Water Resource Management in the Lowlands of Southern Papua Using a Decision Support System and Integrating Traditional Ecological Knowledge

Papua is a developing province of Indonesia. However, when the development is driven by decision making frameworks that are incapable of including the values most important to the indigenous people of the districts, there is the potential to create injustice and inequity for present and future generations. The Mauri Model Decision Making Framework was developed to address this short coming is in Aotearoa, New Zealand. Its adaptation to the Papua Context has been investigated and confirmed as a feasible application in the Asmat and Merauke context. The Agats Township application looks at a water supply project, while in Merauke the application looks at changing the use of to agricultural purposes. In Agats Township, fresh water supply is a problem for residents. A solution implemented to address the water supply requirements for Agats has introduced inequalities for the regional community. The issues beyond equitable access to the water supply, such as cultural transgressions, raise further questions regarding sustainability. The analysis revealed the high level of complexity posed by this problem. It shows that the project is not sustainable from the Asmat People’s perspective, but could be considered sustainable by the local government. The analysis shows that the predominant benefits are for social and economic wellbeing, while environmental and cultural well-being are diminished. The differences in worldview values and therefore the perception of an infrastructure project’s sustainability stem from the different values of the stakeholders effected. The findings demonstrate the international applicability of the Mauri Model Decision Making Framework in other cultural contexts. Meanwhile, in Merauke, development in the agricultural sector has four scenarios. Scenarios A, and B are benefit scheme of the mega project Merauke Integrated Food and Energy Estate. Scenario C is sustainable development, and Scenario D is autonomous development. Here Scenario C is superior to the others and the one which benefits all stakeholders. These case studies offer insight at different levels of understanding showing that the Mauri Model is important for issues involving indigenous people. Keyword: Mauri Model, water management, Asmat, Merauke, New Zealand

Name thesis:degree_name

PhD

Level thesis:degree_level

Doctoral

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Civil Engineering

Grantor dc:publisher

ResearchSpace@Auckland

Year dc:date.issued

2015

Author dc:creator

• Wambrauw, Elisabeth

Advisors dc:contributor.advisor

• Morgan, T
• Shamsheldin, A

Statement dc:rights

• Items in ResearchSpace are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated. Previously published items are made available in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• https://researchspace.auckland.ac.nz/docs/uoa-docs/rights.htm

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/2292/27200

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:researchspace.auckland.ac.nz:2292/27200