Facing Long Drought 2026, the Ministry of PU Optimizes Gajah Mungkur Reservoir to Maintain Water Availability

JAKARTA - The government through the Ministry of Public Works (PU) is preparing various strategic steps to maintain water availability, especially for the agricultural sector. The reason is that the dry season is predicted to last until December 2026.

One of the steps is to ensure the readiness of irrigation water supply from the Gajah Mungkur Dam which is located in Wonogiri Regency, Central Java.

Currently, the Gajah Mungkur Reservoir is used to irrigate around 25,000 hectares (ha) of agricultural land through the Colo Barat and Colo Timur irrigation networks.

The available water volume reaches around 340 million cubic meters, with an effective reservoir of around 260 million cubic meters.

Minister PU Dody Hanggodo said that his party was committed to ensuring that the Gajah Mungkur Reservoir could supply water needs, especially for agricultural irrigation.

"We are ready to take various steps to ensure that water needs are met until the dry season ends," Dody said in an official statement, Monday, April 6.

To maintain the sustainability of the reservoir function, the PU Ministry has carried out various sediment control efforts to extend the service life of the dam.

One of them is by operating four dredging vessels to reduce sediment deposits in the reservoir, which is carried out routinely.

"We also installed a number of systems such as closure dikes to hold sediment before entering the reservoir," he said.

According to Dody, there are several methods that his party has carried out so that the service life of the dam can last a long time, including the construction of three units of dikes that function to hold sediment from the Keduang River flow before entering the reservoir, thereby reducing the rate of siltation.

In addition, conservation efforts are also carried out in the upstream area through tree planting by the Bengawan Solo River Basin Agency (BBWS) together with the community to improve the condition of the water catchment area.

"Broken Hulu is one of the main causes of sedimentation. Therefore, we invite the community to work together to green so that more water enters the reservoir than sediment," he said.

As a proactive step, the government has also prepared weather modification operations (OMC) or artificial rain and strengthened cross-sectoral coordination, including with the Ministry of Agriculture (Kementan) to maintain national agricultural productivity.

Through integrated reservoir management, the Ministry of PU is optimistic that the Gajah Mungkur Reservoir will continue to function optimally in supporting national food security and water availability, especially in the midst of long drought challenges and climate change.