Met. Dept warns of proper water management

The onset of the Southwest Monsoon to Sri Lanka usually takes place during the third week of May each year. However in 2005, the monsoon established over Sri Lanka only around 29th of May. Under normal circumstances, during the first few weeks of its establishment, the monsoon is fairly active and results in heavy rain and strong winds over the southwestern part of the island. These adverse weather conditions usually result in disasters such as floods, earthslips and wind damage to parts of Galle, Matara, Colombo, Kalutara, Ratnapura, Kegalle and Nuwara Eliya districts during the months of May and June.

In 2005, however, there were only a very limited number of such events: minor floods in Galle and Kalutara during 28-29 May, strong winds at Ambalangoda on May 29 and minor earthslips during June 8-9 at Nawalapitiya. Hence the beginning of the Southwest Monsoon to Sri Lanka this year was gentle with no serious damages.

Although the early part of the monsoon causes damages, rain which occurs during this period particularly in the hydro-catchment areas is extremely important. Major hydroreservoirs situated in the western slopes of the central hills depend very heavily on these rains.

The total rainfall receive during the month of June is near average only in the districts of Colombo and Kalutara. In all the other districts, the values are below normal. The total rainfall received in the hydro-catchment areas during the period lies between 60-70% of the average.

During July and August, the monsoon is very likely to be comparatively less active in terms of rainfall. Furthermore, it is more likely to confine more to the southwestern parts of the country. Global forecast models too do not predict significantly heavy rainfall over Sri Lanka area during the next few months. Therefore, it is extremely necessary at this moment to properly manage water in order to minimize the consequences associated with water shortages, states a press release issued by the Department of Meteorology.