Contested River: Exploring the Impact of Infrastructure on Indigenous Water (In)Security

Abstract

Examining The River Intake Project in the context of the capital city relocation of Indonesia from Jakarta to the hinterlands of Kalimantan, this paper explores the contested nature of the river in the new city-making process. By highlighting the infrastructuralization of the Sepaku River, we document its implications for water insecurity and uncertainty among the Balik indigenous group residing along the Sepaku riverbanks for decades. Their intricate relations with the Sepaku River extend beyond utility, encompassing ritual and communal values. In contrast, the government perceives the river as a pivotal source for the future development of Nusantara, as the new Capital has been called. Employing the political ecology of infrastructure, we conceptualize the river as a contested hydrosocial arena when mega-project infrastructure extends to the hinterland and changes the relationship between people and water. Our findings, drawn from six months of fieldwork in Sepaku Village, primarily focus on the construction process of the river damming and normalization project, "Intake Sungai Sepaku." This intervention modifies the Sepaku River's flow, widens its channel, and displaces parts of the indigenous settlement, increasing river turbidity and leading to reducing indigenous people's access to water. The infrastructure has also resulted in the disappearance of river stones believed to hold ritual significance for the indigenous community and their ancestral graves.