Working Groups

Our project is conducted in two phases, Phase I (2017-2018) and phase II (2019-2020), as shown in the schema below.

Group 1. Hydrology & Hydrodynamics | Phase I (1st – 3rd years)

The main responsibility of this working group is to develop hydrodynamic model integrated with modules for describing hydrological and meteorological processes. This model works as a basis of water quality and risk assessment in this project, and thus this working group need to give major effort at the beginning of the project, which will be followed by other group works.

Overall, this group are going to integrate available models and apply to Tonle Sap regions. Its calibration and validation will use the monitored data from Hydro-Net and other systems and the members will establish additional monitoring scheme if necessary (e.g., for bathymetry). In other words, we will enhance the existing monitoring network on hydrology and hydrodynamics in Cambodia to make them effective, reliable, and sustainable at least for next decade.

Group 2. Sediment | Phase I (1st – 3rd years)

The main responsibility of this working group is to develop a model describing sediment dynamics including sediment yield, transport, deposition, and re-suspension. This sediment model will be integrated with the hydrodynamic model and thus the group will work closely with Group 1. This model also works as a basis of water quality and risk assessment in this project, and thus this working group need to give major effort at the beginning of the project, which will be followed by other group works.

The initial task will be a review of sediment dynamics in the target region, which will be used for designing the field survey for more than 2 years to collect sufficient data for calibration and validation of the model. Major components of interest are sediment flux in major incoming rivers, and suspended and deposited sediment in the lake, including its shoreline. The monitoring activities will be conducted together with Group 3 and 4 and the target parameters of sediment will be concentration, size profile, and chemical characteristics.

Group 3. Pollutants | Phase I (1st – 3rd years)

The main responsibility of this working group is to develop a model describing pollutant dynamics mainly focusing on organic matter, nutrients, trace metals, and chemical from agriculture. The task will involve spatiotemporal monitoring of those pollutants, source identification, and modelling of their fate and transport in the target regions. Major task will be the monitoring in the 1st and 2nd years and then the modelling in the 2nd and 3rd years. This modelling process will be based on the model of hydrodynamics and sediment dynamics and thus need a close collaboration with group 1 and 2.

One of key issue in this group is the interaction of those pollutants with sediment, which is presumably a unique process in the highly turbid lake. To reveal such processes, this group will conduct several series of lab experiments involving suspended and bottom sediment, covering from simple adsorption to microbial reactions. In such way, we try to establish a proper and accurate model of water quality for Tonle Sap Lake.

Group 4. Pathogens & Phytoplankton | Phase I & II (1st – 4th years)

The main responsibility of this working group is to develop a model describing distributions of pathogenic bacteria and virus as well as phytoplankton.The task will involve spatiotemporal monitoring of those microbes, source identification, and modelling of their fate and transport in the target regions. Major task will be the monitoring in the 1st and 2nd years, and then the modelling in the 2nd and 3rd years. Regarding phytoplankton, the focus will be cyanotoxins produced by cyanobacteria. This modelling process will be based on the model of hydrodynamics, sediment dynamics, and pollutants, and thus need a close collaboration with group 1, 2, and 3.

In the phase II (3rd and 4th years), this group will develop a simple treatment system to reduce the direct input of those active pathogens from floating houses to lake water. We will also conduct in-situ experiments with a help of local people to confirm the effectiveness of the simple treatment system. Also in the phase II the developed model and treatment system will be used in the risk assessment (group 6).

Group 5. Model Integration | Phase II (3rd – 4th years)

The main responsibility of this working group is to integrate and validate the overall model, which will include dydrodynamics, sediment dynamics, pollutants, and pathogens. A part of model integration will be done in each working group in the phase I, and thus this group work will require the overall arrangement involving all the important components so that it can be applied for scenario analysis and risk assessment. The model validation will be done using the monitored data in the phase I and this group 5 needs to work closely with group 1 to 4.

The model will be a basis of “Environmental Conservation Platform”, which will be the final product of this project. From the viewpoint of further analysis and application for water quality conservation, it will be also important to set up a simple interface to be used not only by project members but also by other researchers as well as environmental managers.

Group 6. Risk Assessment & Applications | Phase II (3rd – 5th years)

The main responsibility of this working group is to quantify health risk of people living on floating houses and the lake shore, and to propose several options of environmental management, for example guidelines for effluent water quality and installing water treatment facilities. Although it’s generally difficult, we attempt to validate the estimated health risk by comparing it with the information obtained by questionnaire and available epidemiological data to assess reliability of the method in a quantitative manner.

In this group work, we also conduct scenario analysis considering several options for population and distribution of floating houses and water quality management. The results from risk assessment and scenario analyses will be important information in the next group work for social implementation.

Group 7. Social Implementation | Phase II (3rd – 5th years)

The main responsibility of this working group is to apply the developed model and outcomes from scenario analyses from group 6 for environmental conservation involving Cambodian government and local communities. Those tasks will be combined with capacity building of environmental managers, officers, and local people. To this end, this group work arranges an effective plan combining training courses, workshop, symposium and other activities, and conduct such plan with a help of other core members in this project.