Management of the river of Siemreap

Siemreap River is considered a national heritage. It runs from its source is in the Kulan mountains to the north of Siemreap through the Angkor site and the city of Siemreap to the Tonle Sap lake.

In the past people used its water for drinking and their daily utilities, but the water has become more and more polluted and is no longer safe to drink. It has become shallower and shallower, too.

There are many causes for the pollution of and reduction in water. Illegal settlement is one of the reasons that the water quality has worsened and the view of the Siemreap river is obstructed. It is one of our goals to make both banks of the river as impressive as they once used to be, with several projects related to the decoration of the river banks.

The view along the river of Siemreap is the main focus of the department. The present situation is shown on the left.This is the view of the bank before the intervention by our work groups. In some sections there is a lot of rubbish and many illegal settlements

And this is the view after our intervention. We have grown grass along the river bank and planted trees as well. There are many types of tree, which were chosen to be planted there.

If we manage to make the river view more attractive, it will be an impressive sight for the tourists to see, as we would like them visit not only the temple sites, but also the city of Siemreap.

The view of the banks of the Siemreap river we prefer to have in the future.

Water problem

The river water in Siemreap now has been spoilt by people very seriously. The main offenders are some of the hotels that do not have proper water treatment systems. They drain the waste water directly into the river without checking the level of pollution first. The Environmental Management Systems group of APSARA Authority studies the PH level in the water of the Siemreap river.

This drainage dumps waste water directly into the Siemreap river. Hopefully, this will be a sight of the past soon.