Bali Watershed

Bali’s water table is reaching a critical juncture: it’s practically at its point of no return. The culprit is massive downstream water extraction due to rapid growth in the tourism industry, and monoculture-driven land-use changes upstream.

Bali’s geographical character as an island exacerbates the adverse impacts, as shown by the sea water intrusion that looms, especially in the southern part of the island. Contaminating and making the groundwater in the area brackish.

Danone Ecosystem is working together with Kopernik and Danone AQUA in Indonesia to engage with Bali’s provincial multi-stakeholder forum and coordinate efforts needed to protect Ayung, the island’s biggest watershed. The coalition also includes local governments in Sangeh, Pangsan, Awan and Sukawana.

The forum seeks to adopt nature-based solutions by modeling ‘payment for ecosystem services’ (PES) to drill infiltration wells and expand regenerative agroforestry with the local community. The model aims to mobilize resources and unlock wider scale impact in the future. To date the project has drilled 20 wells with local Banjar that can replenish up to 7.8m liters of water per year with the PES scheme in place. The scheme has managed to inspire three businesses to collaborate and create new wells with 5 yearcontracts. The project also seeks to foster regenerative agroforestry, working closely with 31 local farmers. It’s a collaboration that covers 36 hectares and more than 17 thousand oranges & coffees trees. Through the PES scheme, the agroforestry approach seeks to reduce chemical use, increase crop density and diversity, and improve infiltration by building water cachement trenches.