Bridgewater Review

Volume 35 | Issue 1 Article 6

May-2016 Barays, Boeungs and Bassins: Reservoirs and the Capacity for Life and Change in Kevin D. Curry Bridgewater State University, [email protected]

Recommended Citation Curry, Kevin D. (2016). Barays, Boeungs and Bassins: Reservoirs and the Capacity for Life and Change in Cambodia. Bridgewater Review, 35(1), 12-15. Available at: http://vc.bridgew.edu/br_rev/vol35/iss1/6

This item is available as part of Virtual Commons, the open-access institutional repository of Bridgewater State University, Bridgewater, Massachusetts. Civilizations around the world have long used water reservoirs for drinking, bathing, flood control, storage for times of drought and myriad other health, agricultural and industrial applica- tions. In their simplest form, reservoirs capture rainwater and overland flow for future supply. In Cambodia, they have been no different, whether they were constructed during the ancient period such as the marvels of East and West , the Kamping Puoy reser- voir built during the Khmer Rouge regime near Battambang, or that natural hydrologic marvel, the Tonlé Sap. All have the same basic function but were formed by distinctly different processes and time periods, each with dramatically different costs and long- Image 1. A view of looking northeast from the water control structure that feeds the term results. Barai Irrigation System networks. The island of is on the left along the horizon. Author’s photograph. Barays are the human-constructed reservoirs that modern Cambodians inherited from the Angkor civilization Barays, Boeungs and Bassins: (9th-15th centuries CE). Today, satellite imagery gives us windows of perspec- Reservoirs and the Capacity for tive into the size and something of the history of these man-made mar- Life and Change in Cambodia vels in the East and West Barays near Kevin D. Curry in province. These storage reservoirs are believed ater. The most essential resource for life to have been constructed by hand for water management and irrigation of is now in the spotlight more than ever rice crops to support the blossoming before. California has significant water Angkor civilization. West Baray (Image W 1) is largest, measuring 7.8 kilometers shortages. Climate change is redistributing water by 2.1 kilometers. Scholars believe that geographically and changing the magnitude of its it was initiated by King Suryavarman availability; we get too much of it in a short period I (1006-1050 CE) and completed of time, or not enough of it for weeks, or years. It is sometime during his reign (Penny et al., Bulletin de l’ecole Francaise d’extreme- more valuable than oil and it has been the source of Orient (2005); Day et al, Proceedings of conflict around the world. But its preciousness also the National Academy of Science [2012]). Repeated modifications to West Baray makes it a potential catalyst for progressive change in have kept it in use as an essential water our world when we understand its value, create ways supply for irrigation, and as a tourist to redistribute it, store it, and manage its availability attraction for recreational visitors to the Hindu temple on the island of West with a view to sustainability. Water was my medium Mebon. Renovations made to the irri- for exploring Cambodia as a BSU Presidential Fellow gation canals from West Baray, known as the Barai Irrigation System, were in 2009-10 and it still is opening new channels for undertaken by the French in the 1930s professional and personal discovery. and by USAID in the 1950s. The canals deteriorated during the Khmer Rouge

12 Bridgewater Review Image 2. Fisherman heading out to set fish traps in the shallows along the Image 3. Floating fish market on the Boeung Tonlé Sap where local Boeung Tonlé Sap. Author’s photograph. fisherman sell their catch to a fish monger near the fishing village of Kompong Kleang. Author’s photograph. period (1975-79), but the Adventist the 2012 flood. So, these man-made River Commission, State of the Basin Development Relief Agency (ADRA) reservoirs were not only for irrigation, Report [2003]). All of this extra storage helped restart renovation of second- but served to retain flood waters during supports the annual production of one ary irrigation canals in 1989 until the the monsoon period and recharge the of the largest freshwater fisheries in the International Labour Organization groundwater (H. Peou, World Heritage world with 877 unique fish species, began emergency rehabilitation [2013]). Recharging the groundwater second only in fish biodiversity to the work on the system in 1992 in col- is critical: without it, the temples at Amazon River (Ziv et al., Proceedings laboration with the Ministry of Rural and Angkor Wat would of the National Academy of Science [2012]). Development and Ministry of Water be destabilized when foundation soils More than 70% of the sediments carried Resources and Meteorology (Kassic, lose water from excessive groundwater into the lake during the monsoon Evaluation of farm level impact of Barai well withdrawals in developing Siem floods come from the flooding Mekong Irrigation System [2001]). Today there is Reap city. River (Kummu et al., Ambio [2008]), an extensive network of secondary and bringing nutrients that drive the lake’s Boeung Tonlé Sap, Cambodia’s great tertiary canals that supports wet-season high productivity. lake, is a hydrological marvel on a and dry-season production of rice in tributary of the Mekong River. It was Fish, birds, snakes, flooded forests and areas near the canals. formed in the Cambodian plateau people depend on this annual cycle of Only recently has a subtle but essential about 5,000 years ago and linked to the storage in the Tonlé Sap and its capac- function of the East and West Barays Mekong River about 5,000 to 6,000 ity for a slow release, which sustains been uncovered through use of satel- years ago (Campbell, ed. The Mekong growth in their communities. Lamberts lite imagery and extensive hydrologi- [2009]; Tsukawaki, Proceedings of the (Tonlé Sap Fisheries [2001]) estimates cal work. The original sedimentation International Conference on Stratigraphy an annual fish harvest ranging from pond and canal that fed West Baray and Tectonic Evolution of Southeast Asia 177,000 to 252,000 tonnes based on originated from the moat surround- and the South Pacific [1997]). It stores a consumption data. Past reports esti- ing the ancient city of Angkor Thom mixture of its own flood waters and the mate 328 different fish species in the and was discovered by the Cambodian rainy-season runoff from the Mekong Tonlé Sap drainage alone, 96 of which Department of Water Management River basin. So much flow comes from are considered migratory species (Ziv in 2010. In 2011, this original water the upper Mekong basin that it reverses et al. [2012]). Tonlé Sap wetlands and input canal to West Baray was reo- the flow of the Tonlé Sap River (which flooded forests are critical breed- pened as a way to release floodwater would otherwise drain the lake) and ing and feeding habitats for more and provide flood protection for local instead swells it from 2,500 square than 220 species of birds (Campbell residents. Further rehabilitation to the kilometers to more than 15,000 square et al., Aquatic Sciences [2006]). The whole canal feeding system to West kilometers, and changes its maximum Prek Toal Core Area lies within the Baray occurred in 2012 and served dry-season depth of 3.3 meters to a Tonlé Sap Biosphere Reserve. It is the a significant role in helping buffer monsoon peak of 10 meters (Mekong most important waterbird colony in

May 2016 13 Image 4. Cambodian tourists and local residents enjoying the outflow Image 5. Outflow spillway and water control structures of the Kamping of the Kamping Pouy Bassin 35 kilometers west of Battambang. Pouy Bassin. Author’s photograph. Author’s photograph.

Cambodia and the most critical breed- Phnom Ta Ngen and Phnom Kamping Since the genocide under the Khmer ing site for 17 globally threatened spe- Puoy came at the cost of tens of thou- Rouge, the greatest source for change cies including storks, ibises, and cranes sands of lives of Khmer people forced in Cambodia—its people—has more (Wildlife Conservation Society, Saving into rural labor camps by the Pol Pot than doubled in size from 6.7 to 15.9 Wild Places [2015]). regime. Many who died digging the million. This is where the potential Kamping Puoy project were called “17 to sustain growth and the capacity for With 86 villages and almost 60% of the April people” since they were trans- change resides. If water storage was a 85,000 people directly dependent on ferred to the countryside as part of key to survival in Cambodia’s storied the fish harvest within the Lower Flood the evacuation of by the and troubled past, education is its new Plain/Fishing Zone district surround- Khmer Rouge after they took over on “reservoir” and its hope for a sustain- ing the Tonlé Sap Lake, the people of 17 April 1977 (Lorn, Voices of Genocide able future. the lake have developed most of their livelihood around the annual flood pulse (Images 2 and 3) (Keskinen et al., Tonlé Sap now and in the future? [2013]). Under the Khmer Rouge, all old But this, the largest freshwater storage basin, is now in danger from current elements of Cambodian society and proposed hydropower dams on the Mekong River, which will dampen were to be eliminated, including the annual flood pulse and reduce the nutrient-carrying sediments that sup- the educational system. port the communities of the lake (Arias et al., Hydrological Earth Systems Science [2014]). [2013]). Malnutrition, disease, over- Educational capacity building began work and mistreatment claimed many in earnest under Prince Norodom The Kamping Puoy Bassin, a reservoir of their lives. Ironically, the reservoir Sihanouk in the 1950s and 1960s 35 kilometers west of Battambang, was they built now gives life, irrigating after Cambodian independence from built on human suffering. This engi- more than 2,800 hectares of land for France was achieved. The overthrow neering project was a key part of the extended production of wet-season of Sihanouk in the 1970s and the Khmer Rouge’s plan to irrigate and and dry-season rice. Paradoxically, civil war under the Khmer Rouge extend agriculture in the countryside. “the spillway” at the reservoir’s outlet brought this to an abrupt halt. Under Started in 1976 and finished in late is now a local tourist recreation site the Khmer Rouge, all old elements 1977, its 80 to 110 million cubic meters where many find pleasure in swimming of Cambodian society were to be of capacity between the mountains of and riding inner tubes in the outflow eliminated, including the educational (Images 4 and 5).

14 Bridgewater Review Image 6. Bridgewater State University students passing out educational Image 7. Mam Vuth and Pannassastra University students, who helped packets donated by Pannasastra University of Cambodia as part of a water build the water purification system near the pagoda in Kampong Speu purification project dedication ceremony during their alternative spring as a joint project with BSU, pictured with President Fred Clark and break trip of community service. Author’s photograph. Dr. Kevin Curry. system. Their motto, “rice fields are 94.6 per cent for girls) in 2010-11, the on building community water treat- books and hoes are pencils,” high- schools themselves still present barriers ment systems, and worked in rural lighted the attitude toward modern to learning. UNICEF estimates that 17 villages with Water for Cambodia to education (Ledgerwood, Cambodian per cent of Cambodia’s primary schools provide bio-sand filters to improve Recent History and Contemporary do not offer the full six grades. Even in drinking water supplies in homes. Now Society [2002]). schools that do, fewer than half of the PUC students have grabbed the vision children enrolled in Grade 1 complete of community service and are leading Today, UNICEF is collaborat- their primary education. Cambodia’s their own water purification projects ing with the Cambodian Ministry needs in teacher qualifications, effective (Images 6 and 7). They thirsted to make of Education, Youth and Sport, the teaching methods, school management a difference. Gaining access to clean Swedish International Development and community involvement reduces drinking water is opening doors so the Agency, the European Union, the enthusiasm for children to stay in school population of Cambodia can be healthy World Bank, UNESCO, and a number and limits the impact of learning once and pursue education to build capac- of NGO partners such as the Education they are there. Lack of water and proper ity for their future. Just as the levees of Partnership, CARE, and Save the sanitation heightens these obstacles West Baray were retrofitted to expand Children to bring improvements and to education: 34 percent of primary the capacity for irrigation, so now new standards to the Cambodian education schools do not have drinking water and levees are needed to expand the reser- system while implementing a Child- another 21 percent function without voir of education to sustain Cambodia’s Friendly School approach. The col- toilets (UNICEF Cambodia). future. Which reservoir shall we invest laboration drafted the first Education in to sustain their future? Strategic Plan in 2001, an Education Collaborative educational partnerships Sector Support program for 2001-2005, can build capacity so today’s students and developed the National Education in Cambodia can develop academic for All Action Plan in 2003. The mis- and practical training to participate sion was to deliver education for all in solving its resource management Cambodian children by 2015 and meet problems. Bridgewater State University the UN’s Millennium Development began collaborating with Pannasastra Goal 2: universal primary education for University in 2009 and has worked to all and reduction of illiteracy by 2015 build capacity through faculty- and (UNICEF Cambodia). student-exchange programs. Working together, Bridgewater State University Even though these reforms improved and Pannasastra University faculty and Kevin D. Curry is Professor in the primary-school enrollment to 95.2 students have built a laboratory for Department of Biological Sciences. per cent (95.8 per cent for boys and training in water testing, collaborated

May 2016 15