DROUGHT PROBLEM AND RAINWATER HARVESTING AS ITS SOLUTION IN JATI DISTRICT, BLORA REGENCY

• Main Authors: , Pujiariyanto, , Ir. Agam Marsoyo, M.Sc., Ph.D.
• Format: Theses and Dissertations NonPeerReviewed
• Published: [Yogyakarta] : Universitas Gadjah Mada 2013
• Subjects: ETD
• Online Access: https://repository.ugm.ac.id/126021/; http://etd.ugm.ac.id/index.php?mod=penelitian_detail&sub=PenelitianDetail&act=view&typ=html&buku_id=66209
• Institution: Universitas Gadjah Mada

Droughts rank first among all natural hazards such as flood, landslides, tornados or even earthquake when measured in terms of the number of people affected (Obasi, Wilhite and Hewitt in Mishra and Singh, 2010). The impacts of drought are lasting longer than the impacts of other disasters. Jati district has experienced drought for many years, but so far there is no significant action from local government of Blora regency that can alleviate the impacts of drought in this area. The objectives of this research are to explain the impacts of drought to people in Jati district especially economic and social impacts and to examine the possible solutions that could be applied in alleviating the impacts of drought. This research proposes rainwater harvesting system as the solution of drought problem in Jati district. The constructions of rainwater harvesting system that recommended in this research are �Embung�, Reservoir and Infiltration well. This research also uses Montecarlo simulation to simulate the role of reservoir in reducing the impacts of drought towards household�s daily water needs Households in Jati districts suffer from economic impacts of drought at least in loss of crops for food and income, water scarcity, and loss of job, income and property. Farmers have the lowest income and lost more than 50% of their income in drought season. The social impacts of drought felt by households in Jati district at least in increased quest for water, reduced crop yield, food insecurity, and urbanization. Rainwater harvesting is one of solutions to solve drought problem in Jati district, because the potential of rainwater is relatively high. The constructions of rainwater harvesting system that proposed in this research based on the priority are farm ponds (Embung), Reservoir (Water Tank), and Infiltration well. By using Montecarlo simulation on the role of reservoir based on average rainfall in Jati district in the period of 1995-2011, the existence of reservoir will give significant effect to the water availability during drought season. The larger the reservoir, the more available the water will be.