**3. Law enforcement and institutional arrangements for integrated river basin management**

Natural resources and the environment must be maintained to avoid environmental damage or environmental disasters so that development and environmental sustainability can run synergistically. One of the uses of natural resources which is also used for environmental conservation is river basin management.

The utilization of natural resources in river basins can have positive and negative impacts for various purposes. The positive impact is indicated by an increase in economic growth and community welfare. The community can utilize the river basin for irrigation canals for agriculture, excavation of soil and sand that can be used for building materials, tourism objects, and many other benefits. The negative impact is a decrease in the quality and quantity of the river basin environment caused by sediment sourced from erosion and industrial waste caused by densely populated slums. Besides that, another negative impact is the continuous excavation of soil and sand to form basins in the river. River basins that can damage the shape of the land and facilitate landslides, especially on the left and right of the river and riverbed, become rougher. It can increase the erosion and carrying capacity of the river. These negative impacts can change the condition of rivers and river basin ecosystems.

The complexity of the problems of the artificial environment along the river basin requires multidimensional and comprehensive problem-solving. One of the determining factors for the success of efforts to solve these problems is the participation of all levels of society. At this time, community involvement in environmental management along the river basin, from the planning, and implementation to monitoring stages, is still relatively low due to:


Furthermore, there seems to be no awareness that actions taken in one river basin will be linked to what happens in another. The level of community education is one aspect that determines the extent to which people have environmental concerns on a wider scale than the environment in which they live.

There are river basin sustainability problems related to the community's social conditions around the river basin and the management of the river basin itself institutionally. A comprehensive, integrated river basin approach requires open management that ensures the continuity of the coordination process between related institutions. In addition, it is also necessary to consider the importance of community participation in river basin management, starting from planning, policy formulation, implementation, and utilization. River basin planning cannot be carried out alone through a sectoral approach. Still, there must be inter-sectoral linkages both in the planning of the state revenue and expenditure budget, work programs, and coordination of implementation. In addition, there are social factors that influence river basin management, including population density, conservation behavior, customary law, traditional values, institutions, and a culture of cooperation or mutual cooperation.

The harmonization of structural relations between institutions in government in the era of regional autonomy, both at the central and local levels, was disrupted due to uncontrollable internal factors, such as sectoral egos and regional egos. This is further complicated by the imbalance in the potential of natural resources and the financial condition of each region. The reality on the ground shows that governmental institutions have overlapping programs and activities in managing natural and water resources.

The reasons behind River Basin management regulations include national economic development, which is carried out based on the principles of sustainable development and a sound environment. The spirit of regional autonomy in governance has brought about changes in the relationship and authority between the central government and regional governments, especially in the field of environmental protection and management.

For example, in Indonesia, having Law Number 32 of 2009 concerning Environmental Protection and Management, it is expected that the use of natural resources must be in harmony and balance with environmental functions. Consequently, development policies, plans, and/or programs must be imbued with the obligation to preserve the environment and realize sustainable development goals included in the management of river basins. The Law of the Republic of Indonesia, Number 32 of 2009 concerning Environmental Protection and Management Article 70 paragraph (1) states that the community has the same and widest possible rights and opportunities to play an active role in environmental protection and management. In addition, based on the Government Regulation of the Republic of Indonesia Number 37 of 2012 concerning River basin Management Article 57, which states:

a.The community can participate in river basin management.


Through these laws and regulations, the government gives comprehensive authority to regional governments in protecting and managing the environment in their respective regions.

The regulation provides space for the community to reduce the possibility of the community refusing to accept decisions. Providing access to information on environmental management is also an integral part of community participation in environmental management.

The purpose of community participation since the planning stage is to generate useful inputs and perceptions from citizens and interested communities to improve the quality of environmental decision-making. Because by involving potentially affected communities and interest groups, decision-makers can capture the views, needs, and expectations of these communities and groups and translate them into concepts. The views and reactions of the community, on the other hand, will help decision-makers determine priorities, interests, and positive directions from various factors.

The process of community participation must be open to the public; community participation will affect the credibility (accountability) of the agency concerned. By documenting the actions of this state agency's decisions, to be able to provide a satisfactory means if the public and even the courts feel the need to examine the considerations that have been taken when making the decision, which in the end will be able to force the responsibility of the state agency for the activities it carries out.

Planning institutions that enable integrated or coordinated planning are important and necessary, including institutions for collecting and presenting data and information. The institution in question is the organization and regulation of the mechanism of the relationship between components within the organization and between related organizations. Establishing institutions does not always have to form new organizations but strengthening the role of existing organizations and clarifying relationships between existing organizations.

The main principle in river basin management, such as in Selat Village, Jambi Luar Kota Regency, is to synergize sectoral programs with river basin resource management objectives based on the issue of water resources in the river basin. As a framework for a working approach, every sectoral plan and activities of related parties need to be monitored by the competent authorities in responding to water resources issues and communicating with related parties to resolve problems that cause these issues to occur within an integrated river basin management framework.

Institutional arrangements determine how individuals interact with other individuals and between organizations and other organizations using river basins. This arrangement is important to ensure various stakeholders can accept that river basin management from their respective goals and interests. Three factors can be identified from this institutional arrangement, namely: coherence of interests and activities among stakeholders; strength of local institutions; and benefits to local communities within the river basin.

River basins can be managed well if their resource potential is high and social arrangements and external factors can create a good balance between incentives and

### *Community Participation in River Basin Management DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.105954*

controls. Communities will act in the context of rehabilitation and conservation of river basins if they can share the benefits of their actions.

To be able to realize the above-described river basin management, it must first be realized that the performance of river basin management is largely determined by the performance of many institutions/organizations, each of which has different interests, roles, and functions according to the sector, resource, and region.

The initial stage in the search for institutional innovation for integrated river basin management is initiating a dialogue process that aims to identify and, without concern, concepts, programs, and actions based on views in river basin management. In principle, the initiation process can be carried out by individuals or community groups, community organizations, local, regional and national NGOs, district, provincial, or national government agencies, or private institutions, either voluntarily or after a public mandate. Initiation by public institutions with main tasks and functions directly related to river basin resources is expected to maintain a continuous process so that river basin management objectives can be achieved through overall institutional strengthening. The dialog process is carried out in a participatory manner and should be facilitated by an independent facilitator who understands the context of integrated river basin management.

The participation process for integrated river basin management at the initiation stage encourages the formation of a collective decision-making mechanism that is oriented towards solving the main problems in the field, so it is necessary to apply a bottom-up approach to ensure its efficiency and effectiveness. The principles of various capacities, resolutions and building conventions need to be mutually agreed upon in every process implemented. Consensus building is the most effective method of decision-making in the integrated river basin management process. Although it takes a relatively long time and requires commitment, decisions are made based on a contributive approach (sharing capacity and resources) and are determined by mutual agreement. All participants are responsible for implementing any agreed decisions.

The final crystallization of the series of initiation processes is formulating an integrated river basin management plan that is still macro in nature but lays the foundation for establishing a solid social contract. Integrated river basin management planning starts with a basic information review, condition assessment, problem definition, priority setting, objective analysis, alternative analysis, and a joint plan.

If the above agreements/outcomes can be reached, the door for capacity building and division of roles of each involved institution/organization has been opened and can be followed up with efforts to operationalize all agreements through structuring better institutional relations and being accountable to the public, strengthening legal aspects and implementation at the program level. Every collective agreement must ultimately be adopted constitutionally/legally by the institution that has the authority.

Water and river basin management institutions are essentially a social construction that constantly changes and develops according to social and ecological evolution. The form of interaction and the direction of socio-ecological change is highly dependent on the dynamics of the interplay between social and ecosystem elements. In the process of change, there is a multi-way interaction between the river basin management system as the designer and decision-maker; members of the river basin management organization as the main stakeholders for the sustainable use of the river basin, and other ecological and social elements involved.

The concept of water and river basin management institutions includes formal and informal regulations, norms, cognitive bases, and structured symbolic systems to regulate use and distribution and determine the status of water resources within a community group. The concepts mentioned above can be broadly divided into aspects of policy, law, and administration, including formal and informal elements. Water law issues refer to the legal status of water, water rights, conflict resolution and mechanisms, possible conflicts between laws, legal diversity, and the presence or absence of administrative regulations to implement these laws. Policy aspects include the priority of use, cost, ability to decentralize or centralize, and participation and coordination with other policies. The administrative aspect is the organizational structure of water management, including financing, staffing, capacity, and fundraising.
