ANA and New Zealand Launch Angkor Water Management Project

via various sources, 05 July 2024: The Apsara National Authority and New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade are collaborating on the “Angkor Water Resilience” project to manage and preserve water resources around Angkor. This five-year initiative aims to restore ancient canals, prevent flooding, and improve water storage for local farming, demonstrating a strong commitment to international cooperation and expertise sharing.

Yith Chandaroth, ANA’s Deputy Director-General, said yesterday that the project is helpful for releasing water from the Angkor area during the rainy season and balancing water storage by restoring the ancient canals.

“We are restoring the existing canals in order to avoid flooding in the Angkor area as well as in Siem Reap city during the rainy season. The project does help a lot in water storage too; we are now able to store water that locals can benefit from for farming,” he said.

He noted that the procedure of repairing and rebuilding the old canals, as part of the project, is halfway to being finished, while the capacity of water system management is gradually starting to emerge.

“The project’s completion and operational start is estimated to be around two years, however, currently we are already able to manage the water for most parts of the place,” he said.

Source: ANA, NZ Ministry plan Angkor water management project