Sharing Umbulan’s Water
People fish at a spring in Umbulan village, Winongan district, Pasuruan regency, East Java. The clear and fresh Umbulan spring is a blessing for millions of people. Since July 2017, after a 45-year delay, the administration revived the Umbulan water treatment system. The project aims to channel water from the Umbulan spring, which has a production capacity of 4,000 liters per second, to 1.3 million people in Pasuruan, Sidoarjo, Surabaya and Gresik.
The sun was scorching down one Thursday (20/7) afternoon on the western shores of Lake Umbulan, in Umbulan village, Winongan subdistrict, Pasuruan regency, East Java. A spot on the shoreline became bald after several big trees were felled.
The trees fell into the lake, which is around 1 hectare. Trunks, roots and sawdust covered the embankment.
On the opposite side of the lake, Sumiyati, 50, and her son were fishing. They used simple bamboo fishing rodsthreaded with nylon and bait. “There are many small fish here. It is good to eat them with sambal [chili sauce],” said Sumiyati.
Behind Sumiyati were two divans for visitors to relax, two food stalls and a pile of used inner tubes. “If you want to bathe, you can rent the inner tubes. If you’re hungry, you can eat here,” said Abdul Gofur, 55, a local resident who was relaxing on the shore.
That afternoon, at other parts of the lake, a couple was seen bathing. They washed their hair with shampoo, rinsing the suds with water from the lake. In fact, the lake is the source of water for many East Java residents. “It is hard to remind people,” said Sukirman, 60, a resident who works as a security guard at the lake.
Nurhasan, 60, Sukirman’s friend, recalled that before the 1980s, residents could not easily visit the waters, as it was guarded by military personnel. However, since the 1998 reform movement, the formerly sterile area became easier to visit, especially by local residents who used the lake’s waters to bathe, wash, fish, rent inner tubes and erect food stalls.
“According to the story told by my grandfather and father, Umbulan was discovered and controlled by the Dutch. My grandfather was among the local people who were ordered to build a pump house and a plumbing network,” Sukirman said.
Sukirman and Nurhasan are security personnel of the Surabaya-owned Water Utilities Company (PDAM) tasked to securing the company’s assets, including the water source.
Several structures of the Dutch era can be seen around the lake. A small, blue pump house is located in the center of the lake, connecting four pipelines: One pipe provides water to the Surabaya City PDAM, and the other three provide water to the Pasuruan City PDAM and the Pasuruan regency PDAM.
The four pipelines are connected to the drinking water supply system (SPAM) that was inaugurated just two weeks ago.
Renovation
The East Java administration initiated the SPAM project in 1972. SPAM aimed to utilize Umbulan’s water resource for part of the drinking water supplied to consumers in East Java, but the regencies and cities with interests in the water resource never agreed on its development cooperation scheme.
After 45 years of uncertainty, SPAM was revived to be developed around the lake, some 40 kilometers north of Mt Bromo. SPAM is a national strategic project with a total investment of Rp 4.51 trillion and is developed through a public-private partnership scheme.
Umbulan will be used by the East Java PDAM to channel 4,000 liters of water per second through 95 kilometers of pipeline distributing water to 16 reservoirs. The water is distributed to 1.3 million residents in Pasuruan at 410 liters per second, Sidoarjo (1,200 L/s), Surabaya (1,000 L/s) and Gresik (1,000 L/s).
Umbulan is a commodity sought after and fought over.
Traces of the fight over Umbulan are visible. Several facilities surrounding the lake, such as an office and official residence built during the Dutch era, are managed by the Surabaya PDAM. The Pasuruan PDAM built a technical implementation unit (UPT) about 150 meters downstream, while the East Java administration built the Umbulan water purification facility opposite the PDAM Pasuruan office complex.
“My parents told us, when it was under Dutch control, the local people could not enjoy the water. Umbulan was for the Dutch people in Pasuruan and Surabaya,” Nurhasan said.
Colonial discovery
Nurhasan did not make up the stories. Based on records of the Pasuruan PDAM, Umbulan was discovered by Dutch colonial rule in 1915. A year later, the Dutch administrator in Pasuruan initiated the management of Umbulan for expatriates by establishing Inlando Water Bedrijf. In 1917, they built a pump house and pipeline to channel the water to Pasuruan and even to Surabaya.
One year later, the municipality of Pasuruan was inaugurated and named Stadsgemeentee Van Pasoeroean. Yet, only in 1940 was the municipality authorized to control Umbulan for the benefit of residents, as well as to support industrial and trade activities at Pasuruan Port. In exchange, the municipality paid a fee to the colonial administration. The municipality then established a drinking water supply firm with hopes to make an income from its administration.
In the early years of managing the water supply, the municipality prioritized services for residents of coastal areas who faced difficulties in obtaining fresh and clean water. In fact, the health of coastal residents, mostly comprising “natives”, should be prioritized. Umbulan was the key. Ensuring the health of the native people would reduce the potential for social conflict while ensuring the safety of the colonial officers and people working at the sugar company, government offices, mortgage offices, the port, the postal office and railway company.
The control over Umbulan became unclear during Japanese military rule. After independence, Umbulan was controlled by the emergency government and then the central government. Pasuruan’s attempt to resume control over Umbulan failed after it came under the central government’s control.
In 1968, East Java province issued a bylaw requiring the local administration to pay water usage fees. In 1972, East Java province started granting water usage rights to Pasuruan municipality, which needs the water to supply residents in coastal areas who have saltwater in their wells.
Water distribution
Pasuruan regent Irsyad Yusuf said he hoped the SPAM project would resolve the unequal distribution of water. Although they have a major water source, some regions in the area are facing a water crisis. Subdistricts that experience a water crisis during the dry season are: Winongan, Lumbang, Puspo, Pasrepan, Kejayan, Grati, Lekok, Purwosari, Gempol, Beji, Pandaan and Sukorejo.
It is ironic to see subdistricts with an abundant water source, such as Winongan and Pandaan, experience a water shortage. The condition shows that water distribution has not been well planned and has ignored the people’s needs.Ever since the colonial era that adopted discriminative policies, the distribution of Umbulan’s waters has never been fair.
Based on the Pasuruan administration’s records, in the early years of Dutch colonial rulers using Umbulan, the water flow was 5,000 L/s. Of that amount, around 600 L/s was used for expatriates in Surabaya and Pasuruan, 300 L/s for irrigation and fish farms, and 50 L/s for Umbulan residents, while about 4,000 L/s went into the Java Sea.
It has been a century since Umbulan was discovered, but its water distribution issues have not been settled. In fact, as time passes, the water source is increasingly threatened by rapid development and environmental degradation.
