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In many ways, water can be seen as a crystallization point for the study of the social-ecological systems in Cambodia. Much of the country is dominated by the Tonle Sap and its surrounding floodplains– one of the most productive freshwater fisheries in the world, some of the most fertile agricultural land in the country and an unique ecological system which humans have been involved with for more than a millennium.

Water access remains a problem in much of the country, at least during certain times of year. As a result, Cambodia’s successive political structures have often left their marks on the landscape in the form of irrigation schemes, with varying degrees thoughtfulness, maintenance and functionality.

In a similar fashion, successive generations of scientists have attempted to analyze the relationships between people and water management. Since the French colonial period, archaeologists have devoted a great deal of time to trying to understand the sophisticated water storage and irrigation systems of the Angkor Complex. One such example, included in the full text of Etienne Aymonier’s 3 volume, “Le Cambodge,” is available page-by-page at the National Library of France (just search by author to find it, though I found the system is a little wonky; but, maybe that’s because my French is a little wonky). Such efforts continue with the work of The Greater Angkor Project, and others. Elsewhere in the country, the Lower Mekong Archeology Project (LOMAP) and others have sought to understand how the earliest complex polities in Southeast Asia arose. Pre-dating Angkor by hundreds of years, they may have arisen at the edges of the lower Mekong floodplain in southern Cambodia, and been connected by a sophisticated canal system. In a different vein, recent studies by the MRC/WUP-FIN project have focused on ecology, hydrological function and modeling of the Tonle Sap. Even my own work focuses on incremental landscape transformation by farmers, often for water management and rice production– micro-scale, multi-functional, flexible and dependent upon a sophisticated knowledge of their local environment.

And that is just a haphazard smattering of some of the work which has been done or is on-going. There are many more projects than I have mentioned or link to here. I lack the requisite number of fingers and toes to keep track of all of the individual researchers, consultants and international development projects involved in various aspects of water management and access. Though as an aside, I should credit LOMAP and WUP-FIN for been particularly conscientious about making their literature available on the web– and their sites would be a good start if you want to dig further into the scientific literature in the archaeological and ecological spheres, respectively.

Recently, the Documentation Center of Cambodia has published an article by Jeffrey Himel in their periodical, “Searching for the Truth,” which has made a welcome contribution to the understanding of the centrally-planned irrigation systems of the Khmer Rouge. I hope that he expands his analysis further, as many questions remain. According to the director of DC-Cam, Mr. Himel is the only researcher to have deeply explored KR irrigation using the primary materials held at DC-Cam (a resource I too plan to plumb). He remains a graduate student at Cornell, but has been on the Cambodian hydrology scene for a while, owning Aruna Technology, a remote sensing/GIS consulting firm in Phnom Penh.

Since this latest issue has yet to appear on the DC-Cam website, the blog Deathpower in Cambodia, has been thoughtful enough to re-print the article in full for those who do not have access to hard copies of DC-Cam’s periodicals. I will definitely be stopping by their office to pick up a copy. I hope it has pictures– KR irrigation followed a UTM grid lines, and should have a pretty characteristic look from aerial photography or satellite imagery.

I have heard that his presentations are very interesting, no doubt in part for their striking imagery. I dug around a little bit, and was able to find an abstract of a presentation he gave at the International Water History Association conference back in 2001…

21. Jeffrey Himel, USA,Cambodia (202)

Back to the Future – The Past and Present of Agricultural Water Control in Cambodia

The control of water has always been of critical importance to the Khmer civilization. It has been argued that the development of sophisticated irrigation systems led to the rise of the Angkor Empire that dominated much of mainland Southeast Asia from the 10^th to the 14^th Centuries. The massive development of irrigation systems by the Khmer Rouge regime during 1975-1979 seems to have had its basis in recapturing this ancient glory. But was this the case? There is growing evidence and opinion that the large tanks built by the Angkorian Kings and extensive network of manmade channels were not primarily made for irrigation.

If the “hydraulic city” so beloved of the French scholars did not provide irrigation water for triple cropping of rice, then how did the empire grow to such prominence and afford such a plethora of public works? Most have argued that the natural hydraulic regime allowed additional crops of floating and flood recession rice that provided a surplus to support the Kings, their cults, their temples and their armies. Yet these same cropping systems have existed throughout Khmer history and still persist today while Cambodia remains barely self-sufficient in rice production.

This paper offers an alternative theory. Aerial photography from the 1950’s shows how large areas above the lowlands had been carefully contoured for soil and water management for other crops. In addition, the large number of ponds suggest that the ancient Khmer were frequent bathers and had good sources of water supply throughout the year – this would have had a huge effect on the economy through improved health of people and their livestock. These lessons from the ancient Khmer could be usefully applied to the modern development of the country as it emerges from decades of conflict.

Check out his analysis at Deathpower. Clearly interesting material. I will be watching for more in the future…