The oil palm estate of PT. GUTHRIE PECCONINA, INDONESIA (PT GPI) in Sekayu, Palembang has been affected by prolonged floods almost annually, which consequently create stress to the oil palm trees and hence generate loss of income to the company during the flooding season. These floods are basically due to the combination of high rainfall volume during the monsoon season and the inability of the surface runoff from the plantation area to be discharged to the nearby receiving rivers. The water discharging problem is mainly due to the lower water level in the drainage system of the plantation as compared to the water level in the receiving rivers. Additionally, the plantation is experiencing shortage of water during dry period, which also create stress to the oil palm trees.
In meeting the need of the estate, PT GPI appointed UTM via IPASA to provide advisory services and recommendations on the water management and flood mitigation for the purpose of improving the operations of its oil palm estates. A detailed hydrological study was carried out on the affected 11,000 hectare estates of Rantau Panjang, Nepal, Bumi Ayu and Karang Ringin.
The scope of the study include:
- Assessing the effectiveness of the drainage system in discharging excess water from the plantation areas during the flood season
- Regulating the water availability during the drought period which include designing of the detention pond and water level maintenance in the canal
- Developing geospatial database as an input for modeling of flood and drought as well as for the water management in the plantation
- Proposing a long term solution or mitigation measures to overcome the flooding and water shortage problems.
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  Location of PT GPI in Sumatera |
 The PT GPI estates on the satellite image |
Brain storming session at the site office |
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Site visit during flood season in Sekayu |
Site visit during the draught season in Sekayu |
Surveying the existing drainage system |
