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The Initial Irrigation Idea A Phnom Penh, Cambodia story

Water
  1. Earthshots
  2. Phnom Penh, Cambodia
  3. The Initial Irrigation Idea
Description

From 1975 to 1978, Cambodia was governed by Pol Pot. His regime was known as the Khmer Rouge ("Red Khmer").

In their desire to radically transform Cambodia, the Khmer Rouge emulated both contemporary Communist China and the Khmer "golden age" of the 11th–13th centuries, both of which used irrigation. The historic canals around China's Yangtze River delta harnessed rainy-season floodwaters, carrying them out to the surrounding lowlands where in the dry season people lifted the water up into their rice fields. Historical and archeological documents also indicate a local irrigation system in the 12th-century Khmer state, possibly storing and distributing water so that rice could be grown year-round, two or more crops per year.

But the Khmer Rouge irrigation system followed the Chinese plan more closely than the historic Khmer state plan. And in doing so, they made many miscalculations including ignoring the amount of human labor needed to lift the water up to the fields. Where one square kilometer of Yangtze River lowlands in China needs the support of 1,500 laborers, only 300 laborers were available to work the Mekong uplands in Cambodia.

View Related Imagery & Stories

Location

Jan. 3, 1973, Landsat 1 (path/row 135/52) — Irrigation canals east of Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Jan. 3, 1973, Landsat 1 (path/row 135/52) — Irrigation canals east of Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Jan. 7, 1989, Landsat 5 (path/row 126/52) — Irrigation canals east of Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Jan. 7, 1989, Landsat 5 (path/row 126/52) — Irrigation canals east of Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Jan. 8, 1995, Landsat 5 (path/row 126/52) — Irrigation canals east of Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Jan. 8, 1995, Landsat 5 (path/row 126/52) — Irrigation canals east of Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Jan. 14, 2009, Landsat 5 (path/row 126/52) — Irrigation canals east of Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Jan. 14, 2009, Landsat 5 (path/row 126/52) — Irrigation canals east of Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Jan. 13, 2020, Landsat 8 (path/row 126/52) — Irrigation canals east of Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Jan. 13, 2020, Landsat 8 (path/row 126/52) — Irrigation canals east of Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Jan. 3, 1973, Landsat 1 (path/row 135/52) — Irrigation canals east of Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Jan. 7, 1989, Landsat 5 (path/row 126/52) — Irrigation canals east of Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Jan. 8, 1995, Landsat 5 (path/row 126/52) — Irrigation canals east of Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Jan. 14, 2009, Landsat 5 (path/row 126/52) — Irrigation canals east of Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Jan. 13, 2020, Landsat 8 (path/row 126/52) — Irrigation canals east of Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Phnom Penh, Cambodia Additional Imagery & Stories

Further Problems
Further Problems

Many projects were headed by loyal party leaders with no technical skills, which is another reason the canals were not more effective. Teachers, techn...

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Population Change
Population Change

Phnom Penh is the largest city along the Mekong River. Its population fluctuated wildly during the 1970s and 1980s; the population of 1.2 million in 1...

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Rivers and Rain
Rivers and Rain

Phnom Penh lies just west of the four-river intersection called the Chattomukh ("Four Faces"). From the northwest and northeast, respectively, flow th...

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