Public views sought on a new national water policy for Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka is introducing a new national water policy based on conservation of water resources and has sought public views for its preparation.
In a full-page newspaper advertisement, the Ministry of Land and Land Development has sought public opinion to incorporate suggestions in the proposed policy which is to be prepared and drafted by a special committee.
T. Asoka Peiris, Ministry Secretary, told the Business Times previous attempts to formulate a national water resources policy were unsuccessful due to various reasons including the failure to obtain public opinion.
He noted that it is essential to consult with all the different groups of stakeholders, especially farmers and their representatives before introducing the policy with the cabinet approval.
The ministry is also seeking funding from foreign donor agencies including the UNDP to implement the policy through 16 ministries and state institutions connected to lands land development and water resources, he disclosed.
The background material used in formulating this policy was drawn from four workshops conducted with the participation of representatives of these 16 institutions, he said, adding that he had suggested to seek public opinion to devise this policy in a more transparent manner.
Sri Lanka has 103 rivers, 12,000 tanks in the dry zone, 3540 springs and other water resources in Nuwara Eliya, Kandy, Kurunegala, Moneragala and Matale districts.
Resistance from bureaucratic interests that find it advantageous to continue with the present ad hoc decision making system in the water sector and their determination to protect their “territories” makes it impossible to develop and implement a national water policy, especially if it involves institutional changes.
However a decision has been taken at the parliamentary consultative committee to formulate a national policy vesting the implementation process in 16 state sector institutions under several subject areas.
Land and land development, water resources, irrigation Mahaweli, agriculture, agrarian development, wild life and forest conservation, environment and education are the pioneering institutions in implementing the policy.
An operational committee will be appointed from these 16 policy implementing agencies to carry out the activities of the water policy in consultation with national expert committee.
Members of the committee will take an integrated approach to water resources management at policy, institutional, data collection, resource allocation and operational levels, Mr. Peiris said.
He noted that water rights linked to land rights resulted in complications in applying regulatory mechanisms. This was another reason for the ministry to seek public views on this matter, he added.
Institutional arrangements will be made to coordinate the use and management of water resources by the operational committee.
It will identify all sort of water resources and demarcate them in maps and develop a data base and distribute such information to the institutions concerned.
Surveying and mapping the location of the water resources will be carried out to conserve rivers, springs, tanks and the reserves of the reservoirs, the public notice calling for representations on the policy said.
Measures will be taken to declare such water resources as places for future protection and conservation.
Land use plans will be prepared for this purpose and awareness will be created among the people through a comprehensive publicity campaign.
The demand for water in Sri Lanka is fast catching up, and in some cases exceeding, the sustainable supply in every economic sphere and unregulated exploitation is threatening depletion and degradation of the country’s water resource base.
With the transformation of the agrarian society into an industrial-urban society, the main issue facing the water sector is to meet the growing water demands i.e. domestic, industrial, irrigation and hydropower while maintaining the water bodies, a statement released by the ministry said.
Although Sri Lanka has a high rainfall on an annual average basis, the wide variation in its regional and temporal distribution causes severe water stress, especially in the dry zone, the statement revealed.
Competition among water users, lack of compliance with pollution control regulations, and unregulated land use are threatening critical resources.
Lack of data and information for real time water planning is an obstruction to rational and equitable water allocation.
The lack of legal provisions to safeguard water rights discourages user-commitment in the protection and conservation of water resources, it added.
Degradation of river environments due to sand and clay mining, waste dumping and inflow of waste-water and industrial effluents are major issues in river health and water resources conservation.
Opportunities for further development of water resources being limited, expensive and fraught with socio-environmental issues, a greater part of the future demand would have to be met from improved water-use efficiency and re-allocation of already harnesed water resources, it added.
These factors have prompted the government to take some measures to reform the natural resources management structure of the country, the ministry revealed.
Under this policy all the water sources would be treated as a public natural resources belonging to Sri Lanka.
Water users of all levels, planners, and decision-making personnel and institutions shall contribute for the protection conservation and management of water sources with participatory planning approach.