Bali to Introduce IT-Based Smart Water Management System to Prevent Flooding from 2026

Indonesia's state-owned water management company Perum Jasa Tirta I (PJT I) announced it is preparing a Smart Water Management System (SWMS) to help prevent major flooding in Bali, following a significant flood that hit Denpasar in September 2025. The move comes as PJT I is set to take over management of the Bali-Penida river basin from 2026 under an assignment from the Directorate General of Water Resources at the Ministry of Public Works.

According to Hamim Ghufroni, head of PJT I's Bali-Penida water resources division, the current manual monitoring system has been too slow to respond to flood risks. The IT-based system, already proven in five other river basins across Indonesia, will replace manual monitoring with real-time data collection.

As an initial step this year, PJT I has begun procurement and contracting to install two Automatic Rain Recorder (ARR) stations and two Automatic Water Level Recorder (AWLR) stations at critical points in Denpasar and Badung, with a focus on the Tukad Mati river and Muara Reservoir.

Data collected in the field—covering water discharge levels to river pollution—will be transmitted in real time to PJT I's Command Center in Malang, East Java. The system automatically categorizes water conditions into green, yellow, and red alert levels, allowing PJT I to detect surges in water discharge from upstream areas early and take preventive action, including controlled early release of reservoir water before major flood volumes arrive.

While only two monitoring points are being installed in this initial phase, PJT I said it is identifying additional locations across the entire Bali-Penida basin for future installation. The company is also collaborating with Indonesia's meteorological agency BMKG to forecast rainfall up to 4-5 days in advance, aiming to issue more precise early flood warnings to the public.