Water for people.pdf - WHO Thailand Digital Repository

R U H U N A B A S I N S , S R I L A N K A / 4 2 3projects and one comprehensive groundwater assessment projectare ongoing in the basins and are funded by independent donors.There have been several attempts to recover the cost ofoperation and maintenance of irrigation services, but these have sofar proved unsuccessful. An ongoing programme consisting ofturning irrigation systems over to the users has resulted insubstantial contributions from farmers in system management, andin operations and maintenance costs.Cost recovery mechanisms for urban water supply focus on recoveryof operation and maintenance costs of the services. The level ofrecovery is lower in water supply schemes managed by local authorities.Private investment by individual families for the construction ofprotected wells and latrines is considerable (Wickramage, 2002).Differing management approachesSeveral management approaches exist in the Ruhuna basins.■ IWRM: although Sri Lanka has been implementing IWRMprinciples for several years, it is yet to be recognized as statepolicy. As an example of the attention given to IWRM principles,irrigation development projects in environmentally sensitive areasare submitted to an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) andmust obtain its approval before they can begin. Also, theNational Environmental Act was enacted in 1980 and a ministrywas set up in 1991 to deal with specific environmental issues. Aministry dealing with water resource management and a WaterResources Secretariat, charged with formulating a National WaterResources Policy and relevant Water Resources Legislation, wereestablished in 2000 and 1996 respectively.■ Demand management: demand management has been givenspecial attention in recent government policies. In the domesticwater supply sector, targets include minimizing unaccountedwater and introducing demand management measures. Inirrigated agriculture, there is a heavy focus on micro-irrigationmethods and improved monitoring of agricultural operations.Optimal water use is a major focus for the ongoing irrigationrehabilitation projects in the basins. In the energy sector, thereare campaigns to reduce power consumption.■ Public participation: in 1988, following a number of pilot experimentsstarted in the late 1970s, Sri Lanka adopted participatorymanagement in irrigated agriculture as state policy. A programme ofirrigation management turnover (IMT) to farmer organizations isongoing. Although no systems have been completely turned over,there has been a significant increase in the role of farmers inmanaging irrigation systems over the past two decades. Most majorirrigation systems in the basin are partially turned over. Farmers havetraditionally managed minor irrigation systems (command areas ofless than 80 hectares). Attempts have been made to encouragecommunity participation in environmental protection; however theseefforts are still at an early stage. The Upper Watershed ManagementProject, implemented by the Ministry of Forestry and NaturalResources, is actively promoting participatory forestry in a focus areathat includes the upper catchment of the Walawe basin.■ Public-private partnerships: the concept of farmer companies isbeing tested at two irrigation systems in the country. One site,the Chandrikawewa Farmer Company, is in the Walawe basin andpromotes agricultural production and other rural businessactivities, while the public sector manages the irrigation system.As yet, a full evaluation of this pilot project has not beenundertaken. The other pilot Farmer Company, outside the casestudy area, is involved in the operation and maintenance ofirrigation systems in addition to agricultural input and outputmarketing. This other company may form a useful model forfuture public-private partnerships.Managing risksMost of the basin’s area is located in so-called dry zones andreceives less than 1,250 mm of rain annually. The major naturalhazard, therefore, is drought. The area is also subject to occasionallocalized floods, but is at little risk from landslides, coastal erosion,cyclones and earthquakes.Of the administrative districts of the basin, only Hambantota isclassified as drought-prone: during the rainy season droughtprobability is 28 percent, the highest in Sri Lanka. During the dryseason, it increases to 32 percent. Though not classified as droughtprone,some areas of the dry zone in the Moneragala district wereseriously affected during the recent drought, as was much of theregion. The government initiated a range of measures to mitigate theimpacts of future occurrences of droughts. These include short-termemergency measures, such as development of groundwater foremergency domestic supplies, medium-term interventions such asintroducing better water management practices; and longer-termstudies on the possibility of interbasin water transfers.Decisions on drought management in agriculture are taken in theseasonal cultivation meeting, attended by farmers and officers. Typicaldecisions include cultivating a reduced proportion of the commandarea and sharing the land. In general, domestic water needs are giventhe highest priority during droughts, a policy that will be formalizedwith the proposed National Water Resources Policy.Another concern in some parts of the basins, especially theMoneragala district, is the incidence of malaria. This vector-borne diseasecan be a predisposing cause of anaemia and malnutrition (for details,see chapter 5 on water and health). Research by the International Water