Water resources

Delegations from the five lower Mekong states met with officials from the Asia-Pacific region, the US and Europe yesterday to convene the 9th Lower Mekong Initiative (LMI) and Friends of the Lower Mekong (FLM) Regional Working Group aimed at devising strategies to strengthen infrastructure, connectivity ...

A representative of the company behind a massive $23.2 billion development in Kampot province – which envisions creating two islands off the coast – insisted yesterday that the company was not engaged in any activities that would raise a conflict of interest and that it ...

Several subordinates of a senior minister within the office of the prime minister registered and rubber-stamped a gargantuan $23.2 billion investment project chaired by the minister’s wife, while officials in the know say the project stands little chance of getting off the ground. ...

Following an unusually high number of drownings in coastal areas in the past month, the Ministry of Tourism has instructed the tourism departments in coastal provinces to continue to collaborate with relevant authorities to ensure safety, public order and cleanliness. A statement released by Minister of ...

The US Army Corp of Engineers is providing Cambodia with new tools to understand its growing groundwater shortage. Last week, the Ministry of Environment, US Army Corp of Engineers and National Council for Sustainable Development hosted a three-day technical exchange on groundwater modelling. ...

Cambodia has announced it will shutter the office of the inter-governmental Mekong River Commission in Phnom Penh, relocating its functions to neighboring Laos. ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen ordered his officials to revoke the licenses of any investment and construction firms found doing little or nothing with the islands or land they said they would develop. ...

From the snowy plateaus of Tibet to the mountain gorges of China’s Yunnan province and beyond to the jungled borders of Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and down to the plains of Cambodia and paddy fields of Vietnam – the Mekong River is of crucial importance to ...

The lower basin of the trans-boundary Mekong River starts from Laos and runs through Thailand, Cambodia and Viet Nam before emptying into the East Sea (South China Sea). Any attempts to interrupt the natural status of the river would pose risks to Viet Nam’s Cuu ...

In a statement last week, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature identified ongoing fires in flooded forests as a major threat to the Tonle Sap lake. ...

A study of drinking water sources in Kandal province found widespread contamination from human excrement, posing a health risk to residents that likely mirrors the situation across Cambodia, the authors say.   ...

The Cambodian government has signed off on the Kingdom’s first dedicated marine protection area in a bid to save the Koh Rong Archipelago’s coral reef and sea life. ...

According to a 2013 United Nations Environmental Protection report, a water hyacinth plant releases more than 3,000 seeds every year and, because its roots are floating, it does not need to be in shallow water to survive. Water hyacinth has moved rapidly across South America, ...

The National Committee for Coastal Management and Development will build 17 sea gates along the coastal areas in Sihanoukville province to protect beaches in the area against sea erosion and boost tourism. ...

Structures considered to be encroaching on state-owned beach areas in Sihanoukville will be demolished, according to a letter sent on Sunday from the Minister of Land Management to the Committee for Cambodia Coastal Management and Development. ...

A major water, hygiene and sanitation project co-funded by industry charity Meeting Needs is bringing clean water to almost 1,000 people in the Siem Reap Province of Cambodia. ...

Over-exploitation of the Kingdom’s underground water sources has contributed to the water scarcity problem faced by the country during the past two years of drought, relief organisations said yesterday. ...

The Environment Ministry on Friday released its final study on the algal bloom that forced swimmers out of the water in Kep province in early April, stating no chemical substances were found in the bloom that would have negatively affected human or animal health. ...

About 1,000 hectares of flooded forest in Preah Sihanouk’s Prey Nup district, all of which is overseen by the provincial fisheries department, is under threat of being systemically divided and sold to a private company, according to officials. ...

After issuing a public health warning earlier this month for Kep province due to an algal bloom in the coastal water, the government on Friday lifted its precautionary ban on swimming, fishing and eating seafood in the province, according to a statement.   ...

A 30-month study by Vietnamese researchers on the impact of 11 proposed hydroelectric dams in the Lower Mekong Basin (LMB) has found that the economic damage to Cambodia alone will be worth some $450 million per year. ...

At what should be a boom time ahead of the New Year, seafood vendors in Kampot have full baskets but no buyers as the algae bloom around Kep turns the water bright green and dead fish wash ashore. The government has issued a warning against swimming ...

As China opened one of its six dams on the upper Mekong River last month to help parched Southeast Asian countries down river cope with a record drought, it was hailed as benevolent water diplomacy. But to critics of hydroelectric dams built on the Mekong over ...

A massive algal bloom off the coast of Kep that has left scores of dead coastal crabs and fish in its wake resulted in warnings from the Ministry of Environment and Prime Minister Hun Sen this weekend to avoid eating seafood or swimming in the ...