SANUR

Excess use of groundwater by businesses around Sanur has led to seawater leaching into the water-table up to 600 metres inland, poisoning gardens.

Meanwhile, officials have warned that underground cavities created as water is drawn out of the bedrock could cause buildings to collapse.

The head of the technical implementation unit at the Bali Environmental Body (BLH), Gede Suarjana, said last week that the high groundwater uptake around Sanur for use in swimming pools and other facilities had created voids in the substrata beneath the resort.

Some of these had been filled by seawater, he said; others remained empty.

“The water cavities are emptying. This could cause subsidence in the buildings along the top of the beach,” Suarjana said, adding that action was needed to counter the problem.

“What should we do?  We need to prepare supplies of water that can re-enter the ground, through absorption wells, and that sort of thing,” he said.

Suarjana added that there were potentially similar problems with groundwater in other major resort areas, including Kuta and Nusa Dua.