Hydrological Drought Responding to Meteorological Drought in Prek Thnot River Basin

Abstract

Drought is an inevitable consequence of climate variability and is pervasive across many regions all over the globe. This study aims to explore the relationship of drought and to evaluate the adaptivity and sensitivity in the Prek Thnot River Basin, Cambodia. The drought indicators were used between the occurrence of droughts based on Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) and Standardized Runoff Index (SRI) to assess the impact in 8 stations in its base months (June, August, and November) for each time scale (1-month, 3-month, and 9-month). The results indicated that 1998 and 2005 were the most critical years. Furthermore, the dry event could be seen in each basin mostly in June and August as a state in drought frequency as in all stations. The outcomes indicated that most stations experienced drought conditions. The small amount of rainfall occurs over these stations during the year indicated, and they had a high frequency of drought. The drought conditions during the period could have many impacts on population living livelihood, especially on sanitation, economy while the most damaging negative impact is on crop production in the regions, given Cambodians’ dependence on agricultural resources.