Potential impact of climate change on water resources availability in Bantaeng District, South Sulawesi Province

Abstract

As a result of climate change, the condition of the rain pattern will be more extreme, where in the rainy season, the rainfall will be higher so that it can trigger more floods and landslides; while in the dry season, the rainfall will be less added by increasing evaporation due to increased temperatures which can trigger drought disasters. The objective of this research was to what extent the impact of climate change on water availability which will be used as the main raw material for Municipal Water in Bantaeng Regency. The research method was descriptive qualitative with cross sectional approach. The results of climate change projections showed that the potential monthly average surface water discharge in Bantaeng Regency, especially the watershed used by PDAM, changed fluctuatively. During the rainy season, the projected run-off discharge increased by around 15%; while during the dry season it decreased by around 13% in the Nipa-Nipa, Gusung, and Kaili Watershed. This indicated that the vulnerability of surface water resources during the peak of the dry season (August) to the watershed with Municipal Water intakes, however, in general, the availability of surface water resources in the three watersheds was relatively safe as indicated by the projection results of the run-off discharge average annual rate increased by 4%