A Rights‐Based Policy Framework for Managing Industrial Water Pollution

ABSTRACT This study examines how industrial wastewater from leather‐tanning industries in Yogyakarta's Piyungan Industrial Area contributes to environmental degradation in the Opak River Basin and results in human rights violations. Using monthly data collected between July 2024 and March 2025 at six sampling stations, we analyzed river water quality, heavy metal bioaccumulation in aquatic organisms and agricultural crops, and the associated economic impacts on downstream communities. The results show that key pollutants, including nitrate, phosphate, and hexavalent chromium, consistently exceeded national water quality standards, with statistically significant differences between upstream and downstream sites. Chromium bioaccumulation posed direct health risks and contributed to substantial economic losses for river‐dependent communities due to market rejection of contaminated fisheries and crops. These findings show how industrial river pollution undermines the human rights to clean water, health, food security, and a safe environment, while constraining progress toward Sustainable Development Goals 3, 6, 12, and 15. The study advances a rights‐based policy framework that integrates strengthened wastewater regulation and enforcement, community participation, economic justice mechanisms, and coordinated environmental and human‐rights governance. By empirically linking ecosystem degradation to the erosion of fundamental human rights, this research contributes to water‐policy scholarship on environmental justice in industrial river basins.