The Solo River

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The Bengawan Solo is the longest river in the Indonesian archipelago, located at the island of Java. It runs through Mount Lawu’s slopes, passes through the province of Solo, and streams over the lowlands then discharges to the Java Sea. Java is well known to have a tropical monsoon climate; therefore flooding is a common environmental problem throughout Indonesia. Java has lengthy humid forecasts during October up until April, with the most humid months being January and February. Due to the recent eruptions of the Mount Merapi, Kelut, and Lawu, there has been a distinct distribution of volcanic ash and remains carried by the waters of the Solo River. The volcanic ash contributes to the high agricultural fertility of the farmlands near the river. Although it could be beneficial to the fertility of Solo’s farmlands, the ash carries sicknesses and diseases to those near the river. Also, the floods have affected people and their homes, making their homes inhabitable because of the access of water that has entered their houses. The construction of the Wonogiri Dam was part of major flood resistance and a hydroelectric power source for Solo, however the annual flooding continues to haunt the people of Solo. The annual inundations caused severe ecological, social, economic losses and damages. Local geologists predict that severe climate shifts would result in greater weather forecasts during the rainy seasons, which would result to higher overflow of rivers, major flooding, landslides, fatalities and losses. As a result of the recent flooding, with more than 100 fatalities, large amounts of Solo’s agriculture are affected; buildings and transportation were destroyed, therefore leading to large economical losses. Due to Solo’s history w...

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...ouse also. In Indonesia, corruption is widely present. The organization may request a sum of money from the government to solve the flooding issue, although, the leaders of the IFPP could possibly choose to pocket the money for their own use, instead of properly solving the flood issue in Solo. Due to corruption, the money remaining wouldn’t be able to be suffice for the construction, therefore they have to minimize the use of resources which could lead into a weaker dam, or they have to build a smaller dam which couldn’t decrease the flood levels as much. Although problems like corruption is there, the dam system would be an effective method because the flood levels are getting controlled, and the hydrological power would be able to be supplied to the people, therefore slowly covering their costs, and resulting into a highly effective method for the people of Solo.

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