Cherng Krous Dam- Study 2 (14 Feb 11)

7/25/2019 Cherng Krous Dam- Study 2 (14 Feb 11)

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2ndFEASIBILITY REPORT14thFeb 2011

Cherng Krous ReservoirIrrigation Rehabilitation Study

Ockenden Team & Partners

in association withEnvironmental Management consultantsLocal Authorities & Provincial Line Departments


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IRRIGATION REHABILITATION STUDY OF CHERNG KROUS DAM, BANTEAY MEANCHEYPROVINCE, CAMBODIA

Contents Page No1 BACKGROUND 3

1.1 Existing Irrigated Agriculture 3

1.2 Demands for Rehabilitation 41.2.1 Proposals by the Local Authorities1.2.2 Farmer Aspirations

1.3 Potential for Rehabilitation 51.3.1 Water Resources1.3.2 Soil and Land Resources1.3.3 Present condition of Reservoir

2 PROJECT DESCRIPTION 82.1 Cherng Krous Dam Rehabilitation Plan 8

2.1.1 without Project

2.1.2 with Project 82.2 Infrastructure Requirements

2.2.1 General2.2.2 Cherng Krous ReservoirEmbankment2.2.3 Canal System2.2.4 Cost

2.3 Non-Infrastructure Components 92.3.1 Institutional Arrangements2.3.2 Government Assistance

2.4 Environmental Impacts 9

3 PROJECT JUSTIFICATION 113.1 Costs3.2 Benefits

4 COMMENTS/VIEWS FROM KEY DEPARTMENT 13

A SOCIO-ECONOMIC CONDITIONS 15A.1 Demographic CharacteristicsA.2 Land Tenure PatternsA.3 Livelihood PatternsA.4 Food-Security and Market Dependency

B WATER RESOURCES 17B.1 GeneralB.2 Cropping Calendar and Irrigation AreaB.3 Water ResourcesB.4 Water Balance

C ACRONOMY 17C.1 GeneralC.2 Present Agriculture

C.2.1 Cropping pattern

C.2.2 Cultivation practicesCONCLUSION & Recommendations 20Back cover page- Views of Current Reservoir from Google Earth (Jan 2011) 21


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1 BACKGROUNG

1.1 Existing Irrigated Agricultu re

The Cherng Krous reservoir lies at the base of the foothills leading from the Khmer Thai border. Thesefoot hills lead to the largest reservoir named Trapeang Thmar Dam. It is located in Banteay Chhmarcommune, Thmar Pouk district of Banteay Meanchey Province and is roughly a one and half hour drive

to the north from Sisophon. The command area is spread over two districts (Thmar Pouk of BanteayMeanchey province and Banteay Ampil of Otdar Meanchey province) and 2 Communes.

Figure 1.1 shows the project location

In ancient Angkorian times a major causeway road crossed the Cherng Krous, however, the system wasre-built in the Pol Pot years. After that, the area was a fighting zone and only recently Ockenden and thelocal authorities have been carrying out small scale rehabilitation of the reservoir embankment. Thereservoir -which is fed directly by rainfall- is large. The surface area, according to the Local Authoritiesand Department of Water Resources, is 4.25 sq km with an average depth, at full capacity, of 4.5m.The main embankment is about 3 km long. The embankment has no spillway and overflows every yearcausing major damages to one of its watergates and the eroding embankment.

Map of Cambodia and Road NetworkLocation ofCherngKrousReservoir


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Figure 1.2 shows the project area.

There are three main canals branching from the reservoir. These currently serve1,364ha in the wetseason and 105 ha in the dry season. The reservoir outlet structures appear to be in reasonablecondition, although all of the gates are broken. The canal system also needs to be extended andimproved upon. The Province estimates the post-rehabilitation areas as 3,712 ha and 688 ha in the wetand dry seasons respectively.

Prior to construction of the reservoir, the area where water was stored was a small lake surrounded bywet season farmland.

1.2 Demands for Rehabili tation

1.2.2

Proposals by the Local Authorities and CommunitiesThere are four main tasks proposed are as follows:

Strengthening the embankment which suffers from erosion (3000m); Repairing the reservoir control structures (three Watergates with 3 doors, 2 doors, 2 doors

and one spillway); Repairing the damaged irrigation canals (three canals- 1,570m, 1,100m and 500m); Setting up and building the capacity of the Cherng Krous Management Committee and

Water Users Committees to operate the system after it is completed.

Benefits are expected both in the wet season (increased yields due to supplementary irrigation) and the

dry season (a second irrigated crop could be cultivated in some 688 ha of farmland and 150ha ofsecondary crops productions.)


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1.2.2 Farmers Asp irationsWhen Ockenden visited the Banteay Chhma and Banteay Ampil communes, farmers wanted to growdry season crops. The reasons that motivated farmers to grow dry season rice and additional crops are(a) price of agriculture produce gone up and (b) good road access. However, the ability to act on thismight be limited during the first few years because some farmers are not experienced in cultivating dryseason rice.

1.3 Potential for Rehabili tation

1.3.1 Water Resources

Currently, the reservoir does not have the capacity to catch all water from direct rainfall due to thebroken embankment and Watergates. The average irrigated paddy fields 1,364ha in the rainy seasonand 105ha in the dry season.

An estimate of the water resources available to the project with full capacity is to catch and stored waterfrom the catchment catchments size of 300 sq km (30km x 10km). If completed to the proposalspecification it is estimated that there will be 3,712 ha of rainy season cropping and 688 ha during the

dry season.

However, if in a drought year there is little direct rainfall, we can expect some difference between bothseasons irrigable areas.

Table 1.1. Rainfall data over the past 11 year

MONTHLY RAINFALL SUMMARY

No. YearJan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Totalmm

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

1 2000 0.0 14.5 29.3 396.4 126.7 118.7 240.1 166.6 123.1 337.4 6.0 0.01,558.8

2 2001 2.5 0.0 100.4 65.3 246.3 126.1 82.9 225.2 156.1 169.7 25.6 0.01,200.1

3 2002 0.0 5.9 16.0 67.1 154.4 201.8 171.7 235.3 251.1 122.1 9.2 53.81,288.4

4 2003 0.0 22.1 29.2 115.9 140.2 164.2 148.6 161.2 230.0 148.7 0.0 0.01,160.1

5 2004 9.7 5.2 0.5 128.7 109.0 243.6 182.7 155.6 160.0 121.5 0.0 0.01,116.5

6 2005 12.8 0.0 7.5 99.9 169.7 120.8 212.9 94.1 208.3 260.6 5.8 25.81,218.2

7 2006 6.3 71.7 68.0 93.8 109.2 37.0 328.6 171.6 253.8 118.0 2.5 0.0 1,260.5

8 2007 4.0 29.3 15.7 139.5 206.4 87.4 164.0 104.5 267.7 98.3 116.5 0.01,233.3

9 2008 0.0 18.2 48.1 121.7 232.7 87.4 89.3 181.4 368.5 242.5 116.3 0.01,506.1

10 2009 0.0 0.0 68.6 223.4 121.2 178.3 97.7 43.1 216.6 151.7 3.5 0.01,104.1

11 2010 9.7 13.5 25.2 67.3 60.1 122.5 96.3 205.0 223.5 295.3 19.0 0.01,137.4

Total13,783.5

Average1,253.0

Sources: Department of Water Resources and Meteorology


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1.3.2 Soil and Land Resources

The soils in the command area of Cherng Krous are mostly deep poorly drained compact clay loams toclays. These are moderately to highly suitable for intensive irrigated rice development; limitations aresoil compaction and rooting depth.

Sandier soils are also found; sands and loamy sands over sandy clay loam to sandy clays. These

sandier soils are only moderately suitable for intensive irrigated rice development due to the limitationsof coarse soil texture, reduced water holding capacity and high rates of soil infiltration. Both soil typesare marginally suitable to not suitable for other secondary crops due to drainage limitations.

1.3.3. Present condition of the reservoir

At present, the reservoir does not contribute in any significant way. Most of the water from thecatchment bypasses the structure through broken gates and the eroded embankment.

The reservoir embankment contains a total of 4 structures designed to pass water through it. Butdifferent parts of these structures have been destroyed during the war. These 4 irrigation structures

should be able to provide controlled irrigation to selected areas downstream.

Photograph1. A view from the top of embankment looking north-west

The embankment appears to have originally had a top with of 4.5m with 2:1 slopes on both sides. Thesurface was not protected by laterite, gravel or other wearing material and so it has eroded significantlywith the passage of time. The last top part of the embankment was destroyed by flood during the war.

Photograph2. A view of Box Culvert No 1


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Photograph5. A view of main canal


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2 PROJECT DESCRIPTION

2.1 Cherng Krous Dam Rehabili tation Plan

2.1.1 Without the Project

Rice situation in Cambodia

Rice is paramount to life in Cambodia. 67.9 per cent1Cambodians are involved in producing rice (Table2). Rice cultivated area amounts to 90 percent of the total cultivated land (2.2 millions hectare) butcontributes 22 percent to agricultural GDP 2. Poor households contribute 15-25 percent of total riceproduction, cultivating small holdings3; of one hectare or less. According to WFP (2010), rice represents70 percent of the daily household calorific intake and absorbs about 30 percent of householdexpenditures.

Table 2 Rice in Cambodia

Fromsiteresources.worldbank.org/.../Resources/chapter+9.pdf

Rice is cultivated in two different seasons, namely:-wet season rice -cultivated mostly under rainfed conditions (85 percent of the total cultivated area; and-dry season rice -grown mostly with flood recessional water supply (15 percent of the total cultivatedarea)4.

Due to the war and Pol Pot agricultural policy of planting few rice varieties, traditional indigenous ricevarieties - that required few modern outputs, thrived on poor land and were more palatable - have beenlost. Farmers still implemented traditional rice planting methods from that era until recently. The size of

rice millers and their sparsity in rural areas was an additional constraint to increased rice production5.

The 1980s to now were characterized by an influx of international aid to alleviate rural poverty andimprove agricultural practices. A variety of practices such as introduced improved high-yielding varieties,fertilizer split applications, or improved farming practices of newly developed techniques called Systemof Rice Intensification (SRI), integrated pest management (IPM)6 were introduced. Although aid

1https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/cb.html2Trade in sectors important to the poor: Rice in Cambodia and Vietnam and Cashmere in Mongolia Siteresources.worldbank.org//Resources/Chapter+9.pdf3Trade in sectors important to the poor: Rice in Cambodia and Vietnam and Cashmere in Mongolia Siteresources.worldbank.org//Resources/Chapter+9.pdf4Yang Saing, K. (CEDAC) 2008. Proposed Strategies to Utilize the Potential of Rice Production in Cambodia5WFP (2010)6USDA Foreign Agricultural Service (2006). Cambodia Grain and Feed Grain Industry In Cambodia 2006.GAIN Report Number: CB6001
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/cb.htmlhttps://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/cb.htmlhttps://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/cb.htmlhttps://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/cb.html


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programs aimed at mainstreaming best agricultural practices, only a small proportion of farmers wereinvolved. Nevertheless overall yields increased from 3.2 millions tons per year (1983) to 4.3-5 milliontons per year (2006) enabling Cambodia to export rice to international markets (316,000 tons)7.

From 2000 to 2010, the Ministry of Agriculture has pushed for SRI to be adopted with best rice farmersyielding 7-9 tons of paddy per hectare against 2.5-3 tons per hectare; and with 47 NGOs in 2004involved in SRI extension that reached 82000 farmers over 47,000 hectares; 2.2 per cent of the wet

season rice area8. A 2004 GTZ report reported that if just 10% of Cambodian rice farmers would convertjust 42% of their rice area to SRI, the economic benefit to the nation would be $36 million per annum9.

The situation particular with regard to dry and wet season riceAccording to IPPC (2007) Summary for policy makers, climate change could impact on rice yield (themain staple food) which could fall by up to 50%10. Specifically, climate change is likely to affect thefollowings:

Present rice production against forecasted rice production after water stress climatic patternsare traditionally rainy, monsoon season (May to November); dry season (December to April); littleseasonal temperature variation. However, a study from the Cambodian Ministry of the Environment on

climate change impact brought evidence that natural rainfall patterns have changed as Cambodiaexperiences increased wet season rainfall and decreased dry season rainfall11. The IPPC forecasts thatif temperatures are allowed to rise to 4 degree Celsius, there will be increased water availability in themoist tropics and high altitudes; there will be decreasing water availability and increasing drought at midaltitude. Populations in the lowlands will suffer from increased water stress. ANALYSIS:Measures toinvestigate in populated lowland areas are availability of water through small to medium waterconstruction and retrofitting of water bladders, water tanks of small and large capacity in populatedareas; incentives for private holders to invest in water saving equipments or manage bodies of watercommunally; water sanitation measures aimed at protecting water tanks from contamination (mosquito,faeces, etc.).

Land under dry rice and forcasted impact of climate change on lowland Dry season accounts for8% of total rice area, which planted in around November in areas close to major rivers and theirfloodplains. Short-period rice varieties are normally grown for this crop that take only about 3 monthsfrom planting to harvest12. Based on data from the past five years, Cambodias paddy production wasdestroyed as much as 70 percent by floods, and 20 percent and 10 percent respectively by droughtsand diseases13. Furthermore, the IPPC forecasts that if temperatures are allowed to rise to 4 degreeCelsius, there will be decreasing water availability in lowland and increasing drought at mid altitude;which indicates that dry season rice production in lowland would produce less.ANALYSIS:If the waterinfrastructure remains the same in Cambodia, this means that the current yield (8%) from dry seasonrice would be vastly reduced under climate change strain; a fact evidenced by the study from theCambodian Ministry of the Environment.

Land under wet rice and forecasted impact of climate change on highland rain fed lowland andrain fed uplands rice represents 86% and 2% of the total rice area, respectively. Rain fed rice belongs toa monsoon-season crop, which is seeded in May-June and harvested in November-December14. If

7Trade in sectors important to the poor: Rice in Cambodia and Vietnam and Cashmere in Mongolia Siteresources.worldbank.org//Resources/Chapter+9.pdf8Yang Saing, K. (CEDAC) 2008. Proposed Strategies to Utilize the Potential of Rice Production in Cambodia9Yang Saing, K. (CEDAC) 2008. Proposed Strategies to Utilize the Potential of Rice Production in Cambodia10Andrew Mears, British Ambassador to Cambodia (pers.com)11http://www.upiasia.com/Human_Rights/2009/06/10/will_climate_change_impact_cambodia/3454/12USDA Foreign Agricultural Service (2006). Cambodia Grain and Feed Grain Industry In Cambodia 2006.GAIN Report Number: CB600113http://www.upiasia.com/Human_Rights/2009/06/10/will_climate_change_impact_cambodia/3454/14USDA Foreign Agricultural Service (2006). Cambodia Grain and Feed Grain Industry In Cambodia 2006.GAIN Report Number: CB6001


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The proposed work comprises of the rehabilitation of the eroded section of the embankment, the re-construction of the 3 Watergates, the construction of a spillway and the installation of spindles and liftinggears. The level of the outlet should be low enough to mobilize adequate active storage but highenough to ensure retention of sufficient dead storage to support perennial fishery.

2.2.3 Canal System

Most of the areas presently currently being supported by irrigation during the wet season arecommanded by Canal 1, 2, and 3. These 3 canals need re-excavation and bank improvement for itsentire length of 1,579m, 1,100m and 500m.

2.2.4. Cost

The estimated cost of the rehabilitation includes: (a) the Earthwork; (b) the Construction work; (c) thesetting up of Irrigation Association and Water User Committees; (d) Local Supervision and TechnicalAssistance and (e) the overhead management. The total costs will be US$491,664.79. (See table 3.1Summary of Project Costs).

The rehabilitation of the irrigation system below the reservoir (such as dikes, sub-canals, culverts...) hasnot been costed because it is planned that this work is part of the Commune Investment Plan togetherwith Irrigation Association and Water User Committee.

2.3 Non-Infrastructure Components

2.3.1 Institutional Ar rangements

The control of the water resources and their equitable allocation between the farmers is critical to thesuccess of this project. The following institution measures are recommended:

Water user groups, representing each of the villages who have accessto irrigation water from the project, to operate and maintain the systemat a village level and administered by water allocation arrangements.

An irrigation association, with representation from all of the water usergroups to set up and supervise water allocation arrangements between the differentwater user groups. The irrigation association should include technicalrepresentation from the district or province Hydrology office.

2.3.2 Government Assistance

The operation and maintenance should be the responsibility of the Irrigation Association and Water UserGroups described above. Nevertheless, it will be necessary for the government to provide technicalassistance regarding water management and the maintenance of the infrastructure.

The success of the project will require extensive training and credit facilities to encourage the farmers toadopt improved cropping practices and to provide them with the resources to do so.


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2.4 Environmental Impacts

If the rehabilitation leads to a more permanent inundation of the large storage area there will be moresignificant positive impacts. The negative environmental impacts are not foreseen because this is theexisting reservoir. Overall, the negative environmental impacts are rated as medium, related mostly tocanal re-excavation and reshaping.

3 PROJECT JUSTIFICATION

3.1 Costs

The cost of the proposed project is expected to be US$491,664.79. The project would involveimprovement of the embankment which suffers from erosion (3000m); repair of reservoir controlstructures (three Watergates with 3 doors, 2 doors, 2 doors and one spillway); re-excavation ofdamaged irrigation canals (three canals- 1,570m, 1,100m and 500m); Setting up the Cherng KrousManagement Committee, Water Users Committees and capacity building to operate the system after itcompletions. A breakdown of the costs of the main project components is presented in Table 3.1.

Table 3.1 Summary of Project Costs

ItemCosts(US%)

% of Total

Improve of the embankment (3000m)

Re-excavation of 3 Canals

Construction of 3 Irrigation Constructions (3 gates, 2 gates,anther 2 gates) and One spillway

Setting up of Irrigation Association and Water User Committee

154,438.28

66,380.96

143,845.55

10,000

31%

14%

29%

2%Total A 374,664.79 76%

Local Supervision and Technical Assistance 25,000 5%

Total B 25,000.00 5%

O&M Establishment Costs 92,000 19%

Total C 92,000.00 19%

GRANT TOTAL 491,664.79 100

A 2% allowance has also been made for Setting up of Irrigation Association and Water User Committee.29% for Construction of 3 Irrigation Constructions (3 gates, 2 gates, anther 2 gates) and one spillway;14% for Re-excavation of 3 Canals and 31 for Improve of the embankment (3000m) making a total of76% allocated for the direct activities cost.

Local design and supervision is expected to cost around 5 % of base (including contingencies) andtechnical assistance.

A 19% allowance has been made for covering administration and staffing costs of Ockenden Cambodiafor the period of project implementation (two years).Example: For following up (monitoring/ capacitybuilding/ freeing one staff to second Ockenden/technical advice); maintenance ((monitoring/ capacity

building/ freeing one staff to second Ockenden/technical advice.


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On this basis total project costs are expected to be US$491,664.79 which is equivalent to US$132.45/haof additional dry season irrigation. This low cost per hectare (for a gravity irrigation system) is due to thefact that only limited rehabilitation works required.

It has been assumed that most construction will be completed within 2 years and that irrigation water willbe supplied to farmers in the third year.

3.2

Benefits

It is reported that the present command area of the Cherng Krous Reservoir is around 1,364ha duringwet season and 105ha during dry season: a single crop of wet season rice being produced undersupplementary irrigation. The proposed works would safeguard the present level of supply and enable688 ha of dry season paddy to be cultivated. It is assumed that the farmers will grow this second cropon their land giving extra benefits.

Agro-economic data:- The average farm size of sample farmers was 1.89hectares per household. Theproject could benefit around 1,961 households and would increase paddy production by 4,881 tones(51.46%). At present, wet season rice, with an average yield of 1.2 tones/ha, is the only crop grown in

the project area. An average size farm of 1.89ha is able to produce a surplus of rice-284kg ofrice/head/year (194% of requirements). Rice availability is 585kg/person/year. Per year each familywould earn income from paddy production US$ 440 without the project. This estimate is based on aprojected import parity price for paddy of around 750 riels/kg. Present price levels are low at 750riels/kg, but should rise as villagers choose good rice varieties and roads improve.

Availability of an assured dry season water supply is expected to encourage farmers to adopt dryseason paddy cultivation using moderate levels of inputs to achieve yields of 3 tones/ha.

Rice availability would increase to 1,204kg/person/year-almost four times more than the required level,for households growing a dry season crop on half of their land. Household income from paddy

production would be US$897/year (increase by103%). The project would increase average laborrequirements from 70 days/farm/year to 128 days/farm/year. Much of this additional labor requirementwould be in the dry season when opportunities for local employment are limited.

Adoption of dry season paddy will be seriously affected if paddy prices in the area do not rise towardsprojected levels. For example the net financial return from dry season paddy production would be US$297.5/ha at projected prices but only US$ 110/ha at present prices.

A selection of key indicators, showing the effect of the project on production income and laborrequirements is presented as Table 3.2.

Table 3.2 key Indicators (in financial prices)

IndicatorFutureWithoutProject

FutureWithProject

Change/InlBenefit

%Increase

Net Return hectare US$/ha 60 228 168 280

Crop Income per HH US$/HH 440 897 457 103

Paddy Production(Project)

tones/yr 4604 9485 4881 106

Rice Availability Kg/person/year 585 1204 619 106


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4 COMMENTS/VIEWS FROM KEY DEPARTMENT

One part of the Cherng Krous Reservoir falls under Zone III of The Banteay Chhmar Templedevelopment. The Provincial Office of Banteay Meanchey has called for a round table discussion with itsdepartments in order to get views, advises and supports from all key stakeholders from the government.Here are some of the views, comments, suggestions and advices from them:

Department of Art and Culture: There are two important sites to be considered in Cherng KrousReservoir - an Ancient Road and Ancient Cemetery sites. Since, the development plan of BanteayChhmar Tempe is taking place; our Department is also in the process of marking the boundary poles toprotect the old grave. If there is development/ improvement activities taking place there we can worktogether to avoid negative impacts to these two sites.

Commune Chief of Banteay Chhmar:A part from the two sites as mentioned by the Department ofArt and Culture, top part of the reservoir areas is the Environmental Protected Areas and signed by theKing to protect the area since 1993. But this reservoir is very old and rebuilt since Pol Pots times so noneed to worry about negative impacts on the forest and wildlife there. Actually, the project will havemore positive impacts for the areas.

Department of Environment: In principle, he supports to the rehabilitation of Cherng Krous Reservoirand other development work in the areas. He would suggest to Ockenden to write request with supportdocuments to his ministry in Phnom Penh. He will approve on the request so that the Ministry Level canapprove as well.

Department of Water Resources and Meteorology: Rehabilitate this reservoir will help farmers tosecure water for rice and crop production. Currently, this reservoir can store 1sq km and withrehabilitation it can store up to 4.25 sq km.

Department of Agriculture: Conflict over water arose in one of the reservoir areas in Banteay

Meanchey last year between rice farming communities (dry rice versus wet rice). He suggests that theDepartment of Water Resources and NGOs should find ways to avoid further conflict if we need to goahead with the Cherng Krous Rehabilitation. And capacity building and ongoing support to thosecommittees is key to success.

Try to conduct the study and consult with key stakeholders to ensure the accuracy of information.

Irrigation Association to manage Water and the stock of water in the reservoir and make sure they havethe skills to manage and the water level. This is an expensive project, if the completed reservoir is notmanaged well it is a great lost. These people need to have ongoing links with the Department of WaterResources so that the project is sustainable.

District Chief of Thmar PoukAgreed with all comments and suggestions above.

- Part of this reservoir is in the Protected Areas, but this part of the land became farming landmany generations ago. No forest in this 4.25sq km. I think if we ask for approval it will be noproblem. Example-in Banteay Chhmar Development-we can make people perception changesfor good reason.

- Re-the Ancient Cemetery: people removed those graves and stole almost everything from therealready. So if this reservoir rehabilitated this will help to protect this old cemetery.

- There are some paddy fields inside the reservoir but villagers knew and commune authorities

can address this issue easily.- Villagers will be able to cultivate more during the dry season as well as rainy season rice somore time will be spent on the paddy field when they have enough water for both seasons. This


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will also reduce the time going to do illegal logging from the protected areas and reduce theirillegal migration to Thailand as well. More work to do at thevillage such as secondary crop etc.

- Re-Irrigation Association: This can be created later or when project implementation begins- Re-Ockenden to request to Ministry-this will take time. It is better if we ask local authorities

make the request through our line agencies.- There are many benefits to the rehabilitated reservoir, namely because more agricultural

productions means more work for farmer and improved livelihoods. And another important thing

is that this plan fits very well with the Development of Banteay Chhmar to become the worldheritage areas because they want less people to live in the Core Zone of the temple. Thisproject will lead to improve livelihood of villagers outside the Core zone.

Deputy Governor of Banteay Meanchey:He added the following suggestions:(1)- The Commune Chief to have different meetings with local people and other Commune Councils.Make sure that villagers are well consulted and more participation from villagers. The Commune Councilneeds to make a proper request to Ministry with all support documents from different line departmentsand authorities.

(2)- All relevant departments have to have enough understanding of the project areas and make thenecessary support documents available.

(3)- Contributions:- The Department of Water Resources is to discuss with the Ministry in PP to see if they have

any contributions to make to this important project.- The Commune is to take ownership of this plan seeing Ockenden and its donors as

supporters. The commune should allocate commune investment funds to this type of project for thecoming years.

Ockenden Responses and actions to questions above

Regarding1. The Department of Environments request to have approval at the Ministry level, Ockenden has

agreed to take further actions on this carefully. It has been concluded that Ockenden to help theCommune Council of Banteay Chhmar to write a request asking for approval from Ministry ofEnvironment. To make this request meaningful for approval, it has to have signatures of all levels ofgovernment authorities, line departments of Banteay Meanchey and their suggestions. TheCommune Council responsible to process this letter.

2. The Department of Agricultures comment about conducting a thorough and inclusive stakeholderanalysis and participation phase, Ockenden has double check the findings and designs withvillagers, local authorities and line departments. It has been concluded that all figures from the

survey and designs are correct. Key villagers and local authorities are fully participated and awareof their roles and responsibilities in the future plan. Ockenden will carefully work with Department ofWater Resources and Meteorology to set up effective committers to manage this reservoir.

3. The District Chief of Thmar Pourks request that Ockenden lets local authorities request approvalfrom Ministry directly, the outcomes are (a) line departments made a special visit to study the site &waiting for agreeing to the request of the Commune Council of Banteay Chhmar; (b) CommuneCouncil of Banteay Chhmar conducted meeting with Commune Council Members & all membersagreed to process the request & agreed to put Commune Investment Fund to contribute to theproject.

4. The Deputy Governor of Banteay Meancheys comment about the commune allocating communeinvestment funds for this project, the outcome is that the Commune Council of Banteay Chhar has

agreed.


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A SOCIO-ECONOMIC CONDITIONS

A.1 Demographic Characterist ics

The estimated population and household numbers within Cherng Krous Reservoir command area areshown in Table A.1. A detailed listing of villages is provided in Table A.7. According to provincialauthorities, 2 communes and 9 villages are expected to benefit from the system, i.e. about 2,167

households and 8,688 people.

Table A.1 No of Households, Population and Farm land

No. Name of village

TotalPaddyField (inha)

Total Landfor othercrops

IrrigatedPaddy Field(in ha)

TotalHousehold Populations

# offemale

1Kouk SamrongLech 613 8 50 245 988 575

2

Kouk Samrong

Kert 370 8 359 227 707 326

3BanteayChhmar Lech 1800 15 1000 276 1197 558

4 Kbal Tonsong 1855 60 1795 266 1093 523

5BanteayChhmar Cherng 1172 55 1117 368 1413 701

6BanteayChhmar Tbong 1350 150 1200 450 1825 874

7 Srah Chrey 176 60 116 195 864 433

8 Tbeng Chas 410 5 405 82 328 179

9 Tbeng Thmei 200 0 20 58 273 130

Total 7946 361 6062 2167 8688 4299

The total population of the 9 villages is 2167 families. Amongst these families there are 1961 familieswho own paddy field and other cropping land in these areas. It is estimated that 3,712ha can be fed bythis reservoir.

With the current condition of the Cherng Krous Dam, it can irrigate 1364ha of paddy field during therainy season and an average of 105ha during the dry season.

A .2 Land Tenure Patterns

In this area, farmers get access to farmland either through allocation, as part of the land reform, orthrough claim. Some areas are not cultivated due to lack of water and other resources.

The average holding size of the paddy fed by this system by family is around 1.89ha.


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A.3 Livelihood Patterns

Populations living under the project command area are dependent on wet season rice cultivation fortheir livelihoods. The average paddy yield in the project area is estimated at 1.ton -1.5ton/ha. Farmers ofthe sample reported lower yields averaging about 1 ton/ha because the majority of them are cultivatingbroadcasted rice because they lack adequate family labor to transplant rice.

Besides wet season rice cultivation, households are engaged in cash income generating activities whichenable them to earn some cash money in addition to income which could be derived from the sales ofpaddy. The patterns of occupation during the dry season seem the same in all 9 villages of the twoprovinces. Wood cutting in the nearby forests as well illegally migration to Thailand is very popularamong the population.

Table A.3 No. of Household and their Wealth Ranking

No. Name of village Bette off Medium PoorExtremelyPoor

1 Kouk Samrong Lech 4 52 130 60

2 Kouk Samrong Kert 10 140 64 13

3Banteay ChhmarLech 0 118 73 85

4 Kbal Tonsong 25 55 110 76

5Banteay ChhmarCherng 7 156 148 53

6Banteay ChhmarTbong 130 200 100 20

7 Srah Chrey 20 92 48 35

8 Tbeng Chas 0 12 60 10

9 Tbeng Thmei 0 34 9 15

Total 196 families 859 families 741 families 371 families

A.4 Food-Securi ty and Market Dependency

The medium and well off households interviewed by the survey team are rice-surplus households andearn cash income from paddy sales. This is also because they own large farm sizes in this area. One ofthe sampled households, which despite a comfortable land capita ratio, had to purchase rice;presumably due to a very bad year. It may be concluded that the majority of the population (those whoare better off 196 families are likely to be rice self-sufficient but, due to insecure yields, somehouseholds might have to face a deficit from time to time.


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Table A.4 Household Wealth Assessment

Socio-economicLevel

Ranking Criteria Period ofFoodDeficit

No. ofHouses inthe village

% of totalvillagepopulation

Well off Big house, tile/sheet roof, has more than 5 largelivestock, fields of up to 10 ha and gardens,

mechanized plow, motorcycle and have savings. HaveTV, radio, enough rice all year. All children go to school.Fewer children. Small shop.

0 196 9%

Average Wooden weatherproof house, galvanized roof, havefield up to 3 ha and small garden. 2 to 3 buffalo. Radioor TV. Lack rice for only 2-3 months. More children

1 to 3months

859 40%

Poor Small house with thatch roof, no large livestock. Smallplot of land less than 0.5 ha. Often widows. No savings,many children. No sanitation. Not enough food for halfof year.

4 to 6months

741 34%

Poorest Very small house, no land. Usually widows. Often had

to sell field and garden. Often sick, disabled, no labor inHH. Many small children. Seek laboring jobs. Nosanitation. Not enough food most of year.

7 to 12

months

371 17%

B WATER RESOURCES

B.1 General

Cherng Krous Reservoir scheme is non-flood recession scheme with storage. The main source of waterfor the scheme is Cherng Krous Reservoir is fed by direct rainfall. The catchment area at the reservoirsite is 30km x 10km.

B.2 Cropping Calendar and Irrigation Area

A single wet season crop is grown with the growing period extending from May to December.Broadcasting of rice is practiced in this area as opposed to transplanting. At present, 1364 ha arecultivated in the area. Rehabilitation option include an increase in wet season area to 3,712 ha and/orthe introduction of dry season cropping for up to 500ha to 688ha.

B.3 Water Resources

The water resource depends on the rainfall in the catchments area of 30km x 10km.

The surface area of Cherng Krous Reservoir is estimated to be 4.25 sq km. The depth of the reservoir isestimated to be 4.5m. This gives a large storage capacity of water. However, both the area and useabledepth of the reservoir are in some doubt because of a lack of reliable information. The estimates usedhere are considered to be lower bounds. For instance, if the reservoir surface areas were as high as4.25 sq km, this would lead to significantly higher irrigable areas than estimated.

At present, the surface area is estimated as 1 sq km and the dept is 2.5m (can store 2,500,000 cubic

meters (@January 2011). Ad will go down to 750,000 cubic meters by May every year (without propercontrol).


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The estimate storage capacity after rehabilitation can be 19,129,000 cubic meters.

B.4 Water Balance

A number of rice varieties and a range of compensation flow releases were taken into consideration forestimating the potential irrigable areas in the scheme. We assume that water will be required for landpreparation.

C AGRONOMY

C.1 General

The project is located in the district of Thmar Pouk in the province of Banteay Meanchey and in thedistrict of Banteay Ampil of Otdar Meanchey province in the north west of Cambodia. It occupies anarea of 3,712 hectares of which 1364 hectares received supplemental irrigation and 2,348 hectarestotally dependent on rain.

The provincial districts within the command area are Thmar Pouk and Banteay Ampil consisting of 9

villages. It is reported that some 6 more villages in Banteay Ampil commune were irrigated during PolPot times during the construction completed. But through discussion, the team does not see thepossibilities due to more roads built in the last 10 years.

C.2 Present Agri culture

C.2.1 Cropping Pattern

Although some 105 ha of rice is planted in the dry season, the dominant cropping pattern is a singlecrop of wet season rice. The growing period extends from May to December for the wet season rice andfrom November to March for the dry season rice.

C.2.2 Cultivation Practices

Generally, the land is prepared by a tractor, Koyun and a pair of oxen. The tractor is used in plugging:subsequent operations are done by a pair of oxen. The crop is established by direct seeding(broadcasting non-peregrinated seeds) at the rate of 100-110 kg/ha. All of the farmers used medium-late local varieties in the wet season. However, it is clamed that farmers used IR varieties in the dryseason.

The village level survey found that 95% of the farmers used fertilizers at the rate of 50 kg/ha in the wetseason. Some farmers applied insecticide, weeds killers. Only few farmers weeded their crop with verylittle labor spent in weeding in the season (1 day/ha).

Manual harvesting is practiced and threshing is done by machine.


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CONCLUSIONWith a population of 14,753,320 people15eating each between 500-750g of rice per day, a potentialyield of 2.15-2.5 million tons per year instead of the current 4.3-5 million tons per year is likely to throwthe country into rice deficit unless urgent action is taken.

Recommendations are:1. Rice extension to provide training on newly improved rice techniques such as SRI or

permaculture techniques to at least 30 percent of farm holders and ensure that chemical andpesticide are under control of the committee or association.2. Support rice trade policy-by investing on good infrastructure (Irrigation, roads, markets, etc.).3. Favour investment in irrigation systems in highland and lowland areas noting that lowland

areas will be more affected by droughts/floods.4. Water conservation in lowland areas to support populations in lowland areas where

drought/floods will be more severe. Measures to investigate are availability of water via small tomedium infrastructures and/or retrofitting of water bladders, water tanks of small and large capacityin populated areas; incentives for private holders to invest in water saving equipments; watersanitation measures aimed at protecting water tanks from contamination.

5. Dry season rice To invest on small to medium water irrigation systems/ infrastructure. This

means that the current yield (8%) from dry season rice would be vastly improved under climatechange strain;

6. Wet season rice pilot and raise awareness of rice cultivars that yield in highland and favourland and air pollution. Prioritise wet rice production in highlands. Start shifting production tohighlands in order to produce rice for future generations.

7. Deep water r ice Some rice field in the reservoir will be flood so it is best to charge from normalrice variety to Deep water rice (or floating rice).

8. Increase investment in other cropsthat are resilient under drought conditions such as cassavaplantation.

9. Water and Sanitation-to provide training on Water/ Sanitation and Waste Management to alarge number of population in the areas and ensure that at least large 30% of the population aware

of the local environment policy.

15http://cia.org/worldfactbook/cambodia
http://cia.org/worldfactbook/cambodiahttp://cia.org/worldfactbook/cambodiahttp://cia.org/worldfactbook/cambodiahttp://cia.org/worldfactbook/cambodia


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The views from Google Earth of current reservoir (Jan 29th

, 2011). The siz is

about 1 sq km from Nov-Dec and reduces 1/2 of the size in Apr-Jun of the year.

The water at full capacity will reach to this area. (Proof from one commune councilmember and a village chief who lived in this area during Pol Pots Times, when the Dam was at its

full capacity).

The Angkorian cemetery (old grave).

The Angkorian road built around 1,000 years ago.

Toul Samrong

Toul Vo Yiev

Prasat Thlath

Samrong Lech

Cherng Krous Dam- Study 2 (14 Feb 11)

Documents

Transcript of Cherng Krous Dam- Study 2 (14 Feb 11)