Is Tonle Sap dirty?

The Tonle Sap, a combined lake and river system that swells in the rainy season to form Southeast Asia’s largest freshwater lake, has for generations supported fishing communities living in floating villages of moored houseboats. Resident Keng Chin said the Tonle Sap water is too dirty even to wash clothes with.

Why does Tonle Sap River flow reversely?

Monsoon winds from the southwest bring a rainy season to Southeast Asia between May and October every year. The Mekong River swells so much that the Tonle Sap River is actually forced to flow backward, northward away from the sea. It’s the only river in the world that goes both ways.

What is the name of the biggest lake in Cambodia?

The Tonle Sap Lake is the largest freshwater lake in South East Asia and one of the most productive inland fisheries in the world. The lake is connected to the Mekong River through the 100 km long Tonle Sap River.

What is the meaning of the word Tonle Sap?

Here are all the possible meanings and translations of the word tonle sap. The Tonlé Sap is a combined lake and river system of major importance to Cambodia. The Tonlé Sap is the largest freshwater lake in South East Asia and is an ecological hot spot that was designated as a UNESCO biosphere in…

Why does the Tonle Sap drain into the Mekong River?

The annual monsoon coincides to cease around this time of the year. As the Mekong River is at its minimum flow around this time of the year and its water level falls deeper than the Tonle Sap Lake, the Tonle Sap River and surrounding wetlands, waters of the lake’s basin drains via the Tonle Sap River into the Mekong.

Why are the Tonle Sap important to Cambodia?

Tonlé Sap. They form the central part of a complex hydrological system, in the 12,876 km 2 (4,971 sq mi) Cambodian floodplain covered with a mosaic of natural and agricultural habitats that the Mekong replenishes with water and sediments annually. The central plain formation is the result of millions of years of Mekong alluvial deposition…

How does the Tonle Sap affect the environment?

Directly and indirectly it affects the livelihood of large numbers of a predominantly rural population. Due to ineffective administration and widespread indifference towards environmental issues, the lake and its surrounding ecosystem are coming under increasing pressure from over-exploitation and habitat degradation, fragmentation, and loss.