08/01/2023
-Sap-Lake-of-Cambodia #
The Tonle Sap Lake is a lake consisting of immense importance to Cambodia. It has a large water surface and is also the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia. The lake is abundantly sheltering to plenty of bio-diversities and has immensely benefited the people living along the Tonle Sap Lake for the fisheries and planting crops. In Cambodia, the lake is divided into a large lake, a small lake, and a swamp.
The Tonle Sap Lake is looked like a deep-sea and is navigable in the rainy season, but in the dry season, it is looked like a large pond with muddy and shallow. The dry season begins in December and ends in May. At that time, the water level of Tonle Sap Lake was at least 0.80 meters to 2 meters on average.
Stretching from Kampong Chhnang province, especially in the swamp areas, where the water level gradually decreases until navigation is prohibited, except for small boats. During the rainy season, the general view of the Tonle Sap Lake changes a lot, and the water surface and water depth gradually increase, sometimes flooding the lowlands surrounding the Tonle Sap Lake. The water level can rise to 14 meters, at least 10 meters different from the water level in the dry season when large ships can reach the Tonle Sap Lake.
The Tonle Sap is the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia. Cambodians call the Tonle Sap Lake a freshwater tributary because of its vast expanse. The Tonle Sap Lake is a natural reservoir and an important fish habitat for the Cambodian people. The Tonle Sap Lake has a total area of 3,000 square kilometers in the dry season and 10,000 square kilometers in the rainy season.
In the dry season, the Tonle Sap Lake is about 150 km long, and a maximum width of about 32 km, and has an area of 3,000 square kilometers. The Tonle Sap Lake is divided into three parts: a large lake, a small lake, and a swamp. The large lake is 75 km long and 35 km wide. The small lake is 35 km long and 28 km wide. The swamp is a large field with low islets, rich in sand and stunted plants.
• The tributary of the Tonle Sap Lake is:
1. The right tributary of the Tonle Sap Lake:
• Stung Sreng is originated from Phnom Dangrek and joins with Stung Sangke. Stung Sreng Kandal is located as the border between Battambang and Siem Reap provinces.
• The Siem Reap and Rolous rivers are the two tributaries originating from the Kulen Mountains. The Siem Reap River flows through near the Angkor Wat temple, and the water of this river flows to fill the baray.
• Stung Chi Kreng and Stung Stong which flow in the swamp or Tonle Chhmar.
• Stung Sen, which flows down from the Dangrek mountain range, has much water because there are many streams flowing through it. Stung Sen is 450 kilometers long and bends a lot before reaching Kampong Thom province and flows through Chhnuk Trou.
• Stung Chinit is enlarged by the water of Stung Tang Krasang and Stung Pongrong flowing into this river, flowing into the swamps by passing through Kampong Thmor.
2. The left tributary of the Tonle Sap Lake:
• The Serei Sophorn River, which flows from Thailand, receives the waters from the Mongkol Borei River (which originates in the 1,470-meter-high Sai Khao Mountain in Thailand) and the Sangke River (which originates in the 700-meter-high Talor Mountain, Cambodia) before flowing into Lake or Tonle Sap.
• Stung Moung flows from Phnom Teuk Prel (1425 meters) through the Moung district.
• Stung Svay Daun Keo flows through Svay Daun Keo village.
• The Pursat River originates from Phnom Khmoch (1425
meters), a river with a waterfall-like regime that can cause flooding.
• The Boribo River flows through the Boribo strait in Kampong Chhnang province.
• Stung Chreav flows through Odong.
• Stung Prek Tnaot originates from many streams that flow from the Oral Mountains and the O Malou Mountains. This river flows through Kampong Speu province and Takhmao city of Kandal province.
• The Takeo River flows into the Bassac River at the Meat Chrouk.
3. Benefits of the Tonle Sap Lake:
The Tonle Sap and its all tributaries join together to form a useful navigation route. In the rainy season, the Tonle Sap Lake is full of boats sailing. As rivers have small ships and boats that contain a capacity of not more than 100 tons. During the dry season in the Tonle Sap Lake, only small boats can navigate. But, the Tonle Sap Lake, a huge fishing center, is the largest fish center in the world because of its flooded forest, which is home to a rich diet of fish. On top of this, the Tonle Sap Lake is also home to many species of birds and the fishing of the Cambodian people.
4. Other sources:
Besides receiving the flooding from the Mekong River, the lake absorbs waters from the surrounding highlands. When the water flows into the Tonle Sap Lake, it, of course, has brought about soils and sediment to fill up the Tonle Sap Lake which this factor has caused the huge lake easy shallow, but what the special is the flooded forests surrounding this lake that has played a role as a filter to remove most of the soil and sediment from flowing into the Tonle Sap Lake.
Hence, if the flooded forests have been destroyed at all, how much soil and sediment flows into the Tonle Sap Lake each year? If the Tonle Sap Lake is shallow, where is the water volume of the Tonle Sap Lake about 135 billion cubic meters during the rainy season? What will be the situation in Cambodia at that time? The absorption of water from the Mekong River during the rainy season and water discharge from the Mekong River during the dry season has become a rare natural hydrological phenomenon.
This phenomenon has created wetland areas and flooded forests that provide habitats for biodiversities, such as fishes, birds, reptiles, mammals, and all kinds of plants. . Biodiversity in the Tonle Sap Lake area includes 175 species of fish, 42 species of reptiles, 225 species of birds, 46 species of mammals and more than 200 species of plants.
