Environment and natural resources
Water resources
Cambodian thanks, caution, as China opens Mekong dam
Farmers and development organizations say they welcome the release of water from a hydropower dam on the Mekong River in China, but warn against negative effects if too much is discharged. ...
Phorn Bopha
http://www.voanews.com/content/china-cambodia-mekong-river-dam/3244377.html
Deadline passes but beachside eviction still imminent
The two-kilometer stretch of white sand that curves along translucent sea in an idyllic bay near Sihanoukville was still living up to its picture-perfect mystique on Sunday, with couples strolling hand-in-hand beneath the cloudless sky as others slouched in cushioned chairs soaking up the sun. ...
Maddy Crowell
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/22815/deadline-passes-but-beachside-eviction-still-imminent/
Water running out in Reay Pai
About 2,700 families in Kampong Cham province’s Reay Pai commune, where wells and ponds have almost dried up, could soon be left without any safe water. ...
Sen David and Igor Kossov
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/water-running-out-reay-pai
RepRisk releases Special Report on the Lower Mekong Basin
RepRisk, the leading provider of dynamic business intelligence on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) risks, has released its Special Report on the Lower Mekong Basin, the second in a series of reports on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), an economic and political organization ...
Business Wire Team
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160223006393/en/RepRisk-releases-Special-Report-Mekong-Basin
Mekong diversion under way in Thailand
The Thai government’s planned diversion of billions of cubic metres of water from the Mekong River, described last week by a Thai Ministry of Water Resources representative as being as far as two years away, has already begun. ...
Igor Kossov
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/mekong-diversion-under-way-thailand
Forecast stormy for Mekong, commission says
With the threat of climate change, a long-lasting drought, and contentious dam construction in Laos, the Mekong River Commission (MRC) has its work cut out for the rest of the year. Composed of delegates from Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam, the MRC is in charge ...
Jonathan Cox
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/19880/forecast-stormy-for-mekong--commission-says/
Illegal land sales denied in Kandal
A Kandal province businessman yesterday denied involvement in illegal land transactions after villagers in Khsach Kandal district last week alleged he illegally bought and filled parts of a seasonal lake used for communal fishing and farming. ...
Khouth Sophak Chakrya
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/illegal-land-sales-denied-kandal
City seeks to halt land sales at Boeung Trabek
Municipal officials said yesterday that they would take steps to combat what they said was the unlawful occupation of portions of Boeung Trabek lake, which the city hopes to clear out to restore its ability to hold rainwater and reduce flooding. ...
Niem Chheng
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/city-seeks-halt-land-sales-boeung-trabek
The Mekong river stories from the heart of the climate crisis interactive
The fate of 70 million people rests on what happens to the Mekong river. With world leaders meeting in Paris next week for crucial UN climate talks, John Vidal journeys down south-east Asia’s vast waterway – a place that encapsulates some of the dilemmas they ...
Private companies warned on beach access
The government has vowed to crack down on coastal hotels and resorts that have restricted public access to beaches or constructed illegal encroachments within 50 metres of the shoreline.Tourism Minister Thong Khon warned yesterday that his ministry will give private companies a deadline to remove ...
Sor Chandara
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/private-companies-warned-beach-access
Officials unable to explain mystery ships
Officials in Preah Sihanouk province on Thursday gave a series of conflicting explanations as to what a team of cargo ships and accompanying barges are doing in the waters between Koh Rong and the mainland. ...
Sek Odom and Matt Blomberg
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/officials-unable-to-explain-mystery-ships-99537/
Illegal fishing destroying Kep’s ocean ecology
A dozen diesel-powered boats crawl across Kep Bay, creating a rumble so low that it shakes the pier. They drag weighted, electrified nets across the inshore shallows, scooping up sea life indiscriminately and destroying vital breeding grounds in the process. And they trawl so close ...
Matt Blomberg and Sek Odom
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/illegal-fishing-destroying-keps-ocean-ecology-98170/
ADB approves loan to improve irrigation systems
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $60 million loan to modernize and rehabilitate irrigation systems in Kompong Thom and Battambang provinces. ...
Meghan Tribe
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/business/adb-approves-loan-to-improve-irrigation-systems-95983/
Group proposes signing UN water pact
Environmental groups yesterday urged the government to seek greater legal clarity among the Mekong River countries about how they should share its resources. ...
Pav Suy
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/16099/group-proposes-signing-un-water-pact/
Female passenger dies while boarding cruise ship
A female passenger was killed Wednesday after an accident that occurred as she attempted to board the Queen Elizabeth cruise ship while it was moored off the coast of Sihanoukville, according to a statement from the cruise line. ...
Chris Mueller
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/female-passenger-dies-while-boarding-cruise-ship-in-sville-81306/
Drought highlights Int'l Water Day
As officials and development agencies marked International Water Day yesterday, thousands of families in Kampong Cham province went without a drop – some reportedly for the sixth day in a row. The local authorities and rights workers made desperate pleas for aid as reports emerged that ...
Phak Seangly
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/drought-highlights-intl-water-day
Anco blamed for flooding
Villagers in Banteay Meanchey province’s Malai district have complained that a politically connected firm owned by one of the country’s most influential businessmen has flooded their homes. ...
Sen David
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/anco-blamed-flooding
Xayaburi dam nearly half done
Construction of the Xayaburi dam on the Mekong River in Laos is almost half finished, the developer behind it has said. ...
Shane Worrell
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/xayaburi-dam-nearly-half-done
Calls flow for dam to be canned
Ahead of a national consultation meeting about Laos’s Don Sahong hydropower dam later this week, communities that will be affected by the project have made their opinion clear: suspend the dam. ...
Phak Seangly and Laignee Barron
http://phnompenhpost.com/national/calls-flow-dam-be-canned
Consult quickly: Door closing on Laos dam input period
Very quietly, with no official public announcement, the intergovernmental assessment process for Laos’s contentious Don Sahong dam is almost over before anyone knew it began. ...
Laignee Barron
http://phnompenhpost.com/national/consult-quickly-door-closing-laos-dam-input-period
Floods swamp capital
A torrential downpour that lasted over three hours yesterday morning has left many in the capital struggling with flooded houses, businesses and travel conditions, sparking outcry that authorities have not done enough to manage the rain’s effects. Flooding took place in virtually every district in ...
Taing Vida
http://phnompenhpost.com/national/floods-swamp-capital
OCIC razes last shacks, families move on
The last of 16 shacks that once clung to the edge of a mammoth development project in Phnom Penh’s Chroy Changva district were demolished by the Overseas Cambodia Investment Corporation (OCIC) on Monday. Seven families in Doeum Kor 2 village—where marshlands are quickly being pumped full ...
Sek Odom
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/ocic-razes-last-shacks-families-move-on-68073/
In Stung Treng, forests fall before they’re washed away
On the Sesan and Srepok rivers in the northeast, boats of all shapes and sizes lug timber back and forth between the banks. Men wait on craggy land alongside the water with jerry-rigged winches and homemade vehicles to drag precious cargo up steep inclines. Fallen ...
Matt Blomberg
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/in-stung-treng-province-communities-fell-their-forests-before-they-are-washed-away-67369/
Dam ‘redesign’ a mystery
Amid a lawsuit and a chorus of dissent, developers of the first lower Mekong mainstream hydropower project, the massive Xayaburi dam, have quietly submitted a long-anticipated, multimillion-dollar redesign plan, the Post has learned. What exactly has been changed about the 1,260-megawatt dam, which environmentalists contend will ...
Laignee Barron
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/dam-%E2%80%98redesign%E2%80%99-mystery