Dams Threaten Indigenous Lands: From Cambodia’s Cardamoms to Oklahoma’s Rivers

Rural tropical countryside in Cambodia

Cambodia – Forests and Communities at Risk

In Cambodia’s Cardamom Mountains, forest crews have begun clearing land for a massive irrigation project inside Kravanh National Park. Satellite images show that since February 2025, at least 60 hectares of rainforest have been stripped and a 10-kilometer road carved into the park to make way for Irrigation Dam 2 (Mongabay via ICT).

Once completed, the reservoir is expected to flood nearly 4,000 hectares of land, much of it used by Indigenous communities such as the Chorng and Por peoples for rice farming, fishing, and gathering forest resources. The Cardamoms are also one of Cambodia’s last intact rainforests, home to the critically endangered Sunda pangolin, Asian elephants, and pileated gibbons (Wildlife Alliance Statement, 2025).

A World Bank assessment of the Pursat River Basin valued ecosystem services at about $99 million, warning that forest loss would increase flood risks, reduce dry-season water supply, and shorten the dam’s useful life (World Bank, 2018).

Local villagers have expressed both fear and resignation. “It would be better if they protected [the forest] and developed it for tourism instead,” one resident from Rokat commune told reporters. Others noted that access to forests has been restricted since construction began, forcing some families to migrate to Phnom Penh for work (Mongabay via ICT).

Oklahoma – Tribal Lands Submerged and Polluted

Thousands of miles away, the Quapaw Nation in northeastern Oklahoma continues to grapple with the aftermath of one of America’s worst environmental disasters: the Tar Creek Superfund Site. Decades of lead and zinc mining poisoned soil and waterways across Quapaw lands, leaving long-term health and ecological consequences. Cleanup efforts are ongoing in partnership with federal agencies (EPA Tar Creek Superfund Overview).

Oklahoma tribes have also lost land to dam construction. The Eufaula Dam flooded tens of thousands of acres belonging to the Muscogee (Creek) and other tribal nations (ResearchGate, 2023). Similarly, the creation of Sardis Lake triggered long-running disputes over water rights, with the Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations initially excluded from negotiations before reaching a settlement to preserve treaty rights (Sardis Lake History, Wikipedia).

For these communities, the impacts have been more than environmental. Tribal leaders argue that displacement, loss of cultural resources, and exclusion from consultation processes have eroded sovereignty and weakened traditional ties to land and water.

Shared Struggles Across Continents

Though separated by continents, the challenges facing Cambodia’s Indigenous groups and Oklahoma tribes share common themes:

• Loss of land through flooding, pollution, or restricted access.

• Water insecurity undermining farming, fishing, and cultural traditions.

• Limited consultation, with communities often excluded from decisions.

In Cambodia, villagers say they are afraid to protest the project. In Oklahoma, tribes have had to fight decades-long battles for recognition and cleanup. Both stories highlight how Indigenous peoples are too often sidelined when powerful infrastructure projects reshape their homelands.

Looking Ahead

In Cambodia, questions remain about whether a proper environmental review was ever conducted and how the dam will affect Tonle Sap Lake’s fragile fisheries. In Oklahoma, cleanup at Tar Creek continues, while water rights and flood management remain contentious issues for tribes.

From the rainforests of the Cardamoms to the rivers of Oklahoma, Indigenous communities share a demand that development respect their lands, waters, and futures.

About the Journalist

This story builds on reporting by Deusdedit Ruhangariyo, an international freelance journalist from Uganda, East Africa. Ruhangariyo is an award-winning journalist, grant recipient, and a Humphrey Fellow alumnus at Arizona State University’s Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

Read his original reporting here: Global Indigenous: Irrigation dam threatens Cambodian forest

Rural tropical countryside in southern Cambodia