Phnom Penh, September 2020 - The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO),  Ministry of Environment (MoE), Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF), Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology (MoWRAM), and Ministry of Rural Development (MRD) jointly organized a national inception workshop for the preparation of a proposal to the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) for a project entitled “Enhancing sustainability of the Transboundary Cambodia-Mekong River Delta Aquifer”. The GEF council, through its International Water Funds Window (IW), approved the Project Identification Form (PIF) in June this year.

 The workshop aimed at introducing all relevant stakeholders to the project objectives, components and expected outputs, including the additional details required to prepare the full project document over the next 12 months. The workshop was also used to discuss core issues and collect feedback from national and sub-national stakeholders regarding methodologies, approach, sector assessments, and preparation work plan in order to develop a comprehensive and implementable project proposal to be endorsed by the GEF.

With a budget of USD 15 million, this project aims to support efforts in Cambodia and Vietnam in strengthening the governance and sustainable use of the Transboundary Cambodia-Mekong River Delta Aquifer. At around 200 000 km² in size, the Cambodia-Mekong River Delta Aquifer is shared by Cambodia and Vietnam, and about 63 percent of this transboundary aquifer system lies within Cambodian territory.  This transboundary aquifer system (TBA) connects two ecosystems of global environmental significance and socio-economic importance:  i) the Tonle Sap area and the ii) the Mekong Delta, and includes some major urban areas, including Phnom Penh and Ho Chi Minh City.

 The Mekong Delta’s groundwater has been heavily exploited for water supply and irrigation, with an estimated annual extraction rate of about 800–900 million cubic meters. This has resulted in an alarming reduction in the groundwater levels. This issue is exacerbated by climate threats, including prolonged dry seasons and sea level rise.

The groundwater resource in this TBA is critical for people’s livelihoods, agricultural production, and the socio-economic development of the two countries. Cambodia heavily relies on its groundwater resources to overcome water shortages during the dry season and is mostly used in rural area. The groundwater is critical for rice production, an essential sector for food security, livelihoods, and export.

 A study by Standford University in 2016 found a growing reliance on groundwater use, indicating that it had grown by 10 per cent annually in the Cambodian Delta. If it continues to expand at the current rates, the water table may drop below the “lift limit” of suction pump wells used for domestic supply by more than 1.5 million people, throughout much of the area within 15 years.

What is more, if the groundwater level drops, wetlands can dry out, causing several negative impacts. Wetlands play an important role in the hydrological cycle, influencing groundwater recharge, low flows, evaporation and floods, providing habitat for fish breeding and offering natural cleansing water functions.

Mr Oum Kosal, Assistant FAO Representative (Programme) emphasized in his welcoming remarks that the sustainability of water resources and health of the delta and Tonle Sap ecosystems cannot be achieved without a proper and shared understanding of the regional groundwater flow regimes, especially with regard to the up-gradient recharge zones within the regional territory.

“Having acknowledged the current threats to the transboundary aquifer system and barriers hindering the implementation of cooperative management framework for sustainable management and development of the transboundary aquifer system, this project has been jointly developed to support the current efforts by the two countries, aiming to strengthen environmental sustainability and water security in the Lower Mekong Basin by focusing on improved governance and sustainable utilization of the Cambodia-Mekong River Delta Transboundary Aquifer,” said Mr Oum Kosal.

Cambodia has established the environmental law and the water resource law focusing on groundwater protection, Cambodian drinking water standard, the arsenic strategy to prevent negative health impacts from groundwater, as well as other relevant policies. However, challenges persist due to limited data and information about the groundwater, according to H.E. Sao Sopheap, Secretary of State, and GEF Political Focal Point of the Ministry of Environment.

He further commented that, “we need to take urgent actions to (1) strengthen transboundary management mechanism for groundwater for Mekong River Delta Aquifer; (2) establish a comprehensive research on groundwater use and recharge, then develop a joint action plan and management strategy to collaboratively oversee the groundwater resources; and (3) build capacity to monitor and evaluate the groundwater status through completed database and knowledge management system.”

To address the needs and strengthen cooperation of the management of the shared aquifer resources by both countries, the project plans to carry out activities under five main components, including:

(i) Establishing joint science-based diagnostic for groundwater dynamics (recharge and extraction) and effects on ecosystems (e.g. fish, wetlands) and livelihoods;

(ii) Piloting solutions for improved transboundary groundwater management;

(iii) Developing transboundary cooperation mechanisms;  joint strategies and action programmes; and

(iv) Reinforced institutional capacity, improved participation, gender mainstreaming, and coordination.

 In Cambodia, the project implementation is expected to start in early 2022 under the general coordination of MoE, and with joint support and partnership from MAFF, MoWRAM, MRD, and FAO, as well as other relevant development partners at country and regional levels.