About the job
Application Deadline – 9th Oct 2026.
You can send your updated resume and cover letter to Mohammad Emil Widya Pradana mpradana@worldbank.org. Only Shortlisted candidates will be contacted for the next steps.
Indonesia possesses one of the world’s largest tropical peatland ecosystems, providing critical ecosystem services including carbon storage, flood regulation, biodiversity conservation, and community livelihoods. However, extensive drainage, land conversion, fire, and unsustainable land management practices have degraded substantial peatland areas, resulting in increased greenhouse gas emissions, declining ecosystem functions, recurrent peat fires, flooding, and livelihood vulnerabilities.
To address these challenges, the Government of Indonesia, through the Ministry of Environment (MoE), is preparing the Resilience and Employment through Peatland Ecosystem Adaptation and Transformation (RE-PEAT) Project, a proposed investment operation that seeks to restore and sustainably manage approximately 3.3 million hectares of degraded peatlands through integrated hydrological rehabilitation, ecological restoration, community participation, and sustainable livelihood development. The project will support peatland restoration across priority peat landscapes in Sumatra and Kalimantan and strengthen institutional capacity for long-term peatland management.
Hydrological restoration is a central pillar of RE-PEAT. Effective rewetting interventions require robust scientific assessment of peat hydrology, canal systems, peat hydrological units (PHU), water management infrastructure, flood and drought dynamics, and restoration priorities. The World Bank therefore seeks a Senior Hydrologist to provide technical leadership and advisory support for project preparation.
Objective of the Assignment
The objective of this assignment is to provide technical expertise on peatland hydrology and hydrological restoration to support the design, preparation, and readiness of the RE-PEAT Project. The assignment will ensure that proposed investments are based on sound hydrological principles, responsive to site-specific conditions, and aligned with national peatland restoration strategies.
The consultant will provide technical inputs for the design of rewetting infrastructure, including appropriate intervention types, technical specifications, materials, and design options, as well as practical approaches for their delivery and implementation. The consultant will also assess and recommend suitable delivery options and technical implementation modalities, including the potential engagement of qualified firms and other service providers.
Where appropriate, the consultant will support the preparation of implementation-ready Terms of Reference (ToRs), technical specifications, and other procurement documents for proposed rewetting interventions, ensuring that the technical requirements can be translated into implementable investment packages under RE-PEAT.
Scope of Work
The Senior Hydrologist will undertake, but not be limited to, the following activities:
- Hydrological Assessment and Planning
- Review existing hydrological studies, PHU delineations, peat ecosystem quality assessments, restoration plans, canal inventories, water-table data, and available spatial datasets relevant to the RE-PEAT target areas.
- Assess the hydrological conditions of priority peatland landscapes and PHUs/sub-PHUs targeted under RE-PEAT, including drainage patterns, hydrological connectivity, water-flow pathways, water-table conditions, canal density, and key hydrological constraints.
- Identify and assess key drivers of hydrological degradation, including drainage infrastructure, canal networks, land-use change, peat subsidence, loss of hydrological connectivity, and altered surface- and groundwater-flow patterns.
- Identify and characterize hydrological compartments within priority PHUs/sub-PHUs and assess their implications for restoration planning and sequencing.
- Develop a hydrological restoration planning framework at PHU, sub-PHU, and landscape scales, including principles and criteria for prioritizing rewetting interventions.
- Support the identification and prioritization of restoration areas based on hydrological conditions, fire risk, flood vulnerability, peat subsidence, land status, existing interventions, restoration feasibility, and potential restoration impact.
- Assess the potential hydrological influence and expected area of impact of rewetting interventions within each priority PHU/sub-PHU, including the likely influence of different intervention types and configurations on water-table conditions and hydrological connectivity.
- Identify areas where rewetting is technically feasible, areas requiring alternative or complementary interventions, and areas where rewetting may have limited effectiveness or create unintended impacts.
- Technical Design of Rewetting Interventions
- Assess existing canal systems, drainage infrastructure, water-control structures, and previous rewetting interventions, including their current condition, performance, and key causes of failure.
- Develop technically appropriate options for rewetting interventions based on hydrological conditions, canal hierarchy, peat characteristics, land use, accessibility, and local site conditions, including:
- Canal blocking structures;
- Canal backfilling and partial backfilling;
- Water-retention and water-control structures;
- Controlled drainage systems;
- Peat water-table management interventions;
- Small-scale hydrological infrastructure; and
- Other site-specific measures are required to restore hydrological function.
- Define technical criteria for selecting the appropriate intervention type and configuration for different hydrological and site conditions.
- Develop preliminary technical designs, typical designs, specifications, indicative dimensions, materials, and construction requirements for priority rewetting interventions.
- Assess alternative technical materials and construction approaches, including their suitability, durability, availability, cost implications, and applicability under different peatland conditions.
- Define the required sequencing and dependencies between interventions, including the relationship between primary, secondary, and tertiary canal interventions and the expected hydrological response.
- Assess potential interactions between rewetting interventions and existing land uses, access routes, transport/navigation, drainage systems, settlements, agricultural activities, and other infrastructure.
- Review engineering designs, technical specifications, and implementation of proposals prepared by implementing agencies, consultants, or contractors and provide recommendations for improvement.
- Recommend appropriate technical standards, design criteria, construction protocols, quality assurance requirements, and maintenance arrangements for hydrological rehabilitation works.
- Identify the technical packages and intervention types that can be translated into implementation/procurement packages, including the appropriate delivery approach and potential role of engineering/construction firms, local contractors, communities, or other service providers.
- Prepare or support preparation of implementation-ready Terms of Reference (ToRs), technical specifications, bills of quantities/costing inputs, and other technical documents required for procurement and implementation of priority rewetting interventions.
C. Hydrological Modeling and Risk Analysis
- Conduct hydrological analysis and modelling, where required, to understand existing hydrological conditions and support restoration planning.
- Assess the potential impacts and spatial influence of proposed rewetting interventions at PHU/sub-PHU level, including:
- Water-table response;
- Hydrological connectivity;
- Surface-water dynamics;
- Flood regulation;
- Drought resilience;
- Fire-risk reduction; and
- Peat subsidence.
- Develop scenarios comparing alternative rewetting intervention configurations and their potential hydrological outcomes.
- Assess potential trade-offs and unintended impacts of rewetting, including increased water levels, flooding risks, impacts on existing land uses, and access or infrastructure constraints.
- Assess climate-change implications for peatland hydrology, including potential changes in rainfall patterns, drought intensity, extreme rainfall, and implications for the design and resilience of restoration infrastructure.
- Develop hydrological scenarios and decision-support outputs to inform restoration targeting, intervention selection, sequencing, investment prioritization, and costing.
D. Monitoring and Evaluation Framework
- Develop hydrological indicators for monitoring restoration outcomes, with emphasis on hydrological function and water-table outcomes rather than physical structures constructed.
- Establish methodologies and protocols for monitoring:
- Groundwater/water-table levels;
- Surface-water dynamics;
- Canal water levels and flows, where relevant;
- Effectiveness of rewetting structures;
- Hydrological connectivity; and
- Restoration performance.
- Define appropriate water-table monitoring locations and compliance points for priority PHUs/sub-PHUs and establish principles for scaling these across the RE-PEAT program area.
- Develop data collection, quality assurance, data management, and reporting protocols.
- Advise the use of remote sensing, GIS, automatic monitoring equipment, and other appropriate technologies for hydrological monitoring.
- Define institutional responsibilities and arrangements for collecting, managing, validating, and reporting hydrological monitoring data.
- Assess the suitability of proposed hydrological indicators and monitoring systems for future carbon finance, Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES), or results-based financing.
Deliverables
The consultant will be expected to prepare the following outputs:
Deliverable 1. Rewetting Technical Design and Implementation Package
A technical package defining how rewetting works should be designed and constructed based on the available PHU map
The package shall include:
- Recommended intervention types for different canal orders, peat conditions, hydrological settings, and land-use contexts;
- Typical engineering designs for canal blocking, canal backfilling/partial backfilling, water-retention structures, controlled drainage, and other applicable interventions;
- Technical specifications, indicative dimensions, materials, construction methods, and quality requirements;
- Technical criteria and decision rules for selecting the appropriate structure/intervention;
- Standard/typical drawings that can be adapted for site-specific engineering designs;
- Construction supervision and quality assurance requirements;
- Operation and maintenance requirements;
- Technical risks and mitigation measures; and
- Technical review of designs prepared by implementing agencies, engineering firms, or contractors.
Deliverable 2. Rewetting Investment and Procurement Packages
A set of technical packages for priority rewetting investments, translating the hydrological assessment and technical designs into procurement and execution requirements.
For each priority intervention/package, the consultant shall provide, as applicable:
- Location and spatial extent;
- Hydrological problem and restoration objective;
- Proposed intervention and technical solution;
- Number and type of structures;
- Indicative dimensions and quantities;
- Technical specifications and materials;
- Indicative Bill of Quantities (BoQ) and technical costing inputs;
- Implementation sequence and construction dependencies;
- Site access and logistical requirements;
- Environmental and social considerations relevant to implementation;
- Construction supervision requirements;
- Operation and maintenance requirements;
- Recommended delivery modality; and
- Required technical expertise/service providers.
The consultant shall prepare or support preparation of ToRs and technical specifications for:
- detailed engineering design;
- construction/rehabilitation works;
- construction supervision;
- hydrological monitoring; and
- other technical services required for implementation.
Deliverable 3. Hydrological Monitoring and Adaptive Management Package
A practical system for determining whether rewetting investments are working as intended and for informing corrective actions during implementation.
The package shall include:
- Baseline hydrological conditions for priority intervention areas;
- Water-table monitoring locations and compliance points;
- Indicators and targets for hydrological restoration;
- Monitoring protocols for water-table levels, surface water, canal performance, and rewetting effectiveness;
- Recommended monitoring equipment and technology;
- Data collection, quality assurance, and reporting procedures;
- Roles and responsibilities for monitoring at project, provincial, district, and field levels;
- Protocols for identifying underperforming interventions;
- Recommended corrective/adaptive management measures; and
- Integration of monitoring results into project supervision and annual work planning.
Qualifications and Experience
The Senior Hydrologist should possess:
- Ph.D (preferred) or Master’s degree in Hydrology, Water Resources Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Hydrogeology, Environmental Science, or related disciplines.
- Minimum 10 years of professional experience in hydrology and water resources management.
- Demonstrated experience in peatland hydrology and restoration.
- Experience in tropical peat ecosystems is strongly preferred.
- Experience with hydrological modeling tools.
- Familiarity with watershed and PHU-based planning approaches.
- Experience supporting government or donor-funded projects.
- Experience working in Indonesia is highly desirable.
Duration and Level of Effort
- Assignment Duration: October – December 2026
- Estimated Level of Effort: 50 working days.
Reporting Arrangement
The consultant will report to the World Bank Task Team Leader and work closely with the Ministry of Environment, relevant technical agencies, and other specialists supporting RE-PEAT project preparation.
