Regulation on Rivers

Government Regulation No. 38 of 2011 on Rivers (“Regulation”) has been issued to implement river conservation efforts, river development, and efforts to control the destructive force of river water, as mandated under Articles 25 (3), 36 (2), and 58 (2) of Law No. 7 of 2004 on Water Resources.

Article 1 defines several key terms that will be used throughout the Regulation. The terms include: rivers (elaborated on in Article 1 (1)); water resource management (elaborated on in Article 1 (4)); watershed/drainage basin (elaborated on in Article 1 (5)); and minister, which will be the Minister of Public Works (as elaborated on in Article 1 (13)).

Article 2 outlines the topics that will be covered in the Regulation. The Regulation includes provisions on river space, river management, permits, information systems, and public participation. Pursuant to Article 5, rivers consist of riverbeds (as elaborated on in Article 6) and river demarcation (as elaborated on in Article 8 to 17).