Assessing the degree of tidal flood damage to salt harvesting landscape using synthetic approach and GIS - Case study: Cirebon, West Java

Abstract

Tidal flood implications for agricultural areas have been relatively neglected in research due to their relatively low economic values. Nevertheless, many rural coastal communities are facing these types of floods regularly, especially salt harvesters. Based on a synthetic approach using damage functions and the Geographic Information System, this study applies previous simulations from a hydrodynamic model to quantify vulnerability through flood depth and duration. A depth-duration damage function using a synthetic approach was applied to develop damage curves based on previous events. Data was collected through a questionnaire aimed at salt harvesters’ group representatives. This data was used to evaluate the direct monetary loss related to two recorded events in Cirebon, West Java: in June 2016 (Event A) and in May 2018 (Event B). Those events brought losses of about Indonesian Rupiah (IDR) 74.11 × 109 (5.37%) and IDR 13.79 × 109 (8.1%) for Event A and Event B respectively. This study reveals the different vulnerability levels of the events, which represent different production stages in salt harvesting. This paper presents methods and information to support risk management in salt harvesting, including prioritizing mitigation strategies.