The Lake with Floating Villages: Socio-economic Analysis of the Tonle Sap Lake

Increasing complexity and multidisciplinarity of water management has resulted in the development of broader approaches such as Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM). This paper discusses the IWRM and particularly its social and participatory dimensions based on the practical experience gained from the socio-economic analysis within a modelling project in Cambodia's Tonle Sap Lake. It is argued that water-related socio-economic analysis can significantly contribute to water modelling and impact analysis work because it helps to link modelling with the most relevant social and economic issues. This way modelling is also better able to answer to the needs of integrated water resources management.