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Introduction

A. Principles Underlying This Study

Throughout the world at the present time, there is an increasing awareness of the importance of fresh water for all aspects of life. Fresh water in appropriate quantities and of appropriate quality is seen as vital for natural environments, for urban environments, and for all intermediate types of environments. Yet, throughout the world, the availability of such fresh water, in quantity and quality, is declining rapidly.

Faced with an on-going reduction in a limited natural resource, human populations have to seek and devise new technologies to increase the sustainability of use of fresh water resources. Technology provides a necessary link between human use of a resource and the resource itself. The 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development was held at Rio de Janeiro. During that Conference, the delegates adopted Agenda 21, which, in the present context, included reference to the need for the development of Environmentally Sound Technologies or ESTs.

Environmentally Sound Technologies (ESTs) are becoming increasingly important for people and for the environment itself. They attempt to provide a long term, sustainable, access to utilisation of the resource, while maintaining the resource for future generations. A major problem is the extent to which such technologies can be transferred rapidly and effectively. Transfers can be international, between countries, and intranational, within countries. Such transfers may depend on political good-will at the international level and on bureaucratic cooperation at the intranational level. It goes without saying that any EST which is to be successful and which requires support from Government must meet national socio-economic, cultural, and environmental priorities. Of these, the most difficult at present may be the socio-economic priorities.

In terms of water resources, the search for ESTs is for technologies which use water sustainably, which do not create pollution or toxic products, and which provide opportunities for recycling of any wastes which are produced.

The optimal use of ESTs is as complete technological systems. Indeed it is doubtful if a single EST implemented on its own can ever be effective in the long term. There is, at present, a recognition of the need to treat environmental problems in an ecosystem context, in which the individual components of the problem are treated as parts of a functioning system. This calls for an understanding of how the ecosystem works. In the same way, a technology should be seen as a functional system, including knowledge, planning, management, and procedures as well as equipment and facilities. This also calls for an understanding of how the technological system works.

Improved utilisation of human capacity and implementation of training programs have to be seen as part of the process of technological advance, along with research on the methods of implementation of technology. Any discussion of technology transfer and technological introduction has to include the relevant aspects of human resource development and expansion of human capacities within local administrative systems.

It is perhaps surprising that this point has to be made as such a situation should be self evident from the history of industrial development. Yet, it is a point which is often neglected in developing countries.

One reason for this shortcoming, is that Government is itself a functional system. But there are many different kinds of systems. It is important to differentiate between the system of political Government and the administrative system of governance which usually employs a bureaucracy.

Administrative systems of governance (bureaucracies) are often strictly compartmentalised and hierarchical, in structure and function, to allow definition and implementation of responsibility and authority. Such systems are very different from ecological systems which are usually highly integrated and non-hierarchical with many interconnections among the components.

Because of these fundamental differences in structure and function, it should not be entirely unexpected to find that the bureaucratic structure serving the needs of Government has some difficulties dealing with ecological systems. This is one of the main issues which emerges from the present investigation.

As a developing country, Indonesia presents an excellent background for the investigation of the problems associated with the introduction of appropriate Environmentally Sound Technologies in the area of water resources.

It is a large and rapidly developing country. It is rich in resources, and since it is in the wet tropics, many areas have a heavy rainfall. While rainwater is plentiful, the demands for good quality water have been increasing very rapidly. The numerous lakes and reservoirs in Indonesia have come under increasing pressure in recent years and are facing management problems and possible deterioration in the quantity and quality of water stored in them. The demands imposed on the water resources in the country stem from the rapid rate of population increase, from the rapid rate of increase in the standard of living of the population, from the increased expectations which follow from increased standards of living, from the spread of agriculture throughout the nation to meet demands for food, and from the expansion of industrial activity as a component of the process of development.

The rich natural resources and the unique environment of Indonesia are subject to multilateral pressures. There is a manifest need for the introduction of environmentally sound technologies as soon as possible. Indonesia therefore is an excellent location for case studies of the opportunities and constraints on the introduction of ESTs for lake management.

Against this opportunity for study of suitable ESTs for lake management one has to note that there is a marked lack of knowledge of many of the lakes in Indonesia. What would normally be regarded as basic information on hydrology and water chemistry is often lacking. Biological survey information is limited and sporadic. The rate of deterioration of many lakes is such that biological and chemical data collected five or ten years ago are now out of date and irrelevant.

On the island of Java in particular, with a rapidly increasing population and with rapid industrialisation, the demand for fresh water of good quality is likely to outstrip the supply in the near future.

If Environmentally Sound Technologies for the use and management of water resources are to be defined, it is in a nation such as Indonesia that the pressure for the development of such technologies will first become effective. It is in such a nation that the difficulties in management of fresh water systems and in implementation of ESTs will first be defined and resolved.

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