurated

Cipanas Dam (Photo: KPUPR)

The Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing (PUPR) said the construction of the Cipanas Dam in Sumedang Regency, West Java, had been completed and was ready to be inaugurated.

The dam with a capacity of 250.81 million cubic meters will be used as a water reservoir to support agricultural irrigation and raw water sources in the Cirebon-Patimban-Kertajati (Rebana) triangle area in Indramayu and Sumedang Regencies.

PUPR Minister Basuki Hadimuljono said the management of water resources and irrigation would continue to support food security.

"The dam and irrigation network are built at large costs. Therefore, ensure the quality of the work is good so that it can be immediately used optimally to irrigate farmers' fields," Minister Basuki said in a press release, quoted Thursday, November 9.

The construction of the Cipanas Dam itself was carried out around 7 years from 2016-2023, with the implementing contractor PT Wijaya Karya-PT Jaya Konstruksi (KSO) which focuses on building dams and PT Brantas Abipraya (Persero) for the construction of supporting infrastructure.

Overall, the construction cost of the Cipanas Dam reached IDR 2.03 trillion, sourced from the state budget.

The dam, which has a capacity 10 times larger than the Kuningan Dam, is projected to increase the supply of agricultural irrigation water in Sumedang and Indramayu Regencies with an area of 9,273 ha, especially in the Irrigation Areas (DI) Cipanas, Cikawung, and Cibunut.

"It is hoped that the irrigation water support from this dam can increase the planting intensity of farmers from previously using the rainshed method which only produces one harvest in a year at two or three harvest times," said Basuki.

With a large capacity, the Cipanas Dam is also expected to meet 850 liters of raw water per second for the Tambourine industrial area and residential areas, including Kertajati Airport.

Currently, it has been designed for industrial estates in Sumedang Regency of 650 liters per second and the need for drinking water for people in Terisi District, Indramayu Regency, is 200 liters per second.

The Cipanas Dam is built as high as 71.60 m with an upright core grade type. This dam has an inundation area of 1,315.95 ha which can also be used as a storage for flood control water for the Indramayu area and its surroundings.

This is because it is able to reduce the flood discharge by 487.75 cubic meters per second, and has the potential to become a power plant source of 3 MW.