| Bengawan Solo ꦧꦼꦔꦮꦤ꧀ꦱꦭ | |
|---|---|
 The Bengawan Solo passing throughBojonegoro | |
 | |
| Location | |
| Country |  Indonesia |
| Provinces | Central Java,East Java |
| Cities/Towns | Surakarta,Ngawi,Bojonegoro |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | Southern Mountains of East Java (Sewu Mountains) |
| • location | Special Region of Yogyakarta,Central Java andEast Java |
| 2nd source | Mount Merapi andMount Merbabu |
| • location | Boyolali Regency |
| 3rd source | Mount Lawu |
| • location | Karanganyar Regency |
| 4th source | Western region ofMount Wilis |
| • location | Ponorogo Regency |
| Mouth | Java Sea |
• location | Gresik Regency & Sedayulawas (Lamongan Regency) |
• coordinates | 6°52′38″S112°33′22″E / 6.877111°S 112.556167°E /-6.877111; 112.556167 |
| Length | 600 km (370 mi)[1] |
| Basin size | 16,100 km2 (6,200 sq mi)[1] |
| Discharge | |
| • average | 684 m3/s (24,155 cu ft/s) |
| Basin features | |
| River system | Bengawan Solo basin (DAS230217)[2] |
| Landmarks | Fort van den Bosch; Solo Safari Zoo; Kusuma Bhakti Heroes' Memorial Park; University of Surakarta |
| Waterbodies | Gajah Mungkur Dam |
| Bridges | Sembayat Bridge; Karanggeneng Bridge; Laren Bridge; Tuban-Babat National Road Bridge; Oude Indië Spoorbrug bij Kléwér; Kanor - Rengel Bridge; Kaliketek Bridge; Lengkung Bojonegoro Bridge; Padangan Bridge; Solo-Cepu railroad Bridge; |
| Basin management & authority | BPDAS Solo;[2] BBWS Bengawan Solo[3] |
TheSolo River (known inIndonesian as theBengawan Solo, withBengawan being anOld Javanese word forriver, andSolo derived from the old name forSurakarta[4]) is the longest river in theIndonesian island ofJava. It is approximately 600 km (370 mi) in length.
Apart from its importance as a watercourse to the inhabitants and farmlands of the eastern and northern parts of the island, it is a renowned region inpaleoanthropology circles. Many discoveries of earlyhominid remains (dating from 100,00 to 1.5 million years ago) have been made at several sites in its valleys, especially atSangiran, including that of the first early human fossil found outside of Europe, the so-called "Java Man" skull, discovered in 1891.[5]
The Bengawan Solo was the crash site ofGaruda Indonesia Flight 421 on January 16, 2002.[6]
Solo River was part of a massive river system that once existed inSundaland. This drainage of the river system consisted of a major river in present-daySumatra andBorneo, such as the Asahan River,Musi River andKapuas River. The river system disappeared when Sundaland was submerged aftersea level rise following the last Ice Age.[7]
The river played an important part in Javanese history. Itsdrainage basin is an important agricultural area, dominated byrice farming. The river transported fertile volcanic soil downstream, replenishing the soil. It also provided a link between Javanese port cities on the northern coast and the rice-growing hinterlands, with shallow vessels transporting rice to the ports to be sold.[8] This rice is Java's main commodity that was traded as part of theSpice trade.
Following the acquisition of much of Java by the Dutch colonial government, variouscash crops were introduced to be planted across the river basin, such ascoffee,sugar, andcotton. (seeCultivation System).
By the last years of the 19th century, river sedimentation in its original delta in Madura Strait started to disrupt vessel traffic in the port of Surabaya. The Dutch colonial government decided to divert the river flow away from the shipping lane intothe Java Sea. They built a canal in the river's delta in the 1890s which still alters the river to this day.[9]
In 1891, Dutch paleoanthropologistEugène Dubois discovered remains (a part of askull and human-likefemur bone andtooth) he described as "a species in between humans and apes".[5] He called his findsPithecanthropus erectus ("ape-human that stands upright") orJava Man. Today, they are classified asHomo erectus ("human that stands upright").[10][5] These were the first specimens of earlyhominid remains to be found outside of Africa or Europe.
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It passes through the major city ofSurakarta (calledSolo by the local inhabitants). An important early tributary to the Solo River is the Dengkeng River, which has its source onMount Merapi.[11] After passing through Solo, the river flows northward around Mount LawuRegency and then turns eastward intoEast Java in theNgawi Regency andNgawi (town).
After Ngawi the river turns northward again, forming the boundary betweenBlora Regency of Central Java andBojonegoro regency of East Java. From the town ofCepu in Blora, the river turns eastward and passes through Bojonegoro Regency's capital city. From there, it continues eastward through theLamongan andGresik Regencies. The last part of the river's basin (roughly starting from Bojonegoro regency) is mostly flat land.[12]
Bengawan Solo's delta is located near the town ofSidayu in the Gresik Regency. The present delta is redirected by a human-madecanal.[12] The original delta flowed into theMadura Strait,[12] but in 1890 a 12-km canal was made by theDutch East Indies authority to redirect the Solo River intothe Java Sea.[12][13] This was done to prevent sedimentation of mud from filling the Madura Strait and thereby preventing sea access to the important port city ofSurabaya.[12]
The Solo RiverDelta has a huge mudsedimentation flow that deposits 17 million tonnes of mud per year. This sedimentation in the delta forms a cape, which has an average longitudinal growth of 70 m per year.[13] This delta is known as Ujung Pangkah (Pangkah Cape).
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Brantas River Public Corporation or Perum Jasa Tirta I (PJT1) is responsible for managing the water resources of the Brantas and Bengawan Solo river basins in Indonesia.[14] It is a centralised effort to:
Before the centralised management efforts, there were reports of pollution along the Bengawan Solo.[15]
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The river has several dams and modifications.
The Gondang Dam,East Java, is located on the Kali Gondang River, a sub-basin of the BengawanSolo River,[16] at the village of Gondang Lor, in Sugio, a sub-district ofLamongan, Indonesia.[17] It was built in 1983–1987 and has a 6.6-hectare (16-acre) surface area and is about 29 meters in depth.[17] The main use of the dam is forirrigation and community water needs, especially in the dry season,[17] but many tourists come there for relaxing and fishing now. There is acamp site,pedalos and a smallzoo. The manager of the dam is committed to implementing the programs ofSapta Pesona (Seven Charms).
Another dam known as the Gondang Dam nearKaranganyar,Central Java, began construction in 2014 with a budget of Rp 636 billion and was constructed to increase the local water supply and add recreational opportunities.[18] The site size was estimated to be 88.25 hectares and was planned to hold a total volume of 10 million cubic meters.[18] The dam was completed in 2019 but not expected to be fully filled until 2020, anddurian trees were grown near the site to attract tourists.[19] In 2023, the dam's community team held a durian festival at the site.[20]
"Bengawan Solo", a song composed byGesang Martohartono in 1940, poetically describes the river and has become famous across Asia.
