Ring dike system to harness floodwater from the Mekong River for paddy rice cultivation in the Tonle Sap Lake floodplain in Cambodia

Located in the floodplain of the Mekong River and the Tonle Sap River, Batheay irrigation system and its reservoir directly receive floodwater from the Mekong. The Batheay reservoir formed by a ring dike functions as both a reservoir and a paddy field. In the wet season, the ring dike prevents floodwater from entering the reservoir and rainy season rice is grown inside the dike. After harvesting, the gates on the ring dike are opened to receive floodwater. The water is stored inside the dike for cultivating dry season rice outside the dike. In this paper, the irrigation system is studied as a model site for future development of the floodplain of the Tonle Sap Lake of Cambodia. Specifically, this paper is concerned with the study of water balance and analysis of the hydrologic components of the Batheay irrigation system, and the effectiveness of the ring dike system. The study found that floodwater of the Mekong River contributed about 74% to the total inflow to the Batheay reservoir. Contributions to the total water supply of reservoir water, floodwater remaining in the fields, and precipitation were 73, 12, and 15%, respectively. The efficiency of the system was found to be 92%. The dike system is expected to be a paradigm for the floodplain of the Tonle Sap Lake.