Water

Cambodia began implementing a river basin approach to its water resources planning and management after its Water Resources Law was passed in May 2007. Two agencies—the Cambodia National Mekong Committee (CNMC) and the Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology (MOWRAM)—share the mandate for river basin planning and questions arise as to how they could manage the process together.

In May-June 2007, a "Functional Water Partnership," a network of focal points for dialogue for the four sub-basins of Prek Preah, Prek Krieng, Prek Kampi and Prek Te, was established through an Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) demonstration project. The project aimed to describe the potential for an IWRM-based approach to water-related development at the river basin level, as well as the advantages of public participation.

This PDA built upon the IWRM achievements of the Functional Water Partnership network. It also strengthened Cambodia's IWRM capacity, particularly in establishing better coordination between CNMC and MOWRAM in formulating a river basin approach across two provinces and introducing a range of community participation and awareness-raising approaches.