GORONTALO - On November 4, several areas in Gorontalo Regency were again flooded. According to the National Disaster Management Agency, as many as 1231 people were affected by the flood.

Head of the Center for Disaster Studies at the Gorontalo State University Muhammad Kasim said that the flooding that occurred in Gorontalo Regency was caused by the overflow of the Alo River which could not accommodate the water discharge due to high rainfall.

“If we pay attention, the flooding that occurred brought a lot of mud. This happens because of erosion that occurs in open land. In the end, that is what causes flooding along with mud,” he explained.

Kasim explained that in the future, flood disaster management must start from upstream by re-greening the Alo River Watershed (DAS), most of which have been used as agricultural land.

“Construction of civil structures at the downstream such as embankments or drainage will not be effective if the upstream areas are not maintained. For downstream areas, it is better to build drainage that is interconnected," he said.

In line with Kasim, Dr. Sunarty Eraku, S.PdM.Pd., a lecturer at the Department of Earth Engineering at UNG, said that currently the Alo River watershed is experiencing erosion due to land use change.

"The results of my research in 2010 found that the mountain peaks in the Alo watershed were deforested due to the conversion of land to corn farming, resulting in erosion. From below we may see that it is still lush like a forest, but above it is actually barren," she said.

Sunarty explained that when the rainfall is high, erosion causes the soil to not be able to accommodate rainwater and the water flows directly into the river and then overflows, causing flooding.

"The Alo watershed is not suitable for agricultural land, the Alo watershed should be a water catchment area", she said.