Built atop the bones of the dead, Trapaing Thmar reservoir is largest irrigation project built by the Khmer Rouge regime. Today, it is running dry amid one of the worst droughts to hit Cambodia in living memory.
In northwestern Cambodia, more than 400 kilometers from Phnom Penh, the vast protected area serves as a crucially important source of water for thousands of rice farmers and their families in Phnom Srok district and other neighboring areas.
Trapaing Thmar reservoir is also the habitat of numerous endangered species, including the .
During a recent visit to the area, farmers were fishing and pumping water to their rice fields from a scattering of small ponds, all that remains of the more than 12,000-hectare reservoir.
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In this part of Banteay Meanchey province, farmers remark on the lack of rain, during the wet season as well as the dry season. Cambodian farmers grow rice in both seasons. Cambodia’s rainy season typically arrives in May and ends in October and dry season runs from November until April.
“It is not like before. It is worse than ever,” said Ping Chantrea, a 30-year-old farmer who adds she can no longer produce enough rice to sell.
“It only rained twice during the wet season last year,” she laments from her home in Ponley commune’s Porabun village, a concern echoed by others.
“Early this year until now, it has not rained at all,” said Chantrea who is eight months pregnant.
“I lost the money I saved from my wedding,” she added.
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Farmers in this district have complained that production of rice in both rainy and dry seasons has declined.
Another farmer, Laing Thom, says he believes the temperature is rising and the rains are no longer as regular as they once were.
“Now it is just only about 8 a.m., but it is very hot,” Thom said.
Cambodia has been ranked among the Southeast Asian countries most vulnerable to climate change, according to a .
Many of Cambodians rely on agriculture, and the changes to the country’s climate lead to more droughts or more floods.
According to UNDP statistics, 22,695 Cambodians out of every million were impacted by between 2005 and 2012, especially by flood and drought. Flooding in 2009, 2011 and 2013 led to more than $1 billion in damage and 461 fatalities.
Thom says he cannot produce as much rice on his 2.6-hectare farm.
“I can’t make a profit, or even cover the cost of fertilizer,” he said, complaining of price manipulation. Farmers expect to sell their rice for at least 18 to 20 cents per kilogram, but it has been sold at a lower price.
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On Feb. 20, Prime Minister Hun Sen, citing the drought, asked rice farmers to plant only for the wet season harvest.
“Please farm only one crop this year because we do not have enough water,” Hun Sen told thousands of workers in Kandal province, adding that Cambodia will face a severe drought and water shortages this year.
In a directive dated Jan. 17, Hun Sen called on local authorities and villagers to conserve water for crops because Cambodia will likely be indirectly impacted by , which refers to a short-term period of warm ocean surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean, stretching from South America towards Australia.
Cambodia will also grapple with soaring temperatures of between 40 and 42 degrees Celsius in April and May.
Lim Kean Hor, minister of water resources and meteorology visited the Trapaing Thmar reservoir area Feb. 23, and told Phnom Srok villagers that by farming during the dry season, they had acted against Hun Sen’s directive.
“They have farmed more than the plan allowed. They were allowed to farm only a total of 5,000 hectares of land,” said the minister, adding “we lack water” until an anticipated break in mid-May.
Drought has now affected more than 20,000 hectares of rice fields in 13 provinces, according to Cambodia’s National Committee for Disaster Management.
In 2015, Cambodia experienced its worst drought in half a century, with most of its 25 provinces experiencing water shortages, and about 2.5 million people severely affected.
Mean Seum, chief of Chantrea’s Porabun village, said an estimated 10 percent of the normal amount of rice will be produced this year.
“Mostly they owe money to microfinance [institutions] and other people,” he said. “The debt will be more.”
Since April 2017, the interest rates on new loans from MFIs and rural credit operators was set to a maximum of 18 percent. Prime Minister Hun Sen said that the MFIs and credit operators previously offered loans with interest rates of 20 and 30 percent per year.