Studies highlight Labuan Bajo’s chronic water scarcity and tanker dependence

Labuan Bajo — Two research projects published in 2015 and 2021 describe a town where residents and tourism businesses share chronic water scarcity, uneven access and dependence on costly tanker supplies, with women bearing much of the burden of securing water for households. The studies document governance and inclusion challenges around Labuan Bajo’s municipal water utility and private tanker operators, but they do not provide a current, comprehensive survey of tariffs, tanker prices or household spending.

The first study, For the Worry of Water: Water, Women and Tourism in Labuan Bajo, is an initial policy paper by Stoma Cole and Marta Muslin dated 1 October 2015. According to the paper, tourism growth has added to a water crisis in the gateway town to Komodo National Park, where residents suffer from the scarcity and cost of water for basic needs.

The authors report that businesses often receive water from delivery trucks or wells and that the existing pricing structure enables the largest consumers to use more water while households face high costs.

Cole and Muslin’s ethnographic work consulted more than 100 people in Labuan Bajo’s Komodo subdistrict, excluding the islands, and found that local residents faced shortages, irregular supply and high expenditures on tanker water. The paper argues that women, who are responsible for domestic water provision and management, bear the brunt of these burdens when water is scarce, unreliable or expensive. It recommends training women for leadership and monitoring roles in water management so their experience informs decisions.

The policy paper identifies tanker deliveries as a major element of Labuan Bajo’s water system. It calls for immediate regulation of tanker-water quality, licensing of providers and random testing to protect health, and for stricter oversight of prices charged to households. It also proposes longer-term actions, including watershed protection, conservation education and a differential pricing approach so that tourism businesses and local residents do not pay the same rates.

Governance and inclusive WASH

The 2015 paper places the state-run water company, PDAM, at the centre of the reform agenda. It states that PDAM has failed, noting that its head resigned and was investigated for corruption, and calls for a “total overhaul” of the utility. Recommended steps include revitalising PDAM, repairing old pipes, improving catchment management, strengthening monitoring and clarifying provincial and district responsibilities.

The later case-study report, Inclusive WASH and Tourism in Labuan Bajo, Indonesia, was produced under an International WaterCentre project at Griffith University examining inclusive water, sanitation and hygiene in tourism destinations. The report situates water access in Labuan Bajo within a broader governance framework that covers water resources management, tourism, private-sector responsibilities, gender equality, disability and social inclusion.

It highlights that Labuan Bajo is a semi-arid, water-scarce area with only four wet months per year and describes chronic water scarcity affecting both communities and tourism businesses.

According to this 2021 work, Labuan Bajo’s town and tourism businesses are connected to the municipal water utility, which draws on spring water, but piped supply only flows twice a week. The analysis finds that water scarcity impacts are felt most by the community, particularly women, and calls for more inclusive approaches that consider the needs of different genders, people with disabilities and other vulnerable groups in hotels, public places and surrounding communities.

What the studies show — and do not show

Both studies support a clear picture of structural problems in Labuan Bajo’s water system: semi-arid conditions, limited and intermittent piped supply, high reliance on tanker deliveries, and governance weaknesses around PDAM and private suppliers. They also emphasise unequal impacts, with households and women carrying heavy costs and responsibilities while tourism businesses compete for limited water.

However, neither the 2015 policy paper nor the 2021 case study provides a single current price that all households pay for water or a detailed comparison of present-day PDAM tariffs, tanker-water prices and household income. While some documents related to West Manggarai’s water planning mention indicative tanker charges per truck, these figures are not embedded in a broader, up-to-date household spending survey for Labuan Bajo town.

The common claim that water costs can reach one-quarter of the minimum wage is not documented in the sources reviewed and cannot be reported as a verified, current condition.

Cole and Muslin’s paper lists eight priority actions, including regulating tanker-water quality and prices, revitalising PDAM, protecting catchments, promoting conservation, setting different prices for tourism and local residents, improving research and monitoring, and embedding human-rights standards in water provision. The later International WaterCentre work extends this agenda to inclusive WASH and tourism, suggesting stronger collaboration on water supply planning, integration of socially inclusive WASH and water stewardship into tourism policies, and clearer responsibilities for hotels and small cruise ships.

The available studies therefore document longstanding water scarcity, governance challenges and proposed reforms in Labuan Bajo, but they do not establish whether all of the recommended changes have been implemented or how PDAM currently performs. They also do not provide a verified, up-to-date schedule of domestic tariffs and tanker prices, leaving key questions about affordability and access for today’s low-income households and women to be answered by new field research.

Sources

• University of the West of England repository – "For the Worry of Water: Water, Women and Tourism in Labuan Bajo"
• International WaterCentre, Griffith University – "Inclusive WASH and Tourism in Labuan Bajo, Indonesia"
• Quarterly Journal of Environmental Management and Tourism – article citing Cole and Muslin 2015
• Rencana Induk Sistem Penyediaan Air Minum (RISPAM) Manggarai Barat – draft document on water supply planning
• Journal of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for Development – "Inclusive WASH and sustainable tourism in Labuan Bajo, Indonesia: needs and opportunities"