From Threshold-Based Regulation to Risk-Based Water Governance: New Paradigm on Water Governance in Indonesia
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.37253/conescintech.v6i1.12809Keywords:
water pollution, risk-based water governance, threshold-based regulation, right to health, environmental governanceAbstract
Water pollution in Indonesia continues to threaten environmental sustainability and the realization of the right to health. Despite an extensive regulatory framework, water quality degradation remains persistent, indicating limitations in the existing legal approach. This study argues that the core weakness of Indonesia’s water pollution control regime lies not merely in regulatory insufficiency but in the persistence of a threshold-based legal paradigm that legitimizes intervention only after pollution exceeds prescribed standards. While existing studies mainly focus on normative inconsistencies among regulations, limited attention has been paid to the underlying regulatory paradigm shaping environmental governance. This research employs a normative legal method using statutory, conceptual, and comparative approaches. Indonesian environmental regulations are examined in comparison with preventive principles reflected in the World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) guidelines. The findings reveal a fundamental divergence between Indonesia’s threshold-based and post-damage liability approach and the preventive risk governance model adopted in international standards. The current framework prioritizes compliance with pollution thresholds and corrective measures after environmental harm occurs, whereas risk-based water governance emphasizes continuous risk assessment, preventive intervention, and public health protection before measurable damage arises. The novelty of this study lies in shifting the analytical focus from normative-regulatory gaps to a paradigmatic critique of environmental regulation. It proposes a conceptual framework for transforming Indonesia’s water pollution control regime toward risk-based water governance to strengthen environmental protection and ensure the effective realization of the right to health.
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