Work underway on ‘catastrophic’ Cambodian dam
May 10th, 2013, DW, Agriculture & Agri-business, Business & Commercial Development, Construction, Electricity, Energy, Environment & Natural Resources, Environmental change, Farming, Fishing, Hydroelectricity, Industry, Infrastructure, International Relations, Lakes/Rivers, Social Concerns, Water
Srekor village has stood on the banks of the Se San River in northeastern Cambodia for generations. In a few years it will be gone, submerged along with more than 300 square kilometres of surrounding farmland and forest. …
For 37-year-old rice farmer Pa Tou, the future looks bleak. The relocation site set aside for them is wholly unsuitable, he complains. There is no irrigation, it is miles from the river and the ground is either rocky or covered with trees. And at this stage it has no schools, no health clinics, no pagodas and no roads. …
International Rivers, a campaigning NGO, predicts the Lower Se San 2 Dam “will have a costly, catastrophic impact on the Mekong River’s fisheries and biodiversity”. …
But media reports consistently show the government favors projects like hydropower dams and coal-fired power stations. More are likely to go ahead. On May 9, the Cambodia Daily newspaper said two more planned dams on the 3S network had been deemed economically feasible, moving them a step closer to approval. One would be a 370MW dam on the Se San River; the other a 100MW dam on the Sre Pok River. The first would flood 40 villages alone.
Meanwhile the Cambodian government has plans to build a hydropower dam on its stretch of the Se Kong River, which rises in Laos. Baran says that would block the region’s third fish highway, leaving the Mekong mainstream as the sole route for migratory species, further harming fish stocks. The rush to hydropower risks inflicting profound and irreversible damage to many more people than the residents of Srekor village.
Deutsche Welle Staff
http://www.dw.de/work-underway-on-catastrophic-cambodian-dam/a-16803423
Work Begins on Controversial Cambodian Dam
May 7th, 2013, VOA, Business & Commercial Development, Construction, Electricity, Energy, Environment & Natural Resources, Hydroelectricity, Industry, Infrastructure, International Relations, Lakes/Rivers, Land Tenure, Water
As work begins on Cambodia’s biggest dam, those advocating against its construction have warned that the region’s rush for hydropower will have a disastrous effect on millions of people who rely on the Mekong River to survive.
Last month, workers began preparing an area in northeastern Cambodia for a huge hydropower project, the 400-megawatt Lower Se San 2 Dam. …
Scientists estimated the Lower Se San 2 Dam could reduce the total fish yield of the Mekong Basin by 9.3 percent.
“So it’s 9.3 percent of 2.1 million tons – which is a gigantic amount,” said Baran. “In other words, this expected loss represents around 200,000 tons per year, which is much more than the whole marine sector of Australia. And, nine times more than the annual inland fish catch in Germany or the U.S.” …
Meanwhile, work on the Lower Se San 2 Dam has started and thousands of people who live in the areas that will be submerged by the dam’s vast 300-square-kilometer reservoir have been told they will have to move. …
One of them is 37-year-old Pa Tou. He said none of the 400 ethnic minority families in Srekor village on the banks of the Se San River wants to leave. …
Pa Tou, who has three daughters, said that will not be possible at the relocation site, which is miles from the river. He said the land there is poor for farming – most of it is rocky or covered with trees – and there are no health clinics and no schools. He fears they will all be left much worse off.
Robert Carmichael
http://www.voanews.com/content/work-begins-on-controversial-hydropower-dam/1656035.html
Hun Sen Demands Answers to Sihanoukville Water Shortage
April 29th, 2013, The Cambodia Daily, Business & Commercial Development, Disasters & Disaster Management, Electricity, Energy, Environment & Natural Resources, Industry, Infrastructure, Lakes/Rivers, Social Concerns, Tourism, Water
Prime Minister Hun Sen chastised local authorities in Preah Sihanouk province on Friday for their inability to prevent a water shortage in early April that crippled businesses in the tourist hub of Sihanoukville and left locals without running water for almost a week. …
The incident underscored how Cambodia is battling during the hot season to supply a growing economy with sufficient energy levels and basic amenities. …
“We must guarantee the full water supply because [Preah Sihanouk province] is one of our biggest economic development poles,” he [Prime Minister Hun Sen] said. “It has many different sectors including industries, service and it has an [international] harbor.
Mr. Hun Sen added that before Prek Tup Lake dried up, he had told provincial governor Sboang Sarath to put Kbal Chhay online to prepare for such an event. He also said he had informed [Anco Water Supply Co.Ltd.] “a long time ago” about extending their pipelines to Kbal Chhay. …
“The lack of water came from the hot season and the water could only supply about 10,000 people, but now we have 60,000 people and there are a larger amounts of hotels rooms-up to 4,000 rooms compared to only 1,000 in the past few years,” Mr. Sarath said.
Neou Vannarin, P.17
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/hun-sen-demands-answers-to-water-shortage-20480/
ADB supports integration of regional energy systems
April 26th, 2013, The Cambodia Herald, Construction, Electricity, Energy, Environment & Natural Resources, Hydroelectricity, Infrastructure, International Relations, Lakes/Rivers, Water
Countries in the Greater Mekong Sub-region can save US$14 billion over the next 20 years if they integrate their power transmission systems, according to a senior official from the Asian Development Bank.
A regional power grid connection would enable countries with hydro-power plants to export energy to other countries, saving up to US$700 million a year by reducing fossil fuel imports, the Bank says in its report on Asia’s Energy Challenge, released earlier this month. …
At present, countries in the region use different resources to generate electricity. Some, such as Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia, rely on natural gas and imported fossil fuel, while others such as China and Laos harness hydro-power. …
The Cambodia Herald Staff
http://www.thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/detail/1?page=13&token=ZGE3NWI5YWNjYTV
Water Supply Begins to Return to Sihanoukville
April 9th, 2013, The Cambodia Daily, Business & Commercial Development, Disasters & Disaster Management, Electricity, Energy, Environment & Natural Resources, Infrastructure, Lakes/Rivers, Social Concerns, Water
Anco Water Supply, a private company that is supplying Sihanoukville with access to fresh water has alleviated a water shortage that began when a state-owned reservoir dried up more than a week ago.
Preah Sihanouk provincial governor Sbuon Sarath said that running water had been restored to 95 percent of homes and businesses in Sihanoukville, but people living at higher altitudes still do not have access to water because the necessary pipe networks have to be built from a waterfall now supplying most of the city with water. …
Ngy Sun, the manager of Anco Water Supply, complained last week that the company could not afford the diesel necessary to operate generators at Kbal Chhay and meet the demand of Sihanoukville residents. However, yesterday he said that new pipe networks and a new generator have allowed the company to increase its pumping. …
Mr. Sun declined to comment on who was paying for the increased fuel usage he had previously said would be necessary for Anco Water Supply to keep up with demand. …
Eang Mengleng, P.19
www.cambodiadaily.com
Price of Water Spikes as Sihanoukville Shortages Drag On
April 4th, 2013, The Cambodia Daily, Business & Commercial Development, Disasters & Disaster Management, Economics, Electricity, Energy, Environment & Natural Resources, Industry, Infrastructure, Lakes/Rivers, Social Concerns, Water
As Sihanoukville’s water shortage drags on, the price of water being delivered by private suppliers has skyrocketed with residents and business owners growing ever more desperate to get clean water into their homes, hotels and restaurants.
Over the past week, since a reservoir supplying the city with water completely dried up, the price of 2,000 liter tanks of clean water from Sihanoukville’s O’Pi water spring has more than doubled, rising from about $20 to more than $50, according to business owners and local officials. Some 60 percent of the city has access to little or no running water, according to officials. …
Aun Pheap
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/price-of-water-spikes-as-sihanoukville-shortage-drags-on-17341/
SRP Commune Told to Stop Talking to Media about Dam
April 3rd, 2013, The Cambodia Daily, Business & Commercial Development, Construction, Electricity, Energy, Environment & Natural Resources, Environmental change, Hydroelectricity, Infrastructure, International Relations, Lakes/Rivers, Land Tenure, Social Concerns, Timber/Wood, Water
Officials from the Stung Treng provincial forestry administration have warned a local SRP commune chief against speaking to the media about the clearing of trees from a 36,000-hectare site to become the reservoir of a giant hydropower dam in the area, the commune chief said yesterday.
On Sunday, Srekor commune chief Siek Mekong said that about 20 workers employed by the joint venture of local conglomerate Royal Group and China’s Hydrolancang International Energy Co. Ltd. had been felling trees in the area since March 21 without informing local communities.
Mr. Mekong said yesterday that four officials from the local forestry administration, including Sith Samnag, the deputy provincial forestry administration chief, visited him to tell him not to speak to the media.
He also said that officials made him sign a piece of paper admitting that he had spoken to the media about the felling of trees in that area. …
Chap Piseth, deputy chief of the Triage Forestry Administration- which is in charge of both Srekor and Kbal communes- said he was present during the meeting with Mr.Mekong and that forestry administration authorities totally denied his claims.
“Although the workers have been sent, the trees have not yet been cut down,” Mr Piseth said. “Clearance of the forest to build the reservoir will not start until Khmer New Year.” …
Kuch Naren, P.18
www.cambodiadaily.com
No Power Leads to No Water In Sihanoukville
April 2nd, 2013, The Cambodia Daily, Business & Commercial Development, Construction, Electricity, Energy, Environment & Natural Resources, Industry, Infrastructure, International Relations, Lakes/Rivers, Social Concerns, Water
The water shortage that has led to tens of thousands of households in Sihanoukville without running water for the past week occurred after provincial officials decided to limit power to a water pumping facility operated by the tourist town’s privately-owned distributor, a manager at the water company said yesterday.
Faced with widespread blackouts stemming from the country’s patchy power grid, officials at the state-owned Electricite du Cambodge (EdC) decided earlier this month to cut power to a pumping station operated by Anco Water Supply Co. Ltd. at the Kbal Chhay Waterfall and redirect that power to households and businesses in Sihanoukville, said Ngy Sun, the manager of Anco Water supply. …
“The water in Prek Tup [lake] started drying up quickly when Kbal Chhay [waterfall] could not supply sufficient water because it did not receive enough electricity,” Mr. Sun said. …
Anco Brothers Co. Ltd., the parent company of Anco Water Supply, is owned by well-known business man and CPP Senator Kok An. Anco Brothers have the rights to import Evian mineral water and Budweiser beer into Cambodia. It also has a transmission line from Thailand to Kandal province and a 45-megawatt power plant outside Phnom Penh, according to the company’s website. …
Currently Anco sells water to the provincial government for 1,000 reil, or about $0.25 per cubic meter. The provincial department of MIME then resells the water on to users for between 1,500 and 2,000 reil, according to Mr. Chanroeun, who declined to say how much revenue the resale of water brings into provincial coffers.
“We use this revenue to pay tax to the Ministry of Economy and Finance and also for the provincial hall,” he said, declining to elaborate on how much, and where those funds were being spent. …
Aun Pheap and Colin Meyn
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/no-power-leads-to-no-water-in-sihanoukville-16858/
Workers begin Clearing Land for Lower Sesan 2
April 1st, 2013, The Cambodia Daily, Business & Commercial Development, Construction, Electricity, Energy, Environment & Natural Resources, Environmental change, Forests, Hydroelectricity, Infrastructure, International Relations, Lakes/Rivers, Land Tenure, Social Concerns, Timber/Wood, Water
Workers in Stung Treng province have begun clearing forested land with chainsaws in order to make way for the reservoir of a massive hydropower dam that has drawn ire from local villagers who say they have not been informed about the dam’s construction plans.
The National Assembly approved the financing for the 400-megawatt Lower Sesan 2 dam in February amid objections from opposition lawmakers who argued that the social and environmental impacts of the dam outweighed its benefits.
The dam is set to displace more than 5,000 villagers, and studies have shown that up to 100,000 residents upstream and downstream of the dam will be severely affected by its impact on fisheries. …
“I am wondering why they are cutting down luxury grade wood,” [Chief of Srekor commune, Mr. Siek Mekong] said.
As part on the law on the financing for the dam, a total of 10 million has been set aside to compensate the families. A further 19.34 million will be spent on home construction, 1.98 million on income rehabilitation and 3.23 million on irrigation systems. …
Khuon Narim
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/workers-begin-clearing-land-for-lower-sesan-2-16743/
Sihanoukville Runs Dry During Water Crisis
April 1st, 2013, The Cambodia Daily, Business & Commercial Development, Construction, Disasters & Disaster Management, Electricity, Energy, Environment & Natural Resources, Hydroelectricity, Industry, Infrastructure, International Relations, Lakes/Rivers, Social Concerns, Tourism, Water
A water shortage in the tourist town of Sihanoukville has led authorities to advise scores of businesses to dig their own wells as only 50 percent of local demand is currently being met after high temperatures dried up the water supplier’s only reservoir. …
On March 20, the provincial water authority distributed letters to more than 5,000 customers in the province asking them to either use their own water sources or reduce the consumption of water because Prek Tup Lake- the 15-hectare reservoir that stores up to a half-million cubic meters of water during the rainy season- had dried up.
With no water coming from Prek Tup Lake, Anco Water Supply Co.Ltd., which has an exclusive contract to provide water to Sihanoukville, opened pipelines connecting Sihanoukville with Kbal Chhay, a waterfall 16km outside of the city, according to Prak Chanroeun, the director of the provincial department of industry mines and energy.
But because of insufficient pipelines and frequent power outages in the area due to the nationwide shortage of electricity, Anco has only been able to pump about 5,000 cubic meters of water into the city each day, about half of the 10,000 cubic meters demanded by customers, according to Mr. Chanroeun. …
Ngy Suy, the manger of Anco Water Supply also said… that the high price of diesel fuel used to power the generator was making it difficult for Anco to provide water at 1,000 reil, or about $0.25, per cubic meter, to the provincial water supply. …
Anco, which is owned by local tycoon Kok An, met with provincial officials yesterday and agreed to build two additional 200-cm wide water pipe networks between Kbal Chhay and Shianoukville in order to ensure that residents are able to access water all year round.
But for residents and business owners in Sihanoukville without their own well, a more pressing concern is where they will find water now. …
As in Sihanoukville, residents in Phnom Penh have been experiencing regular power outages, mostly due to the lack of water running through the country’s dams. …
The Government’s increasing pressure on investors and business owners, particularly in the tourism sector, to provide what in most countries would be considered public services and utilities is an issue that must be addressed, said Ho Vandy, co-chair of the Government-Private Sector Working Group on Tourism. …
Aun Pheap and Colin Meyn,
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/sihanoukville-runs-dry-during-water-crisis-16609/
Climate change to affect Mekong production
April 1st, 2013, UPI, Agriculture & Agri-business, Business & Commercial Development, Climate Change, Construction, Disasters & Disaster Management, Electricity, Energy, Environment & Natural Resources, Environmental change, Farming, Fishing, Hydroelectricity, Industry, Infrastructure, International Relations, Lakes/Rivers, Reports, Social Concerns, Water
Climate change will have a significant effect on major industrial and food crops in the Lower Mekong basin countries of Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam, says a new study.
The study, conducted by the Mekong Adaptation and Resilience to Climate Change Project for the U.S. Agency for International Development, marks the first step of the project’s aim to help communities in the four countries to develop local climate change adaptation assessments and action plans.
Considered one of the most fertile areas of Southeast Asia, the Mekong basin is known for its production of rice and maize. About 70 percent of the basin’s population of 60 million people earns a living as farmers and fishers. …
Aside from the looming danger of climate change, plans to build a series of mega-dams across the river to generate electricity also pose a threat to the Mekong countries, experts say. …
“By blocking the transport of sediment, the dams will contribute to even greater erosion in the fertile Mekong Delta, which is already threatened by increasing saltwater intrusion as a result of rising sea levels,” Aviva Imhof, [International Rivers] group’s campaigns director told Voice of America.
United Press International Staff
http://www.upiasia.com/Top-News/2013/04/01/Climate-change-to-affect-Mekong-production/UPI-54261364842799/
In Washington, ‘Mekong Days’ Puts River in Focus
March 29th, 2013, VOA, Agriculture & Agri-business, Business & Commercial Development, Climate Change, Construction, Electricity, Energy, Environment & Natural Resources, Environmental change, Fishing, Hydroelectricity, Infrastructure, International Relations, Lakes/Rivers, Social Concerns, Water
Advocacy groups, environmentalists and policy-makers have wrapped up five days of events surrounding Mekong River issues in Washington.
“Mekong Days,” a series of talks, films and other forums that ended Tuesday, highlighted issues in the region, where some 60 million people live.
The Mekong River, a major source of food for many in the region, is currently under increased pressure from hydropower dam projects and the potential impact of climate change. Environmental advocates say the dams could hurt fish stocks in the river, even as temperature and rainfall changes threaten agriculture and livestock. …
A recent study funded by USAID, “Mekong Adaptation and Resilience to Climate Change,” found increasing threats to livestock, fisheries and other agriculture. …
At least 11 dams are currently planned for the lower Mekong, a major concern for fish populations that migrate up and down the river. China has built four dams upstream already, and Laos is in the process of building a dam in Xayaburi province, despite objections from Cambodian and Vietnam.
Sok Khemara
http://www.voacambodia.com/content/in-washington-mekong-days-puts-river-in-focus/1630640.html
Chinese Investments in Cambodia Ignore Environment Queries
March 29th, 2013, The Irrawaddy Magazine, Business & Commercial Development, Construction, Economics, Electricity, Energy, Environment & Natural Resources, Environmental change, Foreign Aid, Foreign Investment, Hydroelectricity, Industry, Infrastructure, International Relations, Lakes/Rivers, Social Concerns, Technical Assistance, Timber/Wood, Water
China’s expanding investment portfolio in Cambodia has brought into sharper focus the darker side of the Asian giant’s “development projects” in the impoverished Southeast Asian nation.
And it is in the southwestern corner of Cambodia—known for its rich biodiversity, forest covered hills and bubbling rivers—where this Chinese economic footprint is leaving a defining mark. A plan to build a 400 km-long railway line through this rugged green terrain is the most recent Chinese addition to growing list that has alarmed Cambodian environmentalists. …
Environment Minister Mok Mareth reportedly told the Cambodia Daily newspaper in an interview at the time that the paperwork had not included an environment impact assessment (EIA).
The same publication had also got Transport Minister Tram Iv Tek to affirm in an interview that he was in the dark about the details of this massive investment.
It confirms a pattern that is disturbingly familiar to environmentalists who have been monitoring much longer “development” projects: the way Chinese companies are building large hydropower projects in the same southwestern corner targeted for the new railway line. …
China’s hydropower projects, now estimated to be over $1.6 billion in investments, are aiming to generate 915 megawatts of power in a country that suffers from an energy deficit. Only a quarter of the country’s 14.5 million population has access to power from the national grid. …
Marwaan Macan-Markar
http://www.irrawaddy.org/archives/30883
Powerless Phnom Penh Struggles With Hot Season
March 25th, 2013, The Cambodia Daily, Business & Commercial Development, Electricity, Energy, Environment & Natural Resources, Environmental change, Hydroelectricity, Infrastructure, Social Concerns, Solar Power, Water
As air-conditioning units slow to a halt, computers die and the lights go out, the frustration of local business owners and organizations in Phnom Penh is boiling over once again as the annual hot season blackouts have arrived. …
The 190-megawatt, Chinese-built Kamchay hydropower dam in Kampot province came online in 2011 with the promise of bringing more power to Phnom Penh and helping reduce the country’s energy-supply deficit.
Yet according to an EdC official, who spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak with the media, the Kamchay dam is currently operating at only 10 percent of its capacity because “there is no water” during the dry season. Blackouts were also the result of EdC upgrading power transformers, which required that some sub-stations had to be temporarily cut off, the official said, adding that the upgrade work should be completed by mid-April. …
“Dams need water,” Mr. Mean said. “But the fact is, Cambodia is much better suited to solar energy than hydropower,” he said.
Michael Shaw, an independent renewable energy adviser who worked with NGO Engineers Without Borders in Cambodia, said that even with the nine new hydropower dams in the pipeline, Phnom Penh and other cities are growing at a pace that will exceed that supply. …
Simon Henderson and Sun Mesa
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/powerless-phnom-penh-struggles-with-hot-season-15655/
Documentary Looks at Impact of Mekong Dams
March 22nd, 2013, VOA, Agriculture & Agri-business, Business & Commercial Development, Climate Change, Construction, Electricity, Energy, Environment & Natural Resources, Environmental change, Fishing, Hydroelectricity, Infrastructure, International Relations, Lakes/Rivers, Social Concerns, Water
An updated documentary, “Where Have All the Fish Gone?,” examines the impacts of hydroelectric dams on the Mekong River.
The Xayaburi dam, which would produce hydropower for market, has become a divisive issue among Mekong River countries. Critics say it could severely damage ecosystems on which lower countries like Cambodia and Vietnam rely. It is one of 11 dams under consideration on the lower Mekong. …
Some 60 million people live along the Mekong River, relying on it for food and agriculture. The use of the river is supposed to be supervised by the Mekong River Commission, which has representatives from regional governments. …
Say Mony
http://www.voacambodia.com/content/documentary-looks-at-impact-of-mekong-dams/1626779.html
World’s largest freshwater fish threatened
March 13th, 2013, Bangkok Post, Business & Commercial Development, Construction, Electricity, Energy, Environment & Natural Resources, Environmental change, Hydroelectricity, Infrastructure, International Relations, Lakes/Rivers, Social Concerns, Water
The 16th Conference of Parties of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) has brought thousands of delegates from over 150 countries to Bangkok to discuss cross-border cooperation, sustainable use of biodiversity and transnational endangered species issues. …
Construction has already begun on the first mainstream dam on the lower Mekong, and without improved planning and cooperation between Mekong countries, mainstream dams will have serious transboundary environmental impacts.
The first of 11 dams planned for the mainstream of the lower Mekong River, the Xayaburi dam will likely have a negative impact on biodiversity, sediment and nutrient flow and fisheries production, undercutting the livelihoods of people living along the river in Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.
While many studies suggest serious negative environmental impacts of dams on large rivers, detailed studies of the ways in which Mekong dams will effect migratory fish are lacking, which makes effective mitigation nearly impossible.
As the governments of Cambodia and Vietnam have already suggested, a new transboundary environmental impact assessment of the Xayaburi dam is necessary and must include rigorous research into the life cycles and migration patterns of Mekong fish, a topic which – despite the importance of the Mekong’s fisheries – has largely been ignored. …
The Bangkok Post Staff
http://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/340170/mekong-dams-threaten-world-largest-freshwater-fish
Villagers pin big hopes on little dam
March 13th, 2013, The Phnom Penh Post, Agriculture & Agri-business, Business & Commercial Development, Construction, Electricity, Energy, Environment & Natural Resources, Farming, Hydroelectricity, Industry, Infrastructure, International Relations, Lakes/Rivers, Social Concerns, Water
In the past four years, families in Anlong Chrey village, in Kampong Speu provinces’s Thpong district, have watched a small multipurpose dam being built at their back doors.
For village chief Soung Pao, 59, who gave up two hectares for the dam – one of three built as part of the Krang Ponley Water Resources Development Project – construction occurred in what literally used to be his backyard. …
More than fours year on, the villagers, the majority of whom are farmers, are now receiving clean, free-flowing water that has helped double their output. …
Funded by grants and loans through the Korean government’s Economic Development Cooperation Fund and built by Korean company KUMHO E&C, the $27 million Krang Ponley dams replaced outdated and unclean dams built in the Krang Ponley River basin during the Khmer Rouge era. …
“We can boost our farming productivity and boost our profits by using this water and electricity here,” [village chief Soung Pao] said. …
Exactly when that will happen is unclear. Although the 1,200 households promised electricity remained in waiting this week, Seth Soth, 48, a councillor from nearby Prambei Mom commune, said the project had been supplying tycoon Ly Yong Phat’s sugar plantation with power for the past six months. …
Khouth Sophak Chakrya and Shane Worrell
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013031361911/National/villagers-pin-big-hopes-on-little-dam.html
Upstream Dams, Downstream Trouble
March 12th, 2013, HydroWorld.com, Agriculture & Agri-business, Business & Commercial Development, Construction, Disputed Waters, Electricity, Energy, Environment & Natural Resources, Environmental change, Fishing, Hydroelectricity, Infrastructure, International Relations, Lakes/Rivers, Land Tenure, Water
As examples, Laos broke ground on a new Mekong River dam that’s causing concern bordering on fury in Cambodia and Vietnam. India is enraged about a new Chinese dam going up on the Brahmaputra River. And Ethiopia’s new dam on the Nile is angering Sudan, while Egypt has threatened war. …
Perhaps the most egregious example is Laos, which broke ground on a new hydroelectric dam on the Mekong late last year – ignoring the howls of complaint from downstream. Just south in Cambodia, for example, the Mekong provides the livelihood for much of the population because of an unusual natural phenomenon.
Cambodia’s Tonle Sap River is a Mekong tributary that flows southeast from a lake of the same name. Each spring, the Mekong swells, and its current grows so strong that it forces the Tonle Sap River to reverse course, carrying tons of rich, fertile mud and millions of young fish back up to the lake. the lake floods, depositing new, rich soil on thousands of acres around its perimeter. the fish provide meals for Cambodians through the year. By potentially restricting the river’s flow, the Laotian dam threatens all of that. …
Hydroworld Staff
http://www.hydroworld.com/news/2013/03/12/upstream-dams-downstream-trouble.html
France set to grant Kingdom $47.7m for infrastructure
March 12th, 2013, The Phnom Penh Post, Energy, Foreign Aid, News Source, Technical Assistance, Water
The French Development Agency yesterday agreed to grant Cambodia a total of $47.7 million, $8.7 million of which is a loan.
The sum is to support the Kingdom’s irrigation infrastructure investment, to improve the country’s access to drinkable water and to fund the fight against emerging diseases in the region. …
Clean water for city outskirts
March 8th, 2013, The Phnom Penh Post, Energy, Foreign Aid, News Source, Technical Assistance, Water
The inclusion of 20 communes to the central Phnom Penh water supply in the past year has resulted in a dramatic increase in demand and subsequent shortages, Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority officials said yesterday. …
“Water demand in Phnom Penh is growing fast day to-day, especially following the commune’s residents [formerly in] Kandal who were moved to Phnom Penh,” Samreth
Sovithiea, a deputy director at the authority, said. …
Sen David
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013030861829/National/clean-water-for-city-outskirts.html