Water Economic Valuation and Community Engagement in Catchment Area Management of Way Sekampung Dam, Lampung

Abstract

This study aims to identify and calculate the total economic value of water resources in the Way Sekampung Dam Catchment Area, and to analyze the willingness to pay (WTP) of water users for forest rehabilitation costs as part of a water resource conservation strategy. The methods used include an economic valuation approach for the Regional Drinking Water Company (LGWU), agricultural irrigation, Hydroelectric Power Plant (HPP), and tourism. The results show that the largest economic value of air comes from the HPP sector (IDR 66.2 billion/year), followed by the agricultural sector (IDR 7.4 billion/year), LGWU (IDR 4.9 billion/year), and tourism (IDR 240 million/year). The highest willingness to pay (WTP) comes from LGWU consumers and tourist visitors, respectively IDR 265.6 million and IDR 128.3 million per year. Conservation strategies such as forest rehabilitation, application of soil and air conservation techniques (SCA), and increasing vegetation cover have been proven to reduce erosion from 141.55 tons/ha/year to 19.9 tons/ha/year. Integration of ecological and economic approaches is important to realize sustainable watershed management. Keywords: Economic valuation, water resources, willingness to pay, community involvement, watershed management