Sustainable River Basin Management

The Impact of Climate Change to River Basin Management

The world now days up roared by an inconvenience truth about human future. The truth which is seen skeptical by some people slowly saw its impact to human activities. Finally, much people better believe on the truth rather than denying it. Finally peoples rather believe that climate can change through global warming, which is finally this climate change becoming number one global issue. What’s wrong with climate change? What so fear about it? Climate that can be define as atmospheric long term condition in ones region has a strong bond with all life activities on earth. This is due to climate cycle system which is influence by the atmosphere, lithosphere, hydrosphere, kriosphere, and biosphere. The climate change in ones region will bring many difficulties to humans life, especially in agrarian, economic, environment related, such as natural disaster, humans health, and government development prudence. Climate change can cause ones region precipitation decrease or increase. Hence, the climate change is related to rivers behavior.

All rivers are different, but they all work in a similar way. The way the rivers do is depend on its basin. The basin as the place for river waters to flow has important role in directing where the water will flow, how the water flow and the water condition. Hence, the river basin management is needed. As the climate change happen, river basin management should be take more seriously. Let us assume that the climate change cause ones regions precipitation increase. The increased precipitation will raise the river debit and cause flood in some area which the river cross, and definitely the area which call the river downstream. Not only reasoning the probability of flooding, increase precipitation can shallow the river basin and give bad water quality to the river. This is due to increasing material that rain brings to the river. Higher precipitation the more material can bring along it. Meanwhile, climate change can also decrease ones region precipitation. Decreasing precipitation will mean decreasing of water availability in the river. Fewer water supplies are a big problem. Hence, those few water supplies should be able to be used maximum. However, if the water quality is not good enough, then there is no use again for the river except brought the things flow to the sea. This is how the river basin takes the role. Dirty basin will cause bad river water quality. Hence, how to manage the river basin when it comes to increase or decrease precipitation is the same. The first same idea is how to keep the river water quality good. The different is when it comes to increasing precipitation, the idea is how to make the river water not spill to the land and not cause flooding. But when it comes to decreasing precipitation, the idea is how to make use the river water as maximum water supply to the land.

Climate changes continue on without we realize about it. Especially to the ones who live in tropical region. If we keep not learning about it and just being skeptical it might bring disaster for the future. Climate change might cause a failure in government prudence for city development. Choosing the right time to build public infrastructure, such as the road or river basin repairing is the example. If the government didn’t learn the climate change and only make a decision base on experience, their decision might be cost a lot than what they have been predicted. Off course it is a bad idea to build the public infrastructure when it is raining. Maybe they have planed about it, but they plane it only based on experience. This would be more horrible when that orthodox way is used for river basin management. River basin management needs the right time to run the project. Moreover, if the things continue on with the trend without any proper action, as the impact of climate change, the river can bring disaster. In the winter it may bring flood and in the summer it may not be able to supply the water to people around it. Those things will impact many sector in our life such as economic, agrarian, healthiness and transportation.

There should be an integrated action to solve the problem. For the government who has the authority in managing the river basin, the first thing to do is learning the climate change in their region. What cause it, how to manage it and how to implement it to the river basin management. The second is use the first act as basis for doing the project to keep the water river clean. As an example, the government can take an action to reduce mobile transportation as they emitted the greenhouse gases which is cause the climate change through global warming. Or the government may take an action to change all industry fossil fuel with the one that more suite to the environment like biodiesel. As the fossil fuel such as coal emitted methane, carbon monoxide and sulfur which is act as greenhouse gases and a particle that can bring acid rain. Acid rain can polluted the river and make the river unhealthy. The last is making a good socialization to the society about climate change and the river. Promote about the cause of climate change and its relation to the river. Promote that we need a clean river and a good basin to maximize the function of the river. Finally, the river basin management will not work without society or individuals’ participation. Individual participation in keeping the river and the air clean is big. Individual shouldn’t throw garbage or any harm things to the river. Individual should try to change their fossil fuel with biological fuel. Individual should remind each other about the importance of river and also the climate change that can impact to it. And last, individual should realize that river is part of environment. Good environment will resulted to good society.