Water and sanitation policy and administration

The water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) programs are administered by a range of different governmental institutions that create policies to reach the goals for universal access to WASH products like potable water, basic sanitation, and hand soap.

Administrative agencies

The water and sanitation policies are administered by many different actors inside the Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC). The clean water facilities are being regulated by the Ministry of Industry, Science, Technology & Innovation (MISTI). This is done through licensing, business certificates, and general drafting of laws on clean water.¹ Under MISTI is the General Department of Potable Water (GDWAT) which is the department that implements the work of the MISTI. Their main responsibilities are to establish, formulate, implement, and enforce laws and regulations. They also develop the technical standards for clean water systems and implement Guidelines on Climate​ Resilient Water Safety Plans for water treatment and water control monitoring. GDWAT also leads different development plans for the different water suppliers. Under the GDWAT there are 5 other departments:

1. Department of Wrap-up and Information (DWIN)
2. Department of Planning and Data Management (DPDM)
3. Department of Potable Water Policy (DWPO)
4. Department of Technics and Project Management (DTPM)
5. Department of Potable Water Regulation (DPWR)

Under the GDWAT is 418 different water operators with 11 of them being public water utilities.² The most successful water utility is the Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority (PPWSA) which has been successful in supplying water to large parts of Phnom Penh while being profitable.³ The private water utility companies have also organized themselves under the Cambodian Water Supply Association (CWA) which advocates for its 252 members in water policy and also coordinates with each other on other water-related issues.⁴

Most of the population in Cambodia lives in rural areas and the Ministry of Rural Development (MRD) has the responsibility to support the development of water and sanitation in these rural areas and make sure its providers follow the regulations. This is done with the help of the National Strategy for Rural Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene 2011-2025 (RWSSH) which broadly outlines priorities and procedures that are made by the local commune and providers that are coordinated by the MRD. This is mostly managed by the Department of Rural Water Supply and the Department of Rural Health Care, both under the General Department for Technical Affairs and implemented by The Provincial Department of Rural Development and Commune Councils.⁵

The Ministry of Metrology and Water Resources (MOWRAM) has the overall responsibility of water planning and sustainably using the resources.⁶ Similarly the Ministry of the Environment (MoE) regulates and monitors water pollution and makes sure it is used sustainably.⁷ For the wastewater and general sanitation in urban areas the responsible ministry is the Ministry of Public Works and Transportation (MPWT).⁸

Laws and regulations

The laws and regulations that govern water and sanitation policy and administration regulate licensing, water quality, and waste management. The main law is the “Law on Clean Water Management” from 2023.⁹

The Law on Clean Water Supply Management (2023) regulates licensing of clean water suppliers which according to previous regulations are made for 20 years instead of the pre-2015 rule of only 3 years.¹⁰ This can be changed by Prakas from relevant ministries (which is not specified in the law) which at the time of writing is MISTI. The clean water supplier can be both governmental and private and one of the purposes of the law is to mobilise funding for clean water projects. The law requires 3 different actions to be approved by the government before starting to operate and build a clean water project.

• Get permission to perform a pre-feasibility study of the project.
• Receive the business license for the supply area that is regulated through Prakas
• Receive a business operating certificate from MISTI which is also regulated in specific regulations.¹¹

The same law also regulates water tariffs which are done by the supplier but must be controlled by the MISTI every 5 years by considering geographical area, source of water, treatment system, technology, population, physical infrastructure, and production costs. Expansion into different areas is also permitted after 80% coverage in the area designated for the supplier in its operating area and by approval from the MISTI. The supplier in the area has also legal protection to operate alone in its designated area and to receive investments and manage the operation by themselves if it follows other regulations. The supplier can also transfer their operations to another actor after prior approval from the MISTI. The maintenance and development of clean water can also be done with the help of the Clean Water Development Fund which mainly services remote rural areas.¹²

The older Law on Water Resources Management (2007) is a regulation for water resources in general where MOWRAM is the regulator. The law is for more general regulations and does not specify clean water management as in the previously mentioned law which mostly adds new regulations.¹³  The wastewater from industries but also personal disposal is regulated by the wastewater system law (2024) which is important for the useability of Cambodia’s water resources in both direct consumption and through sanitation.¹⁴ Water pollution is also regulated by sub-decree 27 on Water Pollution Control (1999) where there is a requirement for notification of water pollution in public water and control of possible polluters.¹⁵

Governmental policies and plans

Water and sanitation policy is part of the pentagonal strategy phase one with water being one of the key priorities with the goal of 100% rate of access to a water supply following the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals which the RGC supports. The pentagonal strategy lays out the need for legal reforms, creating water supply regulator and creating incentives to help water supply companies automate more of their operations and supply water for both small and large enterprises.¹⁶

The Ministry of Rural Development has published its plans to revive and develop the WASH sector in Cambodia with National Strategy for Rural Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene 2011-2025, National Strategy for Rural Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene 2014-2025, and National Action Plan Rural Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene 2019-2023.¹⁷

These plans together set out to reach the goal of 100% water coverage by 2030 by setting up objectives that can be summarized as:

• improve water supply services
• improve sanitation,
• behavioral hygiene change,
• institutional arrangement and
• financial. 

Related to Water and sanitation policy and administration:

• Water and sanitation

• SDG 6 Clean water and sanitation

• Infrastructure