This baseline study meets the need of national and local governments to enhance their decision-making capacity and information resources. It provides a comprehensive assessment of the challenges and opportunities for sustainable water management in Krong Kratié’s urban development.
Challenges include:
- Urban Transformation: Krong Kratié’s urban role redefinition amid rapid economic and social changes in Cambodia.
- Complex Water Needs: Challenges in meeting water-related basic needs due to dynamic urbanization and climate change.
- Limited Urban Planning: Insufficient focus on water-sensitive parameters in urban planning.
- Infrastructure Gaps: Lack of comprehensive infrastructure, including water supply, drainage, sewage, waste management, and green spaces.
- Sewage Issues: Concerns about deficient sewage management and its impact on health and the environment.
- Green Space Shortage: Insufficient green public spaces contributing to urban heat islands and environmental degradation.
- Underused Wetlands: The unrecognized value of wetlands for sustainable urbanization, infrastructure, and livelihoods.
- Community Engagement: The need to engage communities and investors in sustainable urbanization.
- National Dependency: Heavy reliance on national government decisions and resources despite decentralization policies.
In this regard, the study contains recommendations for action, such as:
- Embrace holistic urban planning, emphasizing balanced development with a focus on strategic water management.
- Strengthen flood resilience through effective drainage, wetland preservation, flow regime security, and vigilant monitoring.
- Utilize the lake area for flood management, biodiversity, and tourism while enhancing urban green spaces.
- Expand potable water connections, especially in underserved regions, to enhance water quality and reduce groundwater reliance.
- Consider decentralized wastewater treatment solutions, particularly in pollution-prone areas, with collaborative city sanitation planning.
- Improve waste management efficiency, extend landfill lifespan through waste separation and composting, and raise public awareness about waste.