Los recursos hídricos de Camboya se ven sometidos a una presión cada vez mayor debido al cambio climático, el rápido desarrollo socioeconómico, los cambios en el uso del suelo y la creciente competencia entre los usuarios del agua. En el Grupo de la Cuenca del Río Tonle Sap, las inundaciones estacionales y la escasez de agua durante la estación seca ya afectan a la agricultura, los medios de vida, los ecosistemas y las infraestructuras. Al mismo tiempo, la planificación de las cuencas fluviales en Camboya sigue estando fragmentada, y los planes existentes suelen diferir en cuanto a métodos, horizontes temporales y vínculos con la planificación nacional de inversiones. El Plan Director de Cuencas Fluviales Resilientes de Camboya responde a esta necesidad apoyando un enfoque más integrado, basado en datos empíricos y resiliente al cambio climático para la gestión de las cuencas fluviales.

FutureWater forma parte de un consorcio liderado por Alluvium, que colabora con el Banco Asiático de Desarrollo y el Ministerio de Recursos Hídricos y Meteorología de Camboya para elaborar el Plan Maestro de Cuencas Hidrográficas Resilientes de Camboya. La primera fase se centra en el Grupo de la Cuenca del Río Tonlé Sap y desarrolla planes de gestión e inversión para 11 cuencas fluviales. Estos planes evalúan la disponibilidad de agua actual y futura, la demanda sectorial de agua, los riesgos de inundaciones y sequías, los impactos del cambio climático, el estado de los ecosistemas y las necesidades de inversión prioritarias.

FutureWater dirige los componentes técnicos clave relacionados con la hidrología, la modelización de los recursos hídricos, la evaluación de riesgos climáticos, la teledetección y la contabilidad hídrica. Partiendo de su trabajo anterior en Camboya, que incluye evaluaciones de recursos hídricos basadas en WEAP para los grupos de cuencas del Tonle Sap y del delta del Mekong, FutureWater actualiza y amplía los modelos de cuenca, integra conjuntos de datos obtenidos por satélite y locales, evalúa los balances hídricos actuales y futuros, y apoya el análisis de escenarios para la asignación de agua y la planificación de inversiones. Esta base empírica respalda la priorización de infraestructuras hídricas resilientes, la modernización del riego, las soluciones basadas en la naturaleza, la restauración de cuencas hidrográficas y las medidas de gestión de la demanda.

Se hace especial hincapié en el desarrollo de capacidades y la aplicación práctica. FutureWater contribuye al desarrollo de herramientas, conjuntos de datos, flujos de trabajo de modelización y materiales de formación que puedan ser utilizados por las instituciones camboyanas, entre ellas el MOWRAM y el Centro Nacional de Datos para la Gestión de los Recursos Hídricos, con el fin de apoyar la futura planificación de las cuencas fluviales y la gestión adaptativa de los recursos hídricos.

Countries in Asia and the Pacific region are significantly exposed to disaster risks from various hazards and are on the frontline of a climate emergency. Studies suggest that 80% of the globally affected people belong to the Asia-Pacific region, thus emphasizing the critical need for an effective multi-hazard EWS.

EWS, a cost-effective tool for saving lives and reducing economic losses, is particularly crucial for frequent and hazardous weather, water, and climate events. However, despite advancements in the four EWS components, major gaps persist, with implementation lagging and limited coverage in frontline countries, including least developed countries (LDCs) and small island developing states (SIDS). As of 2021, only 50% of countries in Asia and the Pacific reported having multi-hazard early warning systems (MHEWS), emphasizing the need for support.

The culmination of these efforts will be encapsulated in a scoping report, documenting the results of the project, including consultations with key partners and stakeholders during the Regional Workshop on Increasing Investments in Early Warning Systems, to be held in February 2024 in Bangkok, Thailand. The study will offer a comprehensive summary of the EWS scoping, encompassing the policy and institutional landscape, status, initiatives, and investments, as well as residual gaps for regional and national EWS programming in selected DMCs. Additionally, this study will provide guidelines for the implementation and operationalization of the proposed EWS facility, along with initial investment concept notes based on EWS priorities at regional and/or national levels. This holistic approach aims to contribute substantively to the strengthening of EWS capacities, fostering resilience in the face of increasing disaster risks across the region.

FutureWater había adaptado previamente el conjunto de herramientas REWEFe al contexto regional del nexo WEFE y había demostrado su aplicación en determinadas cuencas fluviales. Partiendo de este trabajo, la formación celebrada en abril de 2026 tenía como objetivo reforzar la capacidad regional para utilizar REWEFe como instrumento de apoyo a la toma de decisiones en los procesos de planificación y gobernanza de las cuencas. Entre los participantes se encontraban representantes de gobiernos nacionales y locales, centros de aprendizaje de la IRBM, universidades asociadas y coordinadores nacionales de los Estados miembros de la ASEAN participantes.

La formación combinó el aprendizaje técnico con el orientado a la gobernanza. FutureWater presentó la estructura, los requisitos de datos, la configuración de escenarios y la interpretación del conjunto de herramientas REWEFe, al tiempo que guiaba a los participantes a través de ejercicios prácticos para analizar las condiciones de referencia, desarrollar escenarios e interpretar las sinergias y compensaciones relacionadas con el nexo WEFE. Las sesiones hicieron especial hincapié en traducir los planes de políticas y las estrategias sectoriales en escenarios cuantitativos estructurados, lo que permitió a los participantes conectar mejor los resultados analíticos con la planificación, la inversión y el diálogo sobre políticas.

El componente de gobernanza se impartió en colaboración con Dipankar Aich, quien aportó su experiencia en gobernanza de la gestión integrada de recursos hídricos (IRBM), el enfoque del nexo WEFE, la coordinación intersectorial y la interfaz entre ciencia y política. Sus sesiones ayudaron a los participantes a comprender cómo los resultados de REWEFe pueden integrarse en los procesos de gobernanza, los diálogos sobre políticas y los ciclos de toma de decisiones.

A través de esta misión, FutureWater contribuyó a reforzar la aplicación práctica de REWEFe en el sudeste asiático al vincular la modelización técnica, el análisis de escenarios y los procesos de gobernanza. La formación ayudó a los participantes a utilizar el conjunto de herramientas no solo como modelo analítico, sino también como enfoque estructurado para el diálogo sobre las compensaciones entre agua, energía, alimentos y ecosistemas en la planificación de cuencas fluviales.

The GEF / UNDP / ASEAN Project on Reducing Pollution and Preserving Environmental Flows in the East Asian Seas through the Implementation of Integrated River Basin Management (IRBM) in the ASEAN Countries is a 5-year project (2023-2027) with the goal of establishing functional IRBM mechanisms in seven priority river basins / sub-basins / watersheds in six ASEAN Member States, to reduce pollution, sustain freshwater environmental flows and adapt to climate change vulnerabilities. The Project is designed to improve governance and management arrangements in IRBM and accelerate the required changes in the six AMS in support of national priorities, objectives and commitments to global sustainable development targets using the Source to Sea (S2S) framework. The PEMSEA Resource Facility (PRF), which serves as the Project Implementing Partner, hosts the Regional Project Management Unit (RPMU). It works in collaboration with National and Local Government Partners and River Basin Organizations.

Component 1 of the Project focuses on the conduct of a baseline assessment of the S2S management continuum with a targeted outcome of improving understanding of governance, socioeconomic, ecological conditions, gaps and needs of priority river basins / sub-basins and coastal areas. This will be achieved through the establishment of the State of River Basin (SORB) reporting system to consolidate information coming from administrative, social, economic and environmental sectors. As an input to the SORB baseline reporting, it is required to complete a comprehensive assessment of competing uses and users of water as a consequence of existing and future water uses and their implications on the water / energy / food / ecosystem (WEFE) security nexus in the priority river basins.

FutureWater is providing this assessment of the WEFE security nexus through review of existing knowledge and literature, stakeholder consultations, as well as tailoring and applying its REWEFe toolkit for nexus analysis to seven river basins in six countries of Southeast Asia: Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Philippines and Viet Nam.

The MRC’s State of the Basin Report (SOBR) is a flagship product of the organization and an integral part of the MRC’s strategic planning cycle. Compiled about every five years based on the available data and information, the report assesses conditions and trends within the basin and the impacts that development and use of water and related natural resources are having. The SOBR provides a statement of past trends and current conditions, and seeks to highlight and provide guidance to Member Countries on significant transboundary issues that require cooperation among basin countries to address. The SOBR 2023 is structured around the Mekong River Basin Indicator Framework, consisting of 5 dimensions: Environment, Social, Economic, Climate Change, and Cooperation.

As a longstanding collaborator of MRCS, FutureWater was engaged to support the development of the Economic and Climate Change chapters of the SOBR 2023 and perform the related activities of data analyses, advisory on data gaps and SOBR content, attractive presentation of key results, and communication with Member Countries and specialized MRCS staff to address their comments and suggestions.

 

The MRCS regularly undertakes periodic regional and basin-wide studies on behalf of Member Countries to assess potential effects of increasing development, growing population and uncertainty in climate variability in the Lower Mekong Basin (LMB). Recent basin-wide assessment and reporting were found to be hampered by data limitations across a range of areas. With the basin undergoing rapid and extensive change, tracking changes in conditions, analyzing the potential implications, and working cooperatively to leverage the benefits and avoid the problems are seen as critical to achieving the objectives of the 1995 Mekong Agreement.

To provide a greater strategic direction to the monitoring and assessment effort, the Mekong River Basin Indicator Framework (MRB-IF) was developed and approved aiming at providing a consistent and streamlined approach to data collection, analysis, and reporting. Through the MRB-IF, the MRC Member Countries and stakeholders can be alerted to the key issues and trends across five core dimensions (environment, social, economic, climate change and cooperation). Included in the MRB-IF are (i) the extent of salinity intrusion in the Mekong Delta (MD) – Assessment Indicator 14 and (ii) the condition of riverine, estuarine, and coastal habitats – Assessment Indicator 16. A systematic process of collection and analysis of the data for status and trends evaluation regarding these indicators is currently missing.

The aim of this project is therefore to develop a basin-specific systematic approach to periodically assess the extent of salinity intrusion in the Mekong Delta and the conditions of the riverine, estuarine, and coastal habitats across the LMB. Methodologies to evaluate both indicators are developed relying on integration of satellite remote sensing data, GIS databases, and station data. The project involves an elaborate review of existing methodologies tested in the LMB and other river basins, an assessment of these methods regarding technical, economic and institutional aspects, and the development of a recommended methodology for adoption by MRCS, including guidance documentation for its stepwise implementation.

In 2017, AFD approved to finance the Water Resources Management and Agro-ecological Transition for Cambodia “WAT4CAM” Program Phase 1. This program will contribute to reduce poverty, develop the economy and reduce the vulnerability of rural populations to climate change by implementing a hydro-agricultural infrastructures rehabilitation program through an integrated approach, targeting the whole chain of water resources management, water services and agricultural production.

The strategy is to achieve intensification of cropping, modernization and climate smart practices to provide farmers with secure access to water. This is a challenging objective and a good understanding of the hydraulics of water flows in dry and wet season is needed. A consortium led by FutureWater was hired to perform WAT4CAM subcomponent 3.1, which concentrates on providing this understanding of both flood and dry season flows, demands and balance in the Preks intended for rehabilitation.

The initial stages of the project include the identification of current data, models and previous work, as well as a field survey with stakeholders. This information will be used to create an accurate and reliable modelling ensemble that makes maximum use of existing capacity in Cambodia. In addition, the consortium will use satellite-derived data products to (i) provide input to the simulation models, and (ii) calibrate and validate model results. Various sources of satellite imagery will be explored to map floods and irrigation practices, to implement an integrated “space hydrology” approach.

The modelling and knowledge generation from this study must support the other WAT4CAM components for the successful implementation of the Prek irrigation system improvements. The modelling itself is thus not the ultimate purpose, but rather the understanding and knowledge imparted to MoWRAM and the other components of the WAT4CAM program.

FutureWater’s role in the project is the overall project coordination and administration, as well as the implementation of satellite remote sensing and climate change analyses in support of the modelling components.

Cambodia is currently improving in economic standing, however the benefits of this are largely contained to urban areas. As a major contributor to GDP, ensuring the sustainability of Cambodia’s agricultural sector is highly important, especially when coupled with the increasing awareness of the dangers of climate change. Access to water for agriculture, fisheries and domestic supply is an issue, with many rural communities competing for resources. Coupled with the effects of flood and drought activity in recent years, the need for adequate and reliable water resource management in rural, agricultural areas is prominent. This project focuses on the North- Western Cambodian provinces of Oddar Meanchey (OMC) and Banteay Meanchey (BMC) and the neighbouring North-Eastern Thai provinces of Surin and Sisaket.

In order to protect rural livelihoods and maintain agricultural production, communities must be supplied with permanent and regulated water year-round. Analysis of recent flood and drought histories and their effects in the provinces are first necessary to determine the most vulnerable areas both in terms of agriculture and households. In addition, water resource assessments of supplies and demand will identify the most crucial areas to ensure supplies are increased and sustained both for crops and domestic use. Socio-economic studies will also ensure ‘cross- cutting’ issues are considered in WR planning, such as: gender, economic vulnerability and cultural factors related to WRM. Furthermore, meetings with stakeholders at multiple levels can address issues in water infrastructure, alongside assessment of the capacities of those managing monitoring systems for example. From this, future recommendations for improvements in infrastructure can be made with an awareness of the necessary knowledge capacities to ensure proper maintenance and sustainability.

Initially, an analysis of the current water resource situation in the study area will be conducted through collection of available data on water resources, flood and drought histories and socioeconomic issues in the area. Following this, areas for more detailed analysis will be established and strategies to improve WRM supporting agricultural livelihoods can be developed. FutureWater is involved in the implementation of the WEAP model, for evaluation of various water resources management strategies in the catchments under baseline and projected future conditions.

Este proyecto se enmarca dentro de la asistencia técnica (TA) 7610-CAM del Banco Asiático de Desarrollo (ADB) para apoyar la preparación de la Hoja de ruta y el Programa de inversión de MOWRAM para la gestión de los recursos hídricos y del riego, 2019-2033. Este programa de inversión proporciona un marco integral y estratégico para las inversiones del país en el sector de recursos hídricos y riego.

Las cuencas seleccionadas para su estudio se caracterizan por sus altos niveles de estrés hídrico (actual y proyectado) y por la presencia ecosistemas hídricos con alta prioridad de conservación. Los principales resultados del proyecto han permitido:

  • Un mejor conocimiento de los procesos ecohidrológicos a nivel de subcuenca y la disponibilidad de recursos hídricos.
  • La caracterización ecohidrológica de 24 subcuencas fluviales.
  • La cuantificación de las demandas ambientales a nivel de subcuenca
  • La identificación de las cuencas con los mayores ratios de escasez hídrica.
  • El establecimiento de recomendaciones sobre las opciones de asignación de recursos más eficientes y equitativas.
  • La detección de las mejores opciones de inversión focalizadas en el sector de riego.
  • La implementación y calibración de un esquema acoplado de modelos hidrológicos y de asignación de recursos hídricos.
  • La puesta a punto de una colección de datos geoespaciales sobre (eco) hidrología de las cuencas de estudio, y compatibles con el Sistema Nacional de Información de Recursos Hídricos (WRIS) actualmente en desarrollo.

FutureWater es la empresa líder en la asignación y ejecuta los componentes de modelado de recursos hídricos del proyecto.

Focus is on the following sections:

  • Flow condition at Phnom Penh, Tan Chau and Chau Doc
  • Salinity intrusion in Delta
  • River bank erosion, river channel condition and sediment transport, sand mining
  • Flood and drought data
  • Climate change covering greenhouse gas, extreme events, temperature, rainfall
  • Navigation

A snapshot of the results of this project are presented on this website: http://interactive.mrcmekong.org/sobr-2018-findings/sobr-2018-findings/