Water: Droughts, deluge and carelessness of Sri Lankans
“Not even a drop of water that comes from the rain must flow into the ocean without being made useful to man” – (King Parakramabahu, the Great -12th Century)
“Sea water will be desalinated and be made useful to man” – (President Mahinda Rajapaksa-21st Century)
These are two statements made by two heads of the country during two different eras regarding water. Modern science, technology, engineering and IT were not available in the 12th Century. King Parakramabahu did not have access to desalination technology. His horizon was limited and did not go beyond the nature. Kevattayas, Andares and Mahadenamuttas were living in different eras and in different areas. Unfortunately, King Parakramabahu did not have the blessings of the advise of such Pandithayas. Fortunately, they are all reborn today in Sri Lanka. We, unlike King Parakramabahu, can afford to ignore free flow of water down to the sea. It could be desalinated and brought all the way back to the central watershed of the country.
A few weeks ago, a passerby would not have missed piling up thousands of bottles of water alongside roads in salubrious Colombo 7. Media informed us that severe droughts had affected several parts of the country. A few days later the very same passersby would have witnessed thousands of empty bottles, gushed down with inundated water, being deposited alongside roads in not so salubrious Slave Island and Mutwal. The media informed us that, deluge had followed the droughts. So, Sri Lanka, the blessed country, is punished by water- lack of it as well as abundance of it. It is true that rain and lack of it are natural and even a Government which defeated the most notorious terrorist group is helpless. As economic undergraduates we learnt water as a ‘free good’; as economic practitioners we experience water as an ‘economic good’. The message is clear and loud – “Water is a gift of nature and its management is man’s (of course woman’s as well) responsibility”.
Let us take a look at how we use or rather misuse water. When I take my morning walk I cannot avoid noticing a gentleman washing his car leaving the tap turned on and letting water flow freely making a mess on a public road; a lady watering her plants transported from a natural forest in the upper watershed (Nuwara Eliya and Bandarawela); a driver washing his cargo truck (bus drivers do not wash their coaches as they are used for human transport); a boy emerging from a bathroom after flushing down rejects of his body; a shop keeper washing the pavement littered by his clients the previous night (we are not used to disposing waste in a bin); an employee cleaning and filling a swimming pool polluted by his master’s babies. Have you ever thought that we do all this with chlorinated, well cleaned purified water? I do not think Henry Ford would ever dream of his little invention if he had known that we Sri Lankans would one day use chlorinated water for cleaning cars.
In the absence of an alternative source and due to our ignorance, unawareness and carelessness water is being misused and wasted. Purification takes a good slice of the cost of water supply and distribution. With a dual water supply/distribution system, one with chlorinated water and the other without, this cost can be reduced. I am sure the Water Supply and Drainage Board will have many excuses to say as to why it cannot be done in Sri Lanka. But in this wonderland where many wonders are happening courtesy borrowed or black money, hard earned migrants’ remittances and generosity of Chinese people nothing is impossible.
The foremost resource in the central hills is its watershed. It is fast eroding and is in great danger. According to the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) Nuwara Eliya district which has the highest rainfall, is losing nearly 75 tons of its soil per ha per annum due to erosion. Over the past few years, the Government has put in place a National Forest Policy and Forest Sector Master Plan as well as a National Watershed Management Policy and various strengthened regulations on land use. Notwithstanding this commitment and the attention frequency and intensity of watershed degradation has increased. Degradation of watershed results in the long-term reduction of the quantity and quality of land and water resources. Although the watershed is limited to a few districts such as Nuwara Eliya and Badulla, the benefits of it are enjoyed by the entire country perhaps much more than the residents of those districts. I am told that 22 families in Laxapana are still waiting for electricity. Degradation in watersheds has resulted from a range of natural and man-made factors. This includes natural soil erosion, changes in farming systems, over abstraction of water, overgrazing, deforestation, and pollution. Watershed is everybody’s interest but nobody’s baby when it comes to protection and rehabilitation.
In addition to soil erosion, contamination due to sewerage, chemical poisoning, and pollution have surfaced as major water quality problems. The media frequently highlights untold issues and miseries related to unhygienic unsystematic waste disposal, excessive use of agro-chemicals and industry effluent. Maintenance and management of river and reservoir beds and banks are neglected. Rivers and reservoirs are not fully functional due to siltation, sand mining, unauthorized constructions and cultivation. Trees and forests on catchment and reservation areas have given way to hotels and mansions. Comprehensive planning and management at the river basin level is absent due to resource constraints, demand management, upstream-down streams issues, inadequate institutional capacity, and inability to exercise law and order along with the increased politicization.
The Sri Lankan economy, in the past, was simple and agriculture-based. The water was mainly demanded and used for cultivation and other domestic purposes. The economy is diversified and complex today; manufacturing and services sectors are dominant; demographic pattern, social order, livelihoods, habits and technology have changed. These changes have caused the emergence of new priorities and competing needs for water. Historically reservoirs were built preliminary for irrigation and in the dry zone. Today, their primary purpose is hydro electricity generation and is built in the wet zone. Reservoirs under the Mahaveli Project are maintained by Mahaveli and Irrigation authorities; they are expected to cater to twin purpose of irrigation and hydro electricity. Mahaveli is a success story with hydro electricity but not so with irrigation. The decisions such as how the amounts of water that should be allocated for irrigation and hydropower generation are determined by the market price of paddy and electricity. Today in most development projects canals are constructed for irrigation purposes and separate pipelines are laid for domestic purposes. In ancient systems irrigation as well as other purposes were fulfilled by the same water system, with very much closer to the nature and with very much less pollution.
The Government policy for water states “The quality and quantity of surface water, ground water, and coastal waters will be managed to balance the current and future needs of ecological systems, communities, agriculture, fisheries, industry and hydroelectric generation”. In order to accomplish this, a holistic integrated water management programme should be put in place. Integrated water management promotes the coordinated development and management of water, land and related resources; it maximises economic and social welfare without compromising the sustainability of vital ecosystems; it involves conservation, protection, storage, sustainability and rehabilitation of watersheds, water sources and water resources; it aims at ensuring safety, quality as well as cost effectiveness of water; it is important from the watershed down to the end user level; it covers upstream, downstream and river basins.
Water Management is not new in Sri Lanka. Sri Lankan history is deeply connected with its hydraulic civilization. According to Eng. D.L.O. Mendis there was a sustainable water – soil – flora fauna – human ecosystem. This system was based upon a cascade principle consisting different types of tanks. Each tank served a different purpose. Improvement of cascade systems may prove beneficial in view of its time-tested buffering capacity. However, changes taken place over the time prevents continuation of old age water management systems. Lessons could be learnt (for a change as we Sri Lankans are not used to it) and improvements could be made with innovative approaches that suits modern living conditions and technology. Traditional institutional arrangements may be replaced by new robust flexible structures.
The country has failed to consistently adopt and implement a holistic integrated water management policy since independence due to a) lack of funding, coordination, interest and awareness; b) institutional weaknesses; c) bureaucratic lethargy; d) politicization, etc., The result is lamenting over disasters such as the latest Koslanda landslide episode. Of course, politicians who have nothing else to hang on would see such disasters as an opportunity rather than a challenge. How optimistic and fortunate they are.
“Water is the driving force of all nature” –Lenardo da Vinci
“When the well is dry we know the worth of water”- Benjamin Franklin
(The writer can be
reached at
chandra. maliyadde@gmail.com)