July 19, 2024 – The Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), jointly with the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) – Asia Center, the SUMERNET 4 All Programme, and the Department of Water Supply and Sanitation (DWSS) of the Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology (MOWRAM) of Cambodia, successfully organized an inception workshop entitled “The Development of Groundwater Management Framework in Cambodia”, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The inception workshop is part of AIT’s project “Strengthening Groundwater Governance and Management in Cambodia (GWAC),” funded under the SUMERNET 4 All Programme and financially supported by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA).

The inception workshop was organized to discuss and refine the outline of the groundwater management framework with various stakeholders and to gather their feedback and insights on the project’s objectives, outcomes, and methodologies.

The workshop commenced with opening remarks by H.E. Chhun Puthearith, the Director General of Technical Affairs at MOWRAM, who expressed his gratitude to the funding agency, the research team of the GWAC project, and the participants of the inception workshop. He briefly emphasized the importance of sustainable groundwater management in Cambodia and requested all stakeholders present to provide valuable input during the workshop. Following the opening and welcome remarks, Mr. Raksa Pen, Vice Office Chief of DWSS, Cambodia, presented an overview of the legal, institutional, and policy frameworks concerning groundwater resources in Cambodia. Dr. Thanapon Piman, Senior Research Fellow at SEI-Asia, presented the project’s primary objective, which is to support MOWRAM in formulating a comprehensive groundwater management framework for Cambodia and support in strengthening the capacity of DWSS staff in governing and managing Cambodia’s groundwater resources.

Mr. Uttam Ghimire (SEI – Asia Center) and Dr. Saurav KC (AIT, Thailand) gave an overview presentation on the work conducted on groundwater governance and management in the context of Cambodia and the Lower Mekong Region. Prof. Sangam Shrestha, the principal investigator for the GWAC project and the Dean of the School of Engineering and Technology at AIT, presented a case study of good groundwater management practice in Bangkok, Thailand. Mr. Samnang Sem, Director, DWSS, Cambodia, moderated the session.

In the third workshop session, Prof. Shrestha presented the core outline of the groundwater management framework, followed by a feedback and open discussion session where stakeholders representing different institutions expressed their commitments to their respective roles and responsibilities and contributed to the refinement of the framework to ensure alignment with the project’s objectives. The workshop also facilitated the establishing of a formal working group to contribute to the framework.

The interactive inception workshop consisted of more than 50 participants representing the Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Mines and Energy, Ministry of Rural Development, Ministry of Economy and Finance, Ministry of Industry, Science, Technology, and Innovation, Institute of Technology Cambodia, National Committee for Disaster Management, Department of Clean Water and Sanitation, Department of Conservation and Management of Water Resources, Department of Meteorology, and the Department of Irrigation of Agriculture.