Free Content: South Korea to extend its water management expertise to Cambodia

The drought in Cambodia has prompted the government issue an advisory to its citizens to use water carefully, particularly in rural areas, stating that rainfall from the previous rainy season “would not be adequate to fulfil the immediate demands,” and another study also stated that irrigation water capacity is just 20 percent full.

Cambodia is approaching its fourth year of drought, with climate change and continuous dam development wreaking havoc on the Mekong River and the 65 million people who rely on it for a living.

Water management issues in Cambodia is very challenging because the Kingdom is heavily reliant on fresh water (from the Mekong River and Tonlé Sap Lake) rather than seawater.

And because of climate change as well as increased water demand from the population and growing industrial segment, these water supplies from Mekong River and Tonlé Sap Lake are becoming stressed.

The tropical environment of Cambodia is another set of issue that is unique to the country. On top of that, neighbouring nations from which Cambodia imports part of its water, is causing some challenges owing to the ongoing drought, which are becoming more unpredictable as a result of climate change.

To this, the Cambodian government has been collaborating with other countries to improve water management techniques. Just last month, the government held talks with Japan about different sorts of assistance for the Kingdom’s socioeconomic development, with a particular emphasis on concrete infrastructure, health and healthcare, education, good governance, and, in particular, water resource planning and management.

This week, the South Korean government, together with UNESCO, will be conducting a capability development workshop in the area of water management for a team of 20 specially selected Cambodian government officials.

The capability development workshop will start off an entire programme that the South Korean government has allocated USD 200,000 for. The programme comprises two phases: capability development for Cambodian officials and experts, and support to establish the guidelines for Cambodian water information research and analysis.

The workshop will be completed by the end of this week.