Jakarta (ANTARA) – Public Works Minister Dody Hanggodo has announced plans to form a special task force to mitigate the impacts of the El Niño phenomenon.”Specifically for El Niño, I will establish a dedicated task force to handle it in the 2026–2027 period,” he said during the Infratalks event in Jakarta on Friday.According to him, the task force is crucial because the potential drought triggered by the phenomenon—which is marked by rising temperatures—will impact more than just irrigation systems and farmlands cut off from water supplies.Some water supply systems and reservoirs across several regions are also expected to face severe water shortages during the El Niño period.”I see a pressing need for a special task force. We must preempt and prepare for El Niño from the very outset,” he explained.The Ministry of Public Works has actually already begun early mitigation efforts, starting with drilling deep wells in historically drought-prone areas across Indonesia, such as Gunung Kidul in Yogyakarta, since the beginning of the year.”I have now asked the Directorate General of Water Resources to go a step further. In addition to deep-well drilling, I am mandating the construction of tertiary irrigation networks, specifically for water meant for agricultural fields and plantations,” he remarked.The minister underscored that these tertiary irrigation networks are critical for ensuring that water usage for farming is both highly effective and efficient.”With tertiary irrigation, we can ensure that the water flows effectively and efficiently to even the most remote fields. This also promotes water conservation, preserving resources for our future generations,” he explained.Minister Hanggodo previously stated that the government is maximizing water levels in reservoirs nationwide, a move aimed at countering the impacts of an extreme El Niño phenomenon and safeguarding national food security.He affirmed that mitigation measures against the impacts of El Niño have been underway for some time, executed through integrated water resource management across various regions with major dams.