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The following study is written by Ian Fox, Principal Project Specialist (Natural Resources) of Asian Development Bank. While all my findings in the last 18 postings are just general info, Ian’s article is an in-depth look into the issue that he has to deal with. The article is posted here with his permission, after consultation with ADB management.

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CHONG KNEAS, CAMBODIA *

Every spring, melting snows in the Himalayas spark off a remarkable chain of events in distant Cambodia that affects the livelihoods of some of the world’s poorest people.

As it leaves the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR), the mighty Mekong River crashes over the Khon Phapheng Falls, just south of the 4,000 islands of Siphandon where the width of the river spans 14 kilometers — the widest it ever reaches. It then flattens abruptly and meanders for another 500 km through the plains of Cambodia to reach the delta of southern Viet Nam.

Boosted by monsoon rains and with its gradient now too flat to retain the flow within its banks, the river spills out over large parts of Cambodia, where up to 65% of cultivated land is covered each year by floodwater. The Tonle Sap River, which joins the Mekong at Phnom Penh, acts as a safety valve by absorbing part of the excess. It reverses its flow from mid-May to October, massively expanding the volume of the Tonle Sap Lake, 100 km “upstream,” close to the famed temple complex of Angkor Wat.

The lake swells from its dry season size of some 2,500 km2 to about 13,000 km2, inundating vast areas of vegetation that serve as feeding and breeding grounds for countless varieties of fish, making the lake one of the richest areas in the world for freshwater fish. In a land as poor as Cambodia, this is a wonderful nutritional bounty, accounting for two thirds of the country’s protein.

Harsh Existence

The annual shifting of the lakeshore by some 6 km has created a highly unusual living pattern for the people in the community of Chong Kneas at the northwestern end of the lake. Some 5,000 people live on houseboats moored within the lake during the dry season and move “inland” along a narrow channel as the waters rise. Other families, who live along the road embankment beside the channel, load their houses onto the backs of trucks to seek higher ground as the water rises. The whole community settles around an isolated hill at Phnom Kraom when the lake is at its highest level.

(To be continued)

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