TONLE SAP LOWLAND STABILIZATION PROJECT RURAL INFRASTRUCTURE PRELIMINARY FINDINGS 29 SEPTEMBER 2006 Tonle Sap Lowland Stabilization Project Cambodia - TA 4756-CAM i CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION 1 2 EXISTING RURAL INFRASTRUCTURE 2 2.1 Infrastructure in the Project Area 2 2.2 Water Control and Irrigation 2 2.3 Rural Roads 3 2.4 Domestic Water Supplies 5 2.5 Other Small Scale Infrastructure 6 3 OTHER INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS AND LESSONS LEARNED 8 3.1 Other Projects 8 3.2 Integrated Rural Accessibility Planning (IRAP) 8 3.3 The Local Planning Process(LPP) 9 3.4 Labor Based Appropriate Technology (LBAT) 9 3.5 Rural Road Surfaces 10 3.6 Water Control and Irrigation 11 3.7 Domestic Water Supply and Sanitation 12 3.8 Infrastructure Maintenance 12 3.9 Other Considerations 13 4 CAPACITY OF PROVINCIAL DEPARTMENTS 14 4.1 Provincial Department of Water Resources and Meteorology (DOWRAM) 14 4.2 Provincial Department of Rural Development (PDRD) 14 5 RURAL INFRASTRUCTURE OPPORTUNITIES 15 6 CRITERIA FOR SELECTION AND PRIORITIZATION OF SUBPROJECTS 18 7 RURAL INFRASTRUCTURE WORKPLAN 20 APPENDICES APPENDIX 1: SUGGESTED CRITERIA FOR INFRASTRUCTURE SUBPROJECT SELECTION APPENDIX 2: PROJECTS RELEVANT TO INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT AROUND THE TONLE SAP APPENDIX 3 - MEETINGS AND FIELD VISITS, SEPTEMBER 2006 Tonle Sap Lowland Stabilization Project Cambodia - TA 4756-CAM ii List of Abbreviations ADB Asian Development Bank CDP Commune Development Plan DOWRAM Provincial Department of Water Resources and Meteorology ECOSORN Economic and Social Re-launch of the Northwestern Provinces FWUC Farmer Water User Community IDE International Development Enterprises ILO International Labor Organization IRAP Integrated Rural Accessibility Planning JICA Japan International Cooperation Agency MAFF Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries MOWRAM Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology MPWT Ministry of Public Works and Transport MRD Ministry of Rural Development NGO Non-Governmental Organization NRDP Northwestern Rural Development Project NWISP Northwest Irrigation Sector Project O&M Operation and maintenance PLA Participatory Learning and Action PDAFF Provincial Department of Agriculture and Fisheries PDRD Provincial Department of Rural Development PLA Participatory Learning and Action PRA Participatory Rural Appraisal RGC Royal Government of Cambodia RIE Rural Infrastructure Engineer RWSSP Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Project TA Technical Assistance TSBR Tonle Sap Biosphere Reserve TSLSP Tonle Sap Lowland Stabilization Project TSSLP Tonle Sap Sustainable Livelihoods Project VDC Village Development Committee WFP World Food Program WUG Water User Group WV World Vision Tonle Sap Lowland Stabilization Project Cambodia - TA 4756-CAM iii 1 INTRODUCTION The project area, which includes parts of the provinces of Kampong Chhnang, Pursat, Battambang, Banteay Meanchey, Siem Reap and Kampong Thom, covers the central lowland plains of Cambodia around Tonle Sap lake, either side of highways 5 and 6. The terrain is flat, with an elevation difference of only 5 to 10 metres. The plains are the result of long- term deposition originating from surrounding mountains as well as from sediments deposited by the annual cycle of flooding. The information presented in this report is based on work undertaken during the International Rural Infrastructure Engineer's first input on the TSLSP PPTA from 28 August to 30 September 2006. Field visits were made to the six provinces around Tonle Sap, a literature review was undertaken and discussions were held with staff of relevant line agencies, both at provincial and central level, and with agencies and projects working around Tonle Sap. Key points arising from meetings and field visits are given in Appendix 3. An outline of existing infrastructure in the project area is followed by details of other projects involved in providing rural infrastructure around Tonle Sap and lessons learnt from them. Capacity at provincial level is discussed briefly. Opportunities for rural infrastructure interventions are identified and criteria for selecting and prioritizing infrastructure subprojects are detailed. Finally, the proposed workplan for the two Rural Infrastructure Engineers is outlined. Tonle Sap Lowland Stabilization Project Cambodia - TA 4756-CAM 1 2 EXISTING RURAL INFRASTRUCTURE 2.1 Infrastructure in the Project Area The Tonle Sap basin is served by National Route 5 from Phnom Penh which passes south of the lake through Kampong Chhnang, Pursat and Battambang, and by National Route 6 from Phnom which goes north of the lake through Kampong Thom and Siem Reap. Both roads have undergone extensive rehabilitation in the last few years and only a few rough stretches remain. The Phnom Penh to Sisophon railway line passes through Kampong Chhnang, Pursat and Battambang. Domestic air services connect Siem Reap to Phnom Penh and high speed launches vie between Siem Reap, Battambang, Kampong Chhnang and Phnom Penh except when the lake is exceptionally low. Provincial capitals and district centers along the main highways have mains electricity supplies. A 50-megawatt electricity supply from Thailand to Siem Reap is currently being installed and is expected to be operational the end of October 2006. Some district centers and larger villages have private generators, which supply power for a few hours a day. The provincial capitals have telephone systems and mobile telephone coverage extends over most of the project area. Much of Cambodia’s infrastructure fell into disrepair after 1970. Rehabilitation started in the 1980s but it is only in the since 1993, with a pause in 1997/8, that significant progress has been made. Almost all works to date have involved repair and rehabilitation of facilities that operated and had fallen into disrepair, or that had been poorly conceived and had never operated effectively. Despite considerable progress most irrigation/water control systems operate partially at best, many communities have poor access roads, inadequate clean domestic water supplies and a lack of public facilities and services. In the wet season particularly, communities are often isolated due to the difficulty of reaching the main road network. Much of the rural economy is fragmented into small localized units operating largely on a subsistence basis. 2.2 Water Control and Irrigation Annual rainfall in the project area is 1,000-1,700 mm, but with considerable year-to-year variability. Rainfall is seasonal with negligible rain in December to February, a rapid increase from March to May, and the wet season from June to October. Although water is abundant in the Tonle Sap basin it is frequently not available when and where required1. Of some 2 million ha of rice cultivated in Cambodia about 10% is grown in the wet season with supplementary irrigation, 1.5% is irrigated in the dry season, 4% is grown on flood recession, 7% is floating rice grown in deep water and the 1 ADB TA No. 4756-CAM, TSLSP, Cambodia Report on Water Availability, September 2006 Tonle Sap Lowland Stabilization Project Cambodia - TA 4756-CAM 2 remainder is rainfed. Some 95% of irrigation practiced in Cambodia is supplementary, either for dry season flood recession rice or wet season ‘rainfed’ lowland rice. Pumps have to be used in many places. Wet season lowland rice depends on supplementary irrigation during dry spells especially towards the end of the cropping season. Water from nearby streams, rivers or ponds is diverted or pumped when necessary. Potential yield increases due to supplementary irrigation tend to be low (0.5 ton/ha) and are often too small to justify the provision of irrigation infrastructure. Where dry season irrigation is assured and farmers are prepared to invest in improved seed, fertilizer and pesticides yields are higher than in rainfed areas. Rice growing on flood recession is found around the Tonle Sap. As the floods recede the land is prepared and rice is transplanted. Irrigation is supplied throughout the growing season using floodwater impounded in reservoirs with low embankments and residual flood water stored in canals. Yields are often high due to due to greater soil fertility arising from periodic alluvial deposition. Inventories of irrigation/water management schemes in the target provinces list over 200 existing schemes, varying in size from about 10 ha to 13,000ha. Many of the schemes listed are, in fact, subdivisions of large schemes. Many of these were constructed in the Pol Pot era 1975-78. A few have had outside assistance with repairs and rehabilitation in recent years, but most are in varying states of disrepair and are not functioning effectively due to inadequate structures, land levelling, bunding and drainage, combined with poor water management and crop husbandry. The Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology (MOWRAM) tends to concentrate efforts on irrigation headworks and primary and secondary canal systems. Assistance is given with the formation of Farmer Water User Communities (FWUC) and establishment of by-laws, but farmers are often left to develop the tertiary level system themselves. MAFF is expected to deal with agricultural issues but there appears to be little collaboration between the ministries. Under the ADB Northwest Irrigation Sector Project (NWISP), which started in 2005, 10 to 12 schemes will be rehabilitated in Siem Reap, Battambang, Beantey Meanchey and Pursat. Schemes in the Tonle Sap Biosphere Reserve (TSBR) were deliberately excluded as it was considered that, given their sensitive location, they were better considered