Gijs Simons – FutureWater

Cambodia’s water resources are increasingly under pressure from climate change, rapid socio-economic development, land-use change, and growing competition between water users. In the Tonle Sap River Basin Group, seasonal floods and dry-season water scarcity already affect agriculture, livelihoods, ecosystems, and infrastructure. At the same time, river basin planning in Cambodia remains fragmented, with existing plans often differing in methods, time horizons, and links to national investment planning. The Cambodia Resilient River Basin Masterplan responds to this need by supporting a more integrated, evidence-based, and climate-resilient approach to river basin management.

FutureWater is part of a consortium led by Alluvium, working with the Asian Development Bank and Cambodia’s Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology to prepare the Cambodia Resilient River Basin Masterplan. The first phase focuses on the Tonle Sap River Basin Group and develops river basin management and investment plans for 11 river basins. These plans assess current and future water availability, sectoral water demand, flood and drought risks, climate change impacts, ecosystem conditions, and priority investment needs.

FutureWater leads key technical components related to hydrology, water resources modelling, climate risk assessment, remote sensing, and water accounting. Building on its earlier work in Cambodia, including WEAP-based water resources assessments for the Tonle Sap and Mekong Delta river basin groups, FutureWater updates and expands basin models, integrates satellite-derived and local datasets, assesses current and future water balances, and supports scenario analysis for water allocation and investment planning. This evidence base supports the prioritisation of resilient water infrastructure, irrigation modernization, nature-based solutions, watershed restoration, and demand management measures.

A strong emphasis is placed on capacity building and practical uptake. FutureWater contributes to the development of tools, datasets, modelling workflows, and training materials that can be used by Cambodian institutions, including MOWRAM and the National Water Resources Management Data Centre, to support future river basin planning and adaptive water resources management.

As one of the most climate-vulnerable countries and heavily dependent on the Indus River system for agriculture, Pakistan faces growing risks from rising temperatures, shifting precipitation, and increasing seasonal variability in snow and glacier melt. Modelling of climate change scenarios indicates that, under a business-as-usual pathway, these pressures will pose serious threats to farmer livelihoods and the wider agricultural sector. Reliable, transparent, and sector-disaggregated information on where water comes from, how it is stored, and how it is consumed is essential for shifting the basin toward a more resilient and sustainable water management pathway.

With support from FAO, the project will develop a water accounting system that maximizes the use of satellite remote sensing, complemented by in-situ data for inputs and validation. The work covers four key outputs:

Critically reviewing existing draft water accounting reports and training materials produced by stakeholders, identifying gaps in methodology and datasets
Developing a holistic WA methodology that accounts for available water resources, changes in storage, outflows, water use, and demand across agricultural, industrial, domestic, and environmental sectors
Building a calibrated and validated water accounting system of models and codes, based on free and open-source software, capable of generating water accounting results for the Indus Basin and two provinces
Producing water accounting reports for the Indus Basin, Punjab, and Sindh, including historical supply-demand gaps, water balances, and spatial distribution maps.

To ensure the system is sustainable and locally owned, FutureWater will deliver comprehensive hands-on training to government officials, enabling them not only to run the models but also to understand the underlying theory and modify the system in the future. By integrating advanced hydrological modelling, energy-based evapotranspiration estimation, and the latest land use classification, the resulting water accounting system will provide the Government of Pakistan with a powerful, replicable tool to support climate-resilient agriculture and water management across the Indus Basin.

FutureWater had previously tailored the REWEFe toolkit to the regional WEFE Nexus context and demonstrated its application for selected river basins. Building on this work, the April 2026 training aimed to strengthen regional capacity for using REWEFe as a decision-support instrument within basin planning and governance processes. Participants included representatives from national and local governments, IRBM Learning Centers, partner universities, and national coordinators from the participating ASEAN Member States.

The training combined technical and governance-oriented learning. FutureWater introduced the structure, data requirements, scenario setup, and interpretation of the REWEFe toolkit, while guiding participants through hands-on exercises to analyse baseline conditions, develop scenarios, and interpret WEFE-related synergies and trade-offs. The sessions placed strong emphasis on translating policy plans and sector strategies into structured quantitative scenarios, enabling participants to better connect analytical outputs with planning, investment, and policy dialogue.

The governance component was delivered in collaboration with Dipankar Aich, who contributed expertise on IRBM governance, WEFE Nexus thinking, cross-sector coordination, and the science–policy interface. His sessions supported participants in understanding how REWEFe outputs can be positioned within governance processes, policy dialogues, and decision-making cycles.

Through this assignment, FutureWater contributed to strengthening the practical uptake of REWEFe in Southeast Asia by linking technical modelling, scenario analysis, and governance processes. The training supported participants in using the toolkit not only as an analytical model, but also as a structured approach for dialogue on water, energy, food, and ecosystem trade-offs in river basin planning.

Since gaining independence in 2002, Timor-Leste has made significant gains in peacebuilding, governance, and infrastructure with goals to achieve upper-middle income status by 2030 as laid out in its Strategy Development Plan (SDP) for 2011-2030, which places agriculture at its core. However, challenges in Timor-Leste persist, particularly with food security.

The Ministry for Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Forestry (MALFF) has developed its own goal under the national SDP to “improve national food security, reduce rural poverty, support the transition from subsistence livelihoods to the commercial production of food crops, livestock, fisheries, forestry and industrial crops; and promote environmental sustainability and conservation of Timor-Leste’s natural resources.”

Under the project TCP/TIM/390, FAO developed a national assessment report compiling indicators for rice production and value chains and a detailed strategy for strengthening the rice industry for MALFF. To further support the goals of MALFF and strengthen the technical capacity of staff there to conduct remote-sensing-based rice mapping and crop water productivity analyses, FAO has hired FutureWater to develop a remote-sensing-based rice mapping and crop water productivity analysis for national GIS/statistics specialists at MALFF, focusing on two priority irrigation schemes (Bebui and Oebaba). This analysis meets MALFF’s immediate needs on assessing rice area and productivity, and FutureWater will also support MALFF in building capacity to undertake these analyses themselves by developing a step-by-step guide on conducting a crop water productivity assessment.

ADB is committed to supporting its developing member countries in scaling up climate action. As part of this commitment, ADB is implementing TA 10098-REG: Bridging the Gap between Climate Adaptation Planning and Financing, also known as the Climate Adaptation Investment Planning (CAIP) TA. The CAIP TA aims to enhance the capacity of developing member countries (DMCs), to identify climate adaptation investment priorities to catalyze financing for adaptation and resilience. The TA delivers three outputs: (i) climate adaptation investment plans developed; (ii) appraisal of climate adaptation projects improved; and (iii) regional knowledge on climate adaptation investment planning strengthened.

The CAIP TA applies a five-step process for climate adaptation investment planning: (i) reviewing country and sector context, including national development plans and strategies, climate policies including the National Adaptation Plan (NAP), Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), or equivalent adaptation plans; (ii) undertaking more granular climate diagnostic for selected national adaptation priorities; (iii) prioritizing adaptation investments; (iv) linking with public financial management systems; and (v) identifying appropriate financing opportunities. The CAIP TA brings together different relevant ministries, especially the finance and planning ministry, the respective sector ministry, and the environment ministry. In addition, the implementation process closely collaborates with relevant development partners active in the adaptation space in the country, the private sector, and civil society organizations.

FutureWater was engaged by ADB to develop the climate adaptation investment plans and underlying Climate Risk and Adaptation assessments (CRAs) for selected river basins in Lao PDR and Timor-Leste. Both the CRAs and the investment plans are approached from a multi-sector perspective and strongly adhere to IWRM principles. Water resources modelling (WEAP) is employed to relate water supply and demands in an integrated framework under different scenarios, in addition to extensive mapping of climate hazards, exposure and vulnerability across the study areas, making use of a combination of state-of-the-art global data and tools and locally-sourced information. The investment plans involve mapping and assessment of current and planned investments within the river basins, including nature-based solutions and green-gray infrastructure, followed by an identification of adaptation opportunities and subsequent prioritization. The results of the CAIP process for Lao PDR and Timor-Leste are expected to support the country’s national adaptation priorities into concrete, investment-ready plans and securing the necessary funding for their implementation.

Expected water savings by implementing advanced irrigation technologies have in many cases not been achieved and have even led to higher water consumption by irrigators. This has been to the advantage of farmers concerned (more crop produced), but has been disappointing to planners who were hoping to save water (in fact, making it available for other uses). Ignoring return flows and reuse of water are common reasons for these underperforming water savings projects.

FutureWater and FAO have over the past years worked intensively on this topic, developing and advocating the “Follow the Water” approach. Among others, this culminated in the launch of the Follow the Water (FtW) tool, which was developed to improve the understanding of water flows in irrigation systems by visualizing flows and quantifying reuse of water in a simple and understandable manner.

Now, FAO’s Second Edition of the FutureWater-led report “Reuse of water in agricultural systems – Follow the Water” has been published, which attempts to quantify reuse rates in irrigated agricultural systems. The technical manual of the Follow the Water was recently officially published by FAO as well. Together with the FtW tool, these resources aim to provide conceptual guidance as well as a practical toolkit to agricultural water managers for sound tracking of flows across irrigation systems.

FutureWater is proud to present these new fruits of a long-standing collaboration with FAO, which illustrates our commitment to advancing sustainable and effective agricultural water management worldwide.

The Follow the Water conceptual framework. Source: (Opstal et al., 2021) based on (Perry, 2011).

Since 2021, in a collaborative effort with various partners, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Cambodia Country Office has been implementing the project Enhancing Integrated Water Management and Climate Resilience in Vulnerable Urban Areas of the Mekong River Basin.

This project is funded by the Ministry of Environment of the Government of Republic of Korea. The main objective is to strengthen the climate and disaster resilience of people and vulnerable communities through improved risk and vulnerability assessment and advancing an integrated approach to water resources management, in both Cambodia and Lao PDR. Focus regions in Cambodia are the 3S and 4P River Basins in the northeast of the country.

FutureWater has been providing technical advisory services throughout the project duration, supporting an improved understanding of water-related climate risks, strengthened technical and institutional capacity and community disaster preparedness, and identification of effective Climate Change Adaptation (CCA) and Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) options. Activities include an elaborate crop-specific climate risk and vulnerability assessment, co-development of various capacity building initiatives, and support to prioritization of follow-up CCA measures.

A geostory is now published which highlights achievements, results and lessons learned from the various activities implemented in Cambodia under this project. The geostory was developed by FutureWater and merges interactive maps and graphs with explanatory texts. Its purpose is to allow a wider audience to access the project’s main findings and potentially build upon these insights in their own activities.

The geostory can be found here. For further details about the project and FutureWater’s role, please reach out to Gijs Simons.

FutureWater just completed a successful mission to Cambodia, where UNDP Cambodia is implementing the project “Enhancing Integrated Water Management and Climate Resilience in Vulnerable Urban Areas of the Mekong River Basin”, funded by Ministry of Environment of the Republic of Korea.

Since December 2022, FutureWater has supported UNDP with technical expertise to ensure swift and effective implementation of a range of studies, including baseline catchment assessments, flood modeling, climate risk assessments of key agricultural supply chains, and prioritization of climate adaptation and disaster risk reduction measures.

With the final year of the project underway, current activities focus on leveraging the key insights from the project and supporting the development of follow-up funding proposals for implementation-focused projects. As part of this endeavor, a number of meetings with key stakeholders, government institutions and development partners were organized from February 24 – 28, aiming to consolidate the main findings from the project and to move forward with the development of concrete ideas for follow-up work.

By integrating innovative technologies and the knowledge of key stakeholders from commune to national level, the project has generated a wealth of information and tools enabling improved risk and vulnerability assessment and advancing an integrated approach to water resources management. FutureWater will now focus its efforts on ensuring that these new insights will be the foundation of effective adaptation measures, benefiting the 3S and 4P population and their livelihoods. In parallel, we are developing an online story-map (coming soon!) showcasing the main findings and lessons learned from the project to a wider audience.

Impressions of field visits and stakeholder meetings in Stung Treng and Kratie Provinces, Cambodia.

The GEF / UNDP / ASEAN Project on Reducing Pollution and Preserving Environmental Flows in the East Asian Seas through the Implementation of Integrated River Basin Management (IRBM) in the ASEAN Countries is a 5-year project (2023-2027) with the goal of establishing functional IRBM mechanisms in seven priority river basins / sub-basins / watersheds in six ASEAN Member States, to reduce pollution, sustain freshwater environmental flows and adapt to climate change vulnerabilities. The Project is designed to improve governance and management arrangements in IRBM and accelerate the required changes in the six AMS in support of national priorities, objectives and commitments to global sustainable development targets using the Source to Sea (S2S) framework. The PEMSEA Resource Facility (PRF), which serves as the Project Implementing Partner, hosts the Regional Project Management Unit (RPMU). It works in collaboration with National and Local Government Partners and River Basin Organizations.

Component 1 of the Project focuses on the conduct of a baseline assessment of the S2S management continuum with a targeted outcome of improving understanding of governance, socioeconomic, ecological conditions, gaps and needs of priority river basins / sub-basins and coastal areas. This will be achieved through the establishment of the State of River Basin (SORB) reporting system to consolidate information coming from administrative, social, economic and environmental sectors. As an input to the SORB baseline reporting, it is required to complete a comprehensive assessment of competing uses and users of water as a consequence of existing and future water uses and their implications on the water / energy / food / ecosystem (WEFE) security nexus in the priority river basins.

FutureWater is providing this assessment of the WEFE security nexus through review of existing knowledge and literature, stakeholder consultations, as well as tailoring and applying its REWEFe toolkit for nexus analysis to seven river basins in six countries of Southeast Asia: Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Philippines and Viet Nam.

The recently published World Bank’s Drought Risk and Resilience Assessment Methodology (DRRA) is a framework for action to support governments proactively address drought risks. Drawing on international best practice in drought management, it outlines practical measures to build resilience at every stage of the drought cycle. With this tool, governments can create a community of stakeholders, target areas for action across sectors, optimize their resources and investments, and minimize future economic losses from drought.

The DRRA publication can be accessed through the World Bank website here. FutureWater is proud to have contributed to the DRRA methodology report by developing factsheets on Nature-based Solutions (NbS) for enhancing drought resilience, highlighting opportunities, limitations and overall critical aspects of NbS in relation to drought risk reduction. These stand-alone factsheets are summarized in Appendix B of the DRRA report. In addition, the report builds on an inventory compiled by FutureWater of available tools for assessing the potential impact of NbS on drought risk, to inform decision makers and investors in different steps of the project development chain.

For further information about the work of FutureWater on NbS scoping, prioritizing and planning, please contact Gijs Simons.