Minister Of PUPR: Construction Of Leuwikeris Dam Supports Agricultural Land

Leuwikeris Dam located in Tasikmalaya and Ciamis Regencies, West Java. (Photo: Doc. Ministry of PUPR)

JAKARTA - Minister of Public Works and Public Housing (PUPR) Basuki Hadimuljono revealed that the construction of the Leuwikeris Dam aims to support agricultural land.

According to Basuki, the construction of the dam aims to increase the volume of water storage so that irrigation water supplies to agricultural land are maintained, provide raw water and flood control.

"The Citanduy River does not yet have a dam. With the construction of Leuwikeris, it is hoped that the continuity of water supply to rice fields will be maintained. So far, agricultural land has often experienced flooding during the rainy season and water shortages during the dry season," he said as quoted by ANTARA, Thursday, August 29.

Effectively, the Leuwikeris Dam is able to accommodate 243 hectares of water with a volume capacity of 81 million m3.

The construction of the Leuwikeris Dam began in 2016 at a state budget cost of IDR 3.5 trillion.

There are at least 5 benefits from the construction of the Leuwikeris Dam in Tasikmalaya and Ciamis Regencies, namely to supply irrigation water for the Lakbok Utara Irrigation Area (DI) in Ciamis covering an area of 6,600 hectares and DI Mananti in Cilacap covering an area of 4,616 hectares.

To provide raw water of 845 liters/second for Banjar City, Tasikmalaya Regency and Ciamis.

Furthermore, reducing flooding by 1,911 hectares and potential as electric resources for PLTA by 20 megawatts (MW).

Furthermore, the Mananti Dam is an infrastructure for Water Resources whose water comes from the Leuwikeris Dam. The Mananti Dam will provide irrigation services covering an area of 26,153 hectares with a water discharge of 45 m3 per second.

The modernization and rehabilitation work of the Manganti Dam was carried out by the Citanduy River Basin Center (BBWS), the Directorate General of Natural Resources from 2022-2024 at a cost of Rp. 639 billion.

The scope of work includes the rehabilitation of the primary channel of 24.17 km, rehabilitation of the secondary channel 38.11 km, digitization of the Mangangan Irrigation Network (DI).

For information, the Leuwikeris Dam is the 45th dam inaugurated by President Jokowi from 61 dams built during the 2015-2024 period.

It is hoped that the benefits of the Leuwikeris Dam are truly multifunctional, both for raw water, irrigation water, flood control, and power plants.