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Water management in Sri Lanka

Food security and small tank systems in Sri Lanka

Proceedings of workshop organised by the Working Committee on Agricultural - Science & Forestry

Published by National Science Foundation

Reviewed by Derrick Schokman

Water is the foundation of life on earth. Surprisingly relatively little of the world's freshwater is needed for drinking and other personal use. About 25% goes to industry and 70% more to agriculture. So it is in agriculture that future water shortages will be most acute.

In Sri Lanka, water shortages for agriculture are more felt in the dry zone. This is why the ancient people, over a period of 15 centuries, constructed an intricate network of inland reservoirs (tanks), which we have inherited, to conserve and put to maximum use the rains that fall during a very short period. While the large tanks have been restored and put back into operation, small tanks which are considered to be less efficient economically have received orphan treatment.

There are about 12,000 small tanks functional in the dry zone today, mostly in the Rajarata. By and large they are interconnected in a cascade system where the overflow from the upper tanks is collected in tanks at a lower elevation and used to irrigate the rice fields during the "maha" season only.

Even then the highly variable rainfall acts as a limiting factor on cropping intensities and production levels which have remained well below the norm in major irrigated schemes.

Consequently on the advice of the former Minister of Science and Technology, the Hon. Batty Weerakoon, a workshop was organised by the Working Committee on Agricultural Science and Forestry (National Science Foundation) under the chairmanship of Prof. H P M Gunasena to examine and report on small tank settlements.

Ten papers

Ten papers were presented at this workshop by a wide cross-section of people with the knowledge and experience of small tank settlements.

Namely W. J. Siriweera, Vice Chancellor of the Rajarata University, M. U. A. Tennakoon, former Executive Director of the Central Bank, Vidya Jothi C. R. Panabokke, Research Fellow at the International Irrigation Management Institute, S. Somasiri, former director of the Natural Resources Management Centre in the Department of Agriculture, M. M. M. Aheeyar of the Hector Kobbekaduwa Research and Training Institute, W. M. U. Navaratne of the Mahaweli Restructuring and Rehabilitation Project, K. R. de Silva of the National Irrigation and Rehabilitation Project, P. B. Dharmasena of the Field Crops and Development Institute of the Department of Agriculture, D. D. Prabath Witharana of the Department of Agrarian Services, and H. Somapala of the NCP participatory Rural Development Project.

These papers trace the historical evolution, distribution and socio-economic aspects of small tank systems in relation to food security.

They provide a necessary backdrop to understand the complexities of small tank settlement development, M. M. M. Aheeyar gives a concise account of the several institutions that managed the supply of water from these tanks, beginning with village communities (gamsabawa system) during the time of the Sinhalese kings, followed by the breakdown of this system when rajakariya was abolished during the early British colonial period, and the subsequent introduction of various forms of state control via provincial government agents in the Kachcheris, the Irrigation Department, Department of Agrarian Services and Farmer Organisations.

These changes in institutional control could have had a depressing influence on the implementation of a stabilised programme of improvement. But more importantly increasing population pressure and an expanding food front into the catchment areas of these small tanks has put a brake in improving food production.

In addition to restricting rainfall, deforestation to permit highland cropping, subsequent erosion and silting of the tanks, and the ad hoc sinking of agrowells has created an imbalance between the water required for irrigating the ricefields and what is available.

Landmark study

A landmark study by Panabokke of the size, form and hydrology of 230 small tanks in the Rajarata (1999) has clearly demonstrated that although 197 have adequate catchments, 190 of them have an excess of command that cannot be serviced by present tank capacities within the cascades.

It is clearly evident that any sustainable food production within these small tanks cascade systems is strongly governed by the need to achieve a balance between the supply and demand for irrigation water.

The present practice of raising the level of tank bunds to increase tank capacities does not really serve this purpose. It has been questioned by Dharmasena who believes that it only creates a larger and shallower body of water that adds to the already high water loss caused by evaporation.

It also does nothing to reduce sedimentation. If this practice is allowed to continue, small tanks in time could be reduced to swamps and finally disappear. In this context Dharmasena's alternative method of partial desilting should receive serious attention.

Planned

Improvements in small tank irrigation need to be planned on a watershed basis, considering both surface and ground water resources. Panabokke's assessment of small tank cascades opens the door to a more valid base on which sustainable improvements can be planned and implemented.

Cascades lend themselves better to quantitative analysis than individual tanks as they are closer to a natural system.

This should be considered in conjunction with the proper siting of agrowells. Senaratne, in a study of 50 cascades within the Anuradhapura District (1996) showed that a maximum of 3600 agrowells could be safely accommodated without upsetting groundwater resources.

But even at the time of this study the number of wells within five of these cascades had exceeded the upper critical limit. "The red signal" says Panabokke has been flashed and it is time now to take suitable control action to prevent any further expansion of agrowells in these stressed areas... well proven guidelines are now available for estimating location, spacing and density in the regolith acquifer."

No easy fixes

There are no easy fixes to the improvement of small tank agriculture, which is bedeviled by variable rainfall and the high risk factor involved in dry zone agriculture.

Somasiri has called attention to the many less than successful attempts that have been made to increase the cropping intensive of rice in the lowlands and to stabilise upland farming.

In the light of these results there is scope to question the opportunities that would become available for a positive advancement of agricultural production within the tank cascade systems. But as small tanks constitute a very important part of the rural landscape, the participants at this workshop looked beyond the economic issue to the social and environmental aspects that contribute to a desirable existence.

It is the contention of Prabath Witharana that the state has failed to give adequate consideration to the social and ecological aspects of small tanks owing to a the paucity of a reliable database laid on natural resource management. This deficiency is not there any longer.

The Department of Agrarian Services now has a computerised database on village irrigation schemes, consisting of 76 main attributes that could be linked to individual or cascade small tank systems with the aid of geographical information mapping systems to provide state officials with a better understanding of the real needs of small tanks communities.

M. U. A. Tennakoon refers to the small tank cascade system as "a classic example of man's ability to maintain a symbolic relationship with nature."

The book to be read

Reviewed by J.A.K. Jayakody

This age old little novel and the content enshrined in it, should be analyzed on the backdrop of the social fabric prevailed at the day when scathing attacks were made against alien culture and the folly of some upper social strata who aped the western customs and habits blindly.

For that matter, the clarion call of the Author, Piyadasa Sirisena to his people was 'Awake my Sinhala brethren, save Buddhism from destruction, free yourself of foreign domination, live and die like a Sinhalaya who has a proud tradition and culture of over 25000 years.

To Piyadasa Sirisena who is popularly regarded as the father of the Sinhala Novel, his creations were for social purposes and always his theme override the plot. But they are worthy to read and it is not fair to name him 'a characterless novelist though he is not a novelist to crown. His work has infinite capacity to influence the readers even in this modern era.

The inculcation of the habit of reading among the middle class - people was one of the greatest contributions he made through creations like Parivarthanaya.

The circumstances leading to the debate in this novel are realistic but the content thereafter takes the shape of a didatic discourse. Along with the threads of main characters there are side-characters for the same purpose.

The story ricochets the surface of satire.

The thrusts and parries cited by Vedamahattaya and Peiris Nona are so cogent to keep up the reader's interest up to the end. "Are you trying to use the shaving knife to cut down trees too" ask Vedhamahattaya from Advocate Silva who seems totally unfamiliar with the local culture and values, specially regarding women.

But the ideas such as unmarried women should be, always chaperoned can't be said so pragmatic under the modern day - circumstances.

The language and the construction pattern are not in vogue but very interesting to read. Violet Nona and her group become, finally, disillusioned.

The special feature of every character is not being intransigent.

This book republished by Sakura Publishers in 2001 is available at almost every leading bookshop. All in all this is a valuable book to add in to your collection.

Tony receives his biography

For the first time in this country or perhaps in the world, a young wild life enthusiast has decided to present the first copy of the first ever book in Sinhala on chimpanzees to a young chimpanzee cub, Tony who now lives with his mother Mali and sister Nikki in the Dehiwala zoo.

Jayantha Wijewickrama a young writer on nature and wild life wrote this fully illustrated book on Chimpanzees, Chimpansiya Apema Kenek (Chimpanzee our closest relative). Inspired by the two year old young chimpanzee cub, Tony, who has bee now weaned away from his mother and who has now developed a true maternal attachment to his young warden Tilak Perera, the author presented the first copy of the book to this young Chimpanzee Cub Tony which was received on his behalf by his foster parent Tilak Perera who has developed a true love and affection to his young ward.

Bahasa Melayu

The launching of the book Bahasa Melayu composed by Emran Deen, with the objective of providing a basic knowledge of the Malay language, in Sinhala, English and Tamil media, will take place at 9.30 a.m. on Sunday 10th February 2002 at the Public Library Auditorium, Colombo 7.

High Commissioner for Malaysia in Sri Lanka Iskandar Sarudin and Ambassador for the republic of Indonesia Mohamed Saleh will be the chief guests on this occasion.

Emran Deen, an artiste who has acted in many Sinhala Tele dramas and a producer of monthly Malay programs for Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation and Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation holds various positions in many Malay Associations in the island.

The author of the book Emran Deen says that this book was composed with the objective of providing a basic introduction and a knowledge of the Malay language to Malays, distributed all over the island as well as to people of other nationalities.

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