Protecting Water from Upstream to Sea, Residents Need to Be Involved Since Planning

BALI, GARISBUMI.com – Sustainability of water management programs requires more than infrastructure development. The community needs to be involved since planning so that they have a role in maintaining the water sources and facilities being built.

This issue emerged at the 11th International Water Conference (IWC-11) in Bali, Wednesday (21/10/2026). The discussion brought together funding needs, ecosystem management, and citizen involvement as mutually supportive parts.

Pacific Community Representative, Raymond Schuster, emphasized the importance of community ownership of the program. According to him, the success of water resources management is not only determined by technical approaches.

"The most important thing to build sustainability is ensuring that stakeholders are involved and have a sense of ownership of the activities and infrastructure being built. We also need to have a good governance system so that implementation is more effective," explained Raymond.

He highlighted the source to sea approach, namely management that looks at the connection between upstream water sources and marine ecosystems. This approach was discussed along with the need to involve the community from the planning stage to implementation.

Raymond, who is based in Fiji and works in the areas of water resources, disaster and planning, hopes his cross-regional experience can be applied to the Pacific Community program in the Pacific.