El Niño Threatens Tonle Sap’s Fishers and Floating Communities
Meas Chou sells metal drums that families use to keep homes afloat on Cambodia’s Tonle Sap. With the lake’s water lower than usual, fish catches are meager and his customers have less money to spend. About 1.5 million people live on the lake, where homes rise and fall with the water.
In early October, water at Prek Kdam measured nearly 7 meters—over a meter under the usual level and 1.5 meters below the level a year earlier. Cambodia was already experiencing extreme drought, and this year’s El Niño was expected to bring hotter, drier weather that could weaken the Mekong River’s seasonal flow into the lake. Higher fuel prices linked to the war in Iran are also adding pressure.
The lake’s annual flood pulse depends on monsoon-swollen Mekong waters reversing direction and flowing into Tonle Sap, expanding it to five times its size. Floodwaters bring nutrients that sustain a globally significant freshwater fishery. Upstream dams, sand mining and increasingly erratic rainfall are disrupting that cycle.
Many fishing families also farm to supplement their income. The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization warned in June that severe drought could affect about 314,000 acres of Cambodian farmland, roughly 3% of the country’s arable land. Dry conditions may also increase fire risk in forests around the lake; a study found about a third of those forests remained dry and were lost to fire or agricultural clearing between 1993 and 2017.
For families with few assets or alternatives, a poor catch can leave little room to manage other setbacks. Fisher Yim Nary said her family’s income barely covers essentials, and she worries about her children’s future. Researcher Zeb Hogan said a very dry year brings less fish and food, along with more fires.
Climate-Driven Drought Puts Tonle Sap Communities at Risk
Tonle Sap’s annual flood cycle sustains fish, farms and the lives of about 1.5 million people. Now lower water and an expected severe El Niño threaten that foundation, while climate change has made rainfall more erratic and droughts increasingly disruptive to the lake’s seasonal flooding.
In early October, Prek Kdam’s water stood at nearly 7 meters, over a meter under its usual level and 1.5 meters below last year. Cambodia was already in extreme drought. The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization warned that this El Niño could expose about 314,000 acres of farmland to severe drought, adding pressure on fishing families who also farm to make ends meet.
The stakes are visible in household budgets. Meas Chou sells drums used to keep homes afloat, but poorer catches leave fishers with less money to buy them. Yim Nary said her husband’s catch barely covers essentials and that she worries about her children’s future.
The lake’s natural cycle depends on monsoon water from the Mekong reversing course and carrying nutrients into Tonle Sap. Upstream dams and sand mining are changing the river’s flow, while drought threatens the forests and fisheries supported by the flood pulse. A very dry year can mean fewer fish, less food and more fires.
Cambodia contributes less than 0.2% of annual global greenhouse gas emissions, yet its lake communities face severe climate consequences. Their dependence on a fragile seasonal cycle leaves little margin when drought, disrupted floods and falling catches arrive together.
Tonle Sap’s Fishers Face El Niño, Low Water and Rising Costs
Families on Cambodia’s Tonle Sap are confronting an immediate squeeze: low water, meager fish catches and rising fuel costs. About 1.5 million people live on the lake, and many have few assets or other places to turn when fishing income falls.
In early October, water at Prek Kdam was nearly 7 meters, over a meter under its usual level and 1.5 meters lower than a year earlier. El Niño was expected to make conditions hotter and drier throughout Southeast Asia, potentially reducing the Mekong’s seasonal flow into the lake. Fuel prices have also risen amid the war in Iran, hurting fishers and businesses such as Meas Chou’s drum shop.
The lake’s flood pulse is essential to its fisheries: monsoon rains push the Mekong’s flow back toward Tonle Sap, expanding the lake and carrying nutrients that attract fish. But the cycle faces pressures from upstream dams, sand mining and irregular rainfall. The forecast drought could also affect about 314,000 acres of Cambodian farmland, while dry forests around the lake are vulnerable to fires.
The consequences are not abstract for families whose fishing income barely covers fuel, rice, vegetables, drinking water and electricity. Yim Nary said her husband rows when fuel is too expensive and that she worries about what lies ahead for her children.
Cambodia contributes less than 0.2% of annual global greenhouse gas emissions, while its lake communities bear serious climate risks. The immediate challenge is a fragile livelihood system exposed to drought, disrupted water flows and higher costs—all at once.
Reported by The Philadelphia Inquirer, Local 10 Miami.
