What is proposed
The draft treats sempadan sungai, the protected strip along a river, as a conservation zone. Its stated aims are to protect water resources, reduce disaster risk and keep ecosystems in balance.
The text covers zoning and selective land use permits. Activities are classed as permitted, conditionally permitted or prohibited, with a licensing process, administrative sanctions, incentives and disincentives.
Existing buildings
A separate part deals with structures already standing inside the buffer zone. The reports do not say what will happen to them.
Antara's coverage gives no setback distances from the riverbank. The number of the future regulation is also not yet known.
Where the draft stands
Council member I Nyoman Alit Sutarya presented the initiative on 1 August 2026. On 14 August the text was refined using the executive's input, which asked for clearer zone boundaries, monitoring and coordination between agencies.
Antara reported on 11 September that the river buffer regulation was approved in the same session as the budget revision. Until a Perda (regency regulation) number is published, treat its provisions as not yet in force.
Role of villages and funding
The draft brings in customary village law. It refers to awig-awig and pararem, the rules and decisions of traditional villages, through which communities can help police riverbanks.
Protection measures are to be funded from the regency budget. Council members stress that the rules will not work without businesses, communities and customary villages on board.
This matters for existing villas by the water. If communities gain a role in watching riverbanks, questions about a property may come from the village as well as from officials.