Justice in Water Resources Management: An Analysis of Inter-Institutional Legal Authority in Indonesia..

Abstract

Water is one of the most important resources, not only supporting human life but also helping balance ecosystems. The Indonesian constitution emphasizes that the ground, water, and natural resources contained therein are governed by the state for the greatest prosperity of the people. The area of Mount Ciremai National Park (TNGC) in Kuningan Regency, West Java, is of great significance as a water catchment area and the primary source of raw water for local people and PDAM. But water resource management in this region is hampered by major difficulties, including overlapping jurisdictions among authorities and unequal access. This research intends to assess the scope and boundaries of the legal jurisdiction of the organizations involved in water use in TNGC, identify the core problem of policy execution, and develop an ideal policy model to prevent regulatory discrepancies. The method utilized is normative juridical, with an approach based on legislation, concepts, and comparison, employing literature studies. The study results demonstrate regulatory disharmonization across the Water Resources Law, the Forestry Law, and the Local Government Law, with implications for legal uncertainty and inequalities in benefit distribution. Local communities are often marginalized, and institutional players such as PDAM are more powerful. This research proposes an ideal policy model based on the principles and comparison of water resources management systems in several other countries. The ideal policy for water resource utilization in TNGC can be realized by forming a Government Regulation that contains a single coordinating authority through a cross-sectoral management body, the existence of a quota for water utilization is scientifically determined based on the carrying capacity of the ecosystem, and the participation of local communities in monitoring and decision-making.