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WATER COOPERATION, SUSTAINABILITY AND POVERTY ERADICATIONImage: APCEThe subak system: temple, paddy field and waterment. Solid waste and liquid waste is disposed of in open landfillsin the back yard of the boarding school, while domestic solid andliquid waste is discharged directly into water bodies through thepipes without prior processing. This, of course, would be bad bothfor local air and water quality and for public health, given the qualityof river water that is used directly. Assessments of the quality of theraw water used and of waste management for boarding occupantshave made these areas the focus of attention for improving waterresources management at the site through demo site ecohydrology.Artificial wetland for wastewater treatmentIn the early stages of development, demo site ecohydrology atPesantren Ar-Risalah Kudat focused on improving the quality ofdomestic water and waste management. Domestic wastewater treatmentis done by constructing artificial wetlands, hereafter referred toas ‘wetland’. This wetland functions to improve the quality of domesticwastewater originating from the bathroom, kitchen and any placeof ablution that is not directly discharged into the river water bodies.Meanwhile, domestic solid waste will be collected in a communalseptic tank where water run-off can flow into the wetland. In orderto improve the quality of water supply to schools, there are futureplans for the manufacture and installation of water treatment plantsat school locations, using river water as a raw material.Cultural landscape and the subak system in BaliSubak is the name of the water management (irrigation)system for paddy fields on Bali island, Indonesia,developed more than 1,000 year ago. Over that time,this traditional ecologically sustainable irrigationsystem has constantly adjusted to changing situations.The result is an intricate system which is stronglyinterlinked with Bali’s natural, social, cultural andreligious environment.The cultural landscape of Bali consists of five riceterraces and their water temples which cover 19,500ha. The temples are the focus of the cooperative subaksystem of water management for canals and weirs,which dates back to the ninth century. Included inthe landscape is the eighteenth-century Royal WaterTemple of Pura Taman Ayun, the largest and mostimpressive architectural edifice of its type on the island.The subak system of democratic and egalitarian farmingpractices has enabled the Balinese people to become themost prolific rice growers in the archipelago despite thechallenge of supporting a dense population.Rice, the water that sustains it and subak, the cooperativesocial system that controls the water, have[ 190 ]