Perpustakaan Digital ITB

ABSTRACT: Existing institutional arrangement of river basin management in Indonesia leads to some problem concerning authority, boundaries, coordination, and integration. Some studies reveal that the problems are also faced by other developing countries in Asian and Latin America. Now Indonesia is trying to reform water sector by issuing new Water Resources Act. In basin level, it will emphasize on institutional and financial framework. This process is pushed by the declining of water resources and government reorganization through decentralization in 2000. There is a plan to reorganize the existing institution responsible for river basin management (river basin organization) in order to enhance its environmental and financial performances. This research makes a comparative analysis on river basin organization in United Kingdom (UK), United States of America (USA), and Indonesia. It also considers the opportunity to take a lesson from UK and USA experience for Indonesia. UK and USA have long history in dealing with water sector problem including water management at basin level. Many books and studies often use UK and USA as object to be analyzed. It is assumed that conducting comparative analysis with UK and USA to take lessons will be useful. The research concludes on several findings. Firstly, from theoretical exploration, it reveals that good implementation of integrated basin management concept in a country cant be fully duplicated without any consideration. Much attention has to be carefully paid on some elements before transferring policy, such as physical attributes, structure of the demand in the basin, legal structures of the state, historical experiences, principles of institutional design, and development of basin management. This finding from theoretical exploration lead to the importance of understanding context in which river basin organization in UK and USA emerge. Secondly, from study of case and comparative analysis, it finds the positive aspect on integration either intra-environmental aspect or environmental-economics aspect. It finds also that strongly environmental institution is needed to ensure that environmental standard is fulfilled by water-related stakeholder. For the case of Indonesia, recomendation is proposed not to create a new institution in accordance with water reform proces but improving authority and redesigning institutional frame work of existing institution.