Expert: Watershed Damage And Land Cover Conversion Causes West Kalimantan Floods

PHOTO VIA BETWEEN/Expert of Water Resources Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Tanjungpura Prof. Henny Herawati

PONTIANAK - Expert in Water Resources Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Tanjungpura, Prof. Henny Herawati, said that in addition to high rainfall, the cause of flooding in West Kalimantan was also caused by damage to watersheds (DAS) and widespread land cover conversion.

"The change or conversion of land causes the type of land cover to change, this is also one of the causes of damage to the watershed (DAS), so that the hydrography of the flow in the watershed changes to be not good," said Henny in Pontianak, quoted by Antara, Sunday, 7 November.

Prof. Henny, a lecturer at the Faculty of Engineering, said that another factor that caused flooding was the conversion of land cover along with the increase in population and the desire to convert land into cultivated land.

"So the land was cleared for settlement, the land was originally closed land or forest areas were cleared for agricultural or plantation land. In addition, heavy rainfall occurred in a number of areas in West Kalimantan, causing flooding in the upstream area of the Kapuas River," he said.

Meanwhile, other factors that cause flooding are also influenced by soil type, land cover, and land management.

He explained that flooding is a condition where the river's water level overflows due to the high flow of the river so that it cannot be accommodated by the existing cross section of the river.

"Flood is an event that overflows water from a river body due to relatively high rainfall and cannot be accommodated by the cross section of the river or it can be said that the water level is far above normal," said the alumni of the Faculty of Engineering, Pontianak Untan.

According to him, the solution that must be done to prevent this flood, must be the synergy of the government, "stakeholders" and the surrounding community. In this case, the role of the government and "stakeholders" who are ready to deal with flooding is highly expected, especially the sectors that are authorized to deal with flood problems.

"There must be synergy between institutions, including the Public Works, Forestry, Plantations, Agriculture, Environment and other institutions, besides that the community must be tough to adapt to the environment," said Prof. Henny, who completed his master's degree at the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB).