IWMI in Sri Lanka

Processing biomass from different waste streams into marketable products such as organic fertilizer and bio-energy is increasingly realized through public-private partnerships (PPPs). In developing countries, the private sector can be expected to contribute technical skills, organizational capabilities and marketing expertise, and leverage capital inflow. In contrast, the public sector will provide the regulatory framework and help its enforcement, plan public investment, involve and educate stakeholders, and ensure waste supply. This report reviews case studies that implemented PPPs in resource recovery and reuse (RRR) from waste streams with a particular focus on Asia and Africa, including those PPPs facilitated by the authors. Critical factors behind the success and failure of these cases are analyzed. The review indicates three key barriers to success: (i) waste-related bottlenecks, (ii) limited awareness about RRR products and their market(ing), and (iii) lack of proper institutional frameworks. Common shortfalls concern failure to meet commitments related to the quality and quantity of waste, missing understanding of the reuse market, etc. The report points out mitigation measures addressing possible challenges around appropriate technologies, finance and revenue streams, legal issues, as well as social and environmental concerns. It is required to establish close monitoring, appropriate procurement mechanisms and due diligence during the project preparation and pre-bid. If possible, such a PPP project should consider risk and commercial viability assessment as well as financial strategy planning (scaling). Successful involvement of the private sector in the RRR market is critical to close the resource loop and safeguard human and environmental health, which is the overarching objective of sustainable waste management.

Currently, in Sri Lanka, strategies to address FW prevention and reduction are being considered by different state and non-state stakeholders. However, in the current scenario, solutions for FW are mostly addressing (bio-)waste management. Quantifying FW is of paramount importance in understanding the magnitude and socio-economic as well as environmental impacts of the problem. A good understanding of the availability and quality of FW data is a prerequisite for tracking progress on reduction targets, analyzing environmental impacts, and exploring mitigation strategies for FLW (Xue et al., 2019). FW quantification aims at creating a robust evidence base for developing strategies, action plans, and policies towards FW prevention, reduction, and management as well as guide prioritization of actions, evaluation of solutions, and monitoring progress (CEC, 2019).

Food waste (FW) is a key challenge on the sustainable development agenda of countries worldwide. The lack of FW data and insights from its analysis about quantities, causes, and characteristics is a significant obstacle in implementing adequate reduction and prevention interventions for different sectors. The primary purpose of the case studies was to review FW prevention, reduction, and management initiatives. Lessons and best practices that enable and facilitate solutions were identified. Nine case studies were conducted targeting five sectors: food services (one restaurant and one hotel), wholesale markets (one fruits and vegetables wholesale market), retailers (one retail market, one retail shop, and one supermarket), caterers (one hospital), and households (five middle- and five high-income households). The case studies consisted of a FW audit that measured the amounts generated from various processes and identified drivers/causes and current best practices. Quantification involved physical separation, weighing, and categorizing the different food components. The separation classified quantities into edible and inedible portions. The study also focused on assessing the environmental and socio impacts, based on assessed and categorized FW quantities. FW is a complex phenomenon where the amount, causes and consequences are contextually different. It is not easy to compare and contrast country-level data and the individual actors in the same country. Therefore, the case study approach has been used in many FW-related studies. Multiple case studies can be expensive and time-consuming to implement. Under this study, we analyzed nine case studies targeting five sectors: food services (four restaurants, a dessert shop and one hotel), wholesale markets (one fruit and vegetable market ), retail markets (one supermarket, one fruit and vegetable retailer, one Dedicated Economic Center), caterers/institutional canteens (one hospital) and households (five middle-income households and five low-income households). Entities were selected based on willingness to participate and an actual FW reduction need.

This report explores and analyses the governance framework (i.e. policies, laws, and regulations) relevant to urban food waste (FW) prevention and reduction in the wholesale, retail, hospitality (restaurants, hotels), food services (schools, hospitals), and households in Sri Lanka. The project quot;Innovative approaches to reduce, recycle and reuse food waste in urban Sri Lankaquot; was implemented from June 2019 to August 2021 under the oversight of the Ministry of Urban Development and Housing and in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the International Water Management Institute (IWMI).

Economic crises take different forms and occur for various reasons, such as political conflicts and pandemics. What all these crises have in common is that they cause disruption to rural-urban food supply chains, resulting in food shortages for the urban poor, with the most direct impact being an increase in food prices. It is within this challenging context that we present empirical examples of the role of urban agriculture.

Exposure to metals has been hypothesized as possible cause of chronic kidney disease of unknown cause (CKDu) in Sri Lanka; however, evidence is inconclusive. We measured the concentrations of nephrotoxic metals (As, Pb, and Cd), as well as Se in rice (a staple grain in Sri Lanka) and other grains consumed in CKDu endemic and non-endemic regions using Inductively Coupled Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS). Our results showed comparable mean concentrations (in g/kg) of 24.518, 7.36.4, and 14.215 for As, Pb, and Cd, respectively, in rice from endemic regions and 17.74.7, 12.76.8, and 17.816 in rice from non-endemic regions. Selenium concentrations (in mg/kg) were 0.050.02 in rice cultivated in both endemic and non-endemic regions. Arsenic and Cd concentrations were significantly higher in rice compared to other grains, which themselves had higher Se than rice. All samples were below the Codex standards established for Cd (400 g/kg for rice; 100 g/kg for cereal grains), Pb (200 g/kg) and inorganic As (200 g/kg) for white rice. Our findings show that dietary exposure to low levels of As, Pb, Cd, and inadequate Se in staple grains cannot be clearly linked to CKDu, suggesting that the disease could be multifactorial. Additional research is needed to determine the contribution of other risk factors such as lifestyle habits and heat stress to plan preventive strategies for reducing CKDu health cases in Sri Lanka.

Kalu Ganga, a major tributary of Amban Ganga, is one of the perennial rivers of Sri Lanka. Also, Amban Ganga is a major tributary of Mahaweli Ganga. The Kalu Ganga starts from Knuckles mountains, and about 90% of the catchment is covered with forests. The Government of Sri Lanka constructed Kalu Ganga and Moragahakanda Reservoirs in 2014 to increase the water availability in Mahaweli Basin to improve the agricultural and drinking water benefits in several provinces. This study used the Soil Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) to simulate the hydrology of the Kalu Ganga catchment and estimate the daily streamflow series of the Kalu Ganga. The long-term mean annual flow of the Kalu Ganga at the dam site would be 196 MCM (equivalent to 6.24 m3/s) with a standard deviation of 57.5 MCM and coefficient of variation of 0.29. The mean annual catchment rainfall is 2763 mm, streamflow is 59%, and evapotranspiration is 33% of the rainfall. The Kalu Ganga catchment hydrology is dominated by the wet season rainfall, which governs the Kalu Ganga flow, where 89% of the annual flow volume is produced. Further, 67% of the flow volume is produced from November to January. The model results show that 89% of the annual average of streamflow is generated as baseflow, a feature of a perennial river. The high baseflow fraction is hydrologically favourable for the water availability of the catchment as this shows the utilizable quantity of water is high.

This chapter reviews and analyzes the Indian and Sri Lankan projects funded by the Green Climate Fund, emphasizing the Sri Lankan water projects. The GCFapos;s Sri Lanka projects focuses on water resources and security in two regions: The Northeastern village irrigation with village tanks project and the Knuckles Mountain Range water project. We provide an initial analysis of these projects concerning several indicators: efficient public intervention, water and agricultural impacts, paddy yield impacts, and socio-political institutions.

This study is oriented towards the investigation of the spatiotemporal variability of the lightning activity over the railway network in Sri Lanka using -lightning data from 1998 to 2014 that were downloaded from the database of Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS) onboard NASA’s Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM). The study has also been extended to study the lightning activity over the proposed suburban railway electrification network. GIS was used to conduct an annual and seasonal analysis of the railway network, which consists of nine major railway lines, to identify vulnerable stations and segments. The average annual lightning flash density over a 1447 km-long railway network of Sri Lanka varies between 5.08–16.58 flashes/(km2 year). The railway lines run across the western and southern regions of the country have been identified as being in areas with higher lightning activity. In comparison to other railway lines, the Kelani Valley line in the Colombo district and Colombo-Maradana to Polgahawela segment of the Mainline are particularly vulnerable to lightning activity. These areas have also been recognized as regions with higher population density. The proposed 102 km long railway electrification network in Sri Lanka is also within higher population density segments, with higher lightning flash density values between 10.55–16.53 flashes/(km2 year). As a result, to improve the operational efficiency of the proposed electrification network, a fully coordinated lightning protection system in accordance with the findings of this study is strongly suggested.

Drought is a complex phenomenon affecting agricultural, environmental, water resources, and socio-economic systems in developing regions. Climate change is going to increase the frequency and intensity of drought events and the associated socio-economic impact, including that on the food security among marginal smallholder farmers. For timely early action, it is important to have robust drought monitoring and warning in place to determine the timely drought situation to assist end-users for the decision-making process. Spatialtemporal remote sensing data provides crucial information on near real-time drought monitoring and early warning. The present study developed a composite index, i.e., Integrated Drought Severity Index (IDSI) that combines inputs from rainfall, vegetation, and temperature to determine agricultural drought progression, intensity, and frequency for entire Sri Lanka between 2001 and 2019. The study has successfully identified 10 drought events of which 2001, 2012, 2017, and 2019 reported severe droughts across the two rainy seasons, namely Yala (May–August) and Maha (October–March). We analyzed various indices meteorological drought Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) and field-based rice Crop Yield Anomaly Index (CYA). It is evident from the study that the Yala season reported more drought events compared to the Maha season due to changes in monsoon onset and duration and its seasonal variability. The correlation coefficient for SPI with IDSI is 0.70 and IDSI with CYA is 0.68, which explains the reliability of drought monitoring information across Sri Lanka. In terms of sub-national drought events, the North, North Central, North Eastern, Eastern, and South Eastern Provinces which cover the majority of the dry zone of Sri Lanka and districts such as Anuradhapura, Monaragala, Polonnaruwa, Hambantota, Trincomalee, and Ampara are highly prone to agricultural drought impacting agricultural production and the vulnerable rural population. From the basin analysis, both Yan Oya and Malwathu Oya (Aruri Aru) are reported to have severe drought events, which highlights the need for timely action using satellite-derived agricultural drought monitoring to mitigate drought risks and reduce food insecurity.

Using farm animals for their natural capability of “recycling” food waste (FW) that is unfit for direct human consumption can support a circular economy as shown in the case of Sri Lanka’s Western Province. The reuse of organic residues including FW as animal feed is a traditional agricultural practice in Sri Lanka but is less studied within an urban FW context. A survey of piggeries using FW in and around the rapidly urbanizing city of Colombo showed that FW is a major feed source in the farms accounting for on average 82% of total feed. About 40% of the farms collected the FW mainly from hotels, restaurants, and institutional canteens. Urban FW is supplied to farmers free of charge when collected directly from the sources, although 26% of the farmers collected FW via intermediaries against a fee. As FW is collected daily, the restaurants appreciate the reliable service, the farmers the low-cost feed, and the municipality the reduced FW volumes to be collected. However, this triple-win situation encounters challenges such as (tourist related) seasonal low supply, which was exacerbated under the Covid-19 lockdown of food services. Another area of concern refers to biosafety. Although the large majority of interviewed farmers boil FW which contains raw meat or fish, there is a paucity of related guidelines and control. Given the benefits of FW use, it is worthwhile to explore how far these informal partnerships could be scaled without increasing transport costs for farmers, while introducing biosafety monitoring. For now, the regulatory environment is highly siloed and does not support material transitions across sector boundaries towards a circular economy.

This paper illustrates an approach to measuring economic benefits and ecological and social impacts of various configurations of reservoir systems for basin-wide planning. It suggests indicators and examines their behavior under several reservoir arrangement scenarios using two river basins in Sri Lanka as examples. A river regulation index is modified to take into account the volume of flow captured by reservoirs and their placement and type. Indices of connectivity illustrate that the lowest river connectivity in a basin results from a single new reservoir placed on the main stem of a previously unregulated river between the two locations that command 50% and 75% of the basin area. The ratio of the total affected population to the total number of beneficiaries is shown to increase as the cumulative reservoir capacity in a river basin increases. An integrated index comparing the performance of different reservoir system configurations shows that while results differ from basin to basin, the cumulative effects of a large number of small reservoirs may be comparable to those with a few large reservoirs, especially at higher storage capacities.

Implementing a circular economy approach to sanitation requires knowledge of the costs to construct, operate and maintain resource-oriented systems. Yet the dearth of data on costs of urban sanitation in general, and resource-oriented systems in particular, limit opportunities to progress sustainable sanitation in low- and middle-income countries. This paper contributes empirical data on the life-cycle costs of a resource-oriented sanitation system in urban Sri Lanka, addressing a gap in evidence about how much it costs, and who pays, for a system that integrates fecal sludge management with nutrient capture and reuse. Costs across the system life-cycle were analyzed according to: (i) cost type; (ii) phases of the sanitation chain; and (iii) distribution between actors. Over a 25-year lifespan, the system had an annualized cost of USD 2.8/person or USD 11/m3 of septage treated. Revenue from co-compost sales covered reuse-related costs plus 8% of present value costs for other phases of the sanitation chain. Findings affirm both the potential for resource-oriented sanitation to generate revenue, and the need for substantial complementary investment in the overall system. The system was found to be reliant on household investment, yet financially viable from the service provider perspective with revenue from desludging services (89%) and co-compost sales (11%) that exceeded costs over the system lifespan and in most years. The analysis of total costs, financial perspectives, and reuse specifics contributes critical evidence to inform policy and planning that supports a purposeful and equitable transition towards circular economy approaches to sanitation.

Sri Lanka has no water scarcity within the country, and per capita, water availability is adequate to cater for the country’s estimated peak population. Nevertheless, the frequent variability of spatial and temporal water availability and extreme events have built up a water scarcity in Sri Lanka, which has been observed during the last two to three decades. Therefore, effective and efficient water governance is most important in today’s context, and regular review and amendment of policies, laws, and regulations are crucial to mitigate water scarcity. Although a few attempts were initiated, none of them succeeded. In this study, historical and present water governance mechanisms, including coordinating mechanisms and implementing water management agencies in Sri Lanka, were comprehensively reviewed. Further, the previously proposed water policies, their status and reasons for the failures of policies were discussed. Finally, the formulation of a novel institutional arrangement or altering the existing institutional arrangement with shared data and allocating non-shared responsibilities to each institution is suggested for better water governance in Sri Lanka.

With the increasing population and accelerated urbanization, demands for water are rising for different sectors around the world, including in South Asia. Integrated water resource management (IWRM) offers a promising potential to address multifaceted water demands. This study therefore aimed to address this issue by (i) reviewing key issues related to water, land, and food in South Asian countries, (ii) exploring the prevalent irrigation management strategies in those countries, and (iii) examining the IWRM situation based on a Nepalese case study, and it proposes some options to support effective implementation of IWRM. South Asia, the home to 24% of the worldapos;s population with only 15% and 7% of the worldapos;s arable and permanent crop land and water resources, respectively, is the worst-affected region in the world from undernourishment. Surface irrigation is the dominant irrigation application method in the region, which incurs high water losses due to the lack of flexible water control structures in canal networks. The Nepalese case study revealed a lack of clear institutional arrangements to implement IWRM and disparate and conflicting views about IWRM. Creation and strengthening of basin-level water user organizations, technological improvements, and awareness-raising activities are some potential ways forward to implement IWRM.

This paper addresses the questions of acceptable upper limits for storage development and how best to deploy storage capacity in the long-term planning of built surface water storage in river basins. Storage-yield curves are used to establish sustainable storage development pathways and limits for a basin under a range of environmental flow release scenarios. Optimal storage distribution at a sub-basin level, which complies with an identified storage development pathway, can also be estimated. Two new indices are introduced—Water Supply Sustainability and Environmental Flow Sustainability—to help decide which pathways and management strategies are the most appropriate for a basin. Average pathways and conservative and maximum storage limits are illustrated for two example basins. Conservative and maximum withdrawal limits from storage are in the range of 45–50% and 60–65% of the mean annual runoff. The approach can compare the current level of basin storage with an identified pathway and indicate which parts of a basin are over- or under-exploited. A global storage–yield–reliability relationship may also be developed using statistics of annual basin precipitation to facilitate water resource planning in ungauged basins.

Analysis of long-term rainfall trends provides a wealth of information on effective crop planning and water resource management, and a better understanding of climate variability over time. This study reveals the spatial variability of rainfall trends in Sri Lanka from 1989 to 2019 as an indication of climate change. The exclusivity of the study is the use of rainfall data that provide spatial variability instead of the traditional location-based approach. Henceforth, daily rainfall data available at Climate Hazards Group InfraRed Precipitation corrected with stations (CHIRPS) data were used for this study. The geographic information system (GIS) is used to perform spatial data analysis on both vector and raster data. Sen’s slope estimator and the Mann–Kendall (M–K) test are used to investigate the trends in annual and seasonal rainfall throughout all districts and climatic zones of Sri Lanka. The most important thing reflected in this study is that there has been a significant increase in annual rainfall from 1989 to 2019 in all climatic zones (wet, dry, intermediate, and Semi-arid) of Sri Lanka. The maximum increase is recorded in the wet zone and the minimum increase is in the semi-arid zone. There could be an increased risk of floods in the southern and western provinces in the future, whereas areas in the eastern and southeastern districts may face severe droughts during the northeastern monsoon. It is advisable to introduce effective drought and flood management and preparedness measures to reduce the respective hazard risk levels.

Until recently, households in the most chronic kidney disease-affected rural areas of Sri Lanka used untreated groundwater for drinking and cooking, but, by 2018, that share was only 35%. About 50% of households consume water treated by reverse osmosis; others rely on piped water, water delivery by tanker and rainwater harvesting. Based on a new and representative survey of 1500 households, households’ propensities to treat drinking water and adopt improved water sources are shown to be associated with their perceptions of water safety and trust in the institutions that provide alternatives to untreated well water.

Drought is an almost annual phenomenon in Sri Lanka, occurring at varying degrees of severity and affecting many parts of the country. These droughts cause significant damage to agriculture and other economic and social activities. This paper assesses the effectiveness of satellite-based weather Index insurance (WII) bundled with real-time climate and agronomic advisory services provided to farmers’ mobile phones. The aim is to enhance the drought resilience of diverse groups of farmers by providing solutions and strategies to extend bundled insurance products to more people and address equity issues. In this pilot, an insurance product was introduced to farmers in a village in the North Central Dry Zone of Sri Lanka. WII products are seen as a part of the solution to reducing farmers’ risk to climate change. However, in many places, the structure of insurance schemes in the agriculture sector has failed to reach small-scale and marginal farmers who are most in need of risk transfer mechanisms. Based on a farmer survey, we extracted lessons from implementing a bundled insurance scheme as a pilot project to explore the utility of farmer organizations as an entry point for engaging different farmer groups and ensuring they can understand the WII insurance products and can make informed choices. The survey results show that efforts made at the outset to understand contextual issues and challenges contributed to an effective product design and rollout approach. The rollout was more effective due in part to a partnership with an established local organization while adopting an aggregator model. Covid-19 mobility restrictions prevented full implementation of the rollout. Index insurance bundled with mobile weather and agronomic advisories increased farmer resilience and reached diverse groups. Farmers emphasized that being able to assess the costs and benefits based on understanding how key elements of the product work is key to their future engagement with such products, which highlights the importance of investing in awareness raising through a blend of print, verbal and visual tools that make complex products understandable to stakeholders with low levels of literacy.

Sustainable management of municipal solid waste (MSW) is a critical issue around the world, especially in South Asia where waste generation is expected to double by 2050. Closing the food-nutrient cycle through composting biodegradable MSW has the potential to meet human needs, including sanitation and food security, while protecting the environment. We use an interdisciplinary case study approach including systems thinking to assess Sri Lanka’s national MSW composting system, which primarily receives residential and commercial food waste. We embed quantitative compost quality analysis and interviews at 20 composting facilities within a broader qualitative assessment informed by ~60 stakeholders in total. This approach yields insights on how institutional, economic, social, and biophysical aspects of the system are interrelated, and how challenges and solutions can create undesirable and desirable cascading effects, respectively. Such dynamics can create risks of composting facility failure and unintended consequences, diminishing the chances of achieving a sustainable circular food–nutrient system. Compost quality, which was variable, plays a pivotal role within the system—a function of program design and implementation, as well as a determinant of value capture in a circular economy. We make several recommendations to inform future efforts to sustainably manage biodegradable MSW using composting, drawing on our case study of Sri Lanka and prior case studies from other nations. Key among these is the need for increased emphasis on compost product quality and markets in policy and program design and implementation. Targeted measures are needed to improve waste separation, boost compost quality, effectively use compost standards, encourage compost market development, ringfence the revenues generated at municipal compost plants, and identify efficient modes of compost distribution. Such measures require adequate space and infrastructure for composting, resource investment, local expertise to guide effective system management, strong links with the agriculture sector, and continued political support.

The use of food waste (FW) from food services as animal feed through informal agreements has been in practice for many years in Sri Lanka. However, data to show the scale of this practice are inadequate. This paper aims to study the extent of FW diverted to piggeries and the opportunities and challenges in reusing FW as animal feed. The data were collected via telephonic survey from 24 piggery farmers in the Western Province in May 2020. Results revealed that 50% of farmers were rearing 100-300 pigs. Farmers used FW as a major feed source to satisfy 82% of total feed requirement on an average. About 40% of the farmers collected the FW from multiple sources such as hotels, restaurants and canteens. Given that the piggery farms are located in peri-urban areas, the average distance traveled by the farmers is 38 km up and down which indicated the value of FW for them. FW was supplied mostly free of charge; however, 26% of the farmers pay LKR 2 to 40/kg when supplied by intermediaries. FW was collected daily, and the amount collected by the farmers varies 50 to 10000 kg/day depending on demand and supply, with 75% of farmers collected less than 1000 kg/day.

This paper assesses how the Huruluwewa tank (HWT) irrigation system in the North Central Province of Sri Lanka adapts to climate variability. The lessons learned in the HWT will be helpful for many water-scarce irrigation systems in the country, which bear high climate risks. Recurrent droughts are the bane of agriculture in the Dry Zone, comprising three-fourths of the land area spread over the Northern, North Central and Eastern provinces. In the HWT, the fifteenth largest canal irrigation system in the country, adaptation to climate variability happens on several fronts: changes made by the irrigation management to the water release regime; changes in the cropping patterns practiced by farmers in the command area; and the use of groundwater, which is recharged from rainfall, reservoir storage and canal irrigation, as supplemental irrigation. Such adaptation measures ensure that the available water supply in the reservoir is adequate for 100% cropping intensity over two cropping seasons, even in drought years, and enhances economic water productivity in terms of value per unit of consumptive water use. Moreover, irrigation management should consider groundwater recharge through canal irrigation as a resource, which brings substantial agricultural and economic benefits not only for the command area but also outside the command area. The adaptation patterns implemented in HWT demonstrate how water-scarce irrigation systems can achieve higher economic water productivity, i.e., generate ‘more income per drop’ to enhance climate resilience for people in and outside the canal command areas.

In 2019, Sri Lanka introduced two policies that referred to food waste and the need to reduce it. To understand key stakeholders’ readiness in this context, this study analyzed the food waste perceptions of private and public sectors in Colombo (open markets, supermarkets, hotels, restaurants, canteens, food caterers and key authorities). Interviews were carried out with operational managers and public officials, as well as other stakeholders who have roles in food waste redistribution and reuse, such as NGOs and the livestock sector. So far, the food-waste-related policy recommendations lack an operational inter-institutional home which can build on measures, like standards, regulations and incentives. Thus, most food waste reduction initiatives are initiated by NGOs or by the private sector, e.g., by larger hotels and supermarket chains. These entities were ready to lead by example, based on the understanding that urban food waste is an internal (financial) management challenge. Among smaller local entities, food waste was perceived more as an external issue to be handled by the city’s waste collection services. Although perceptions varied between entities generating smaller or larger quantities of food waste, there was general agreement that suboptimal capacities and mechanisms to quantify, monitor and cost food waste generation appeared to be obstacles for in-depth awareness creation and action. There was significant interest in communication platforms for cross-sectoral learning, win/win collaborations with reliable collection (reuse) services that are currently operational, such as those provided by piggeries, as well as surplus redistribution initiatives if food safety and related liabilities can be addressed effectively.

For Sri Lanka, as an agricultural country, a methodical drought monitoring mechanism, including spatial and temporal variations, may significantly contribute to its agricultural sustainability. Investigating long-term meteorological and agricultural drought occurrences in Sri Lanka and assessing drought hazard at the district level are the main objectives of the study. Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI), Rainfall Anomaly Index (RAI), and Vegetation Health Index (VHI) were used as drought indicators to investigate the spatial and temporal distribution of agriculture and meteorological droughts. Climate Hazards Group Infrared Precipitation with Stations (CHIRPS) data from 1989 to 2019 was used to calculate SPI and RAI. MOD13A1 and MOD11A2 data from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) from 2001 to 2019, were used to generate the Vegetation Condition Index (VCI) and Temperature Condition Index (TCI). Agricultural drought monitoring was done using VHI and generated using the spatial integration of VCI and TCI. Thus, various spatial data analysis techniques were extensively employed for vector and raster data integration and analysis. A methodology has been developed for the drought declaration of the country using the VHI-derived drought area percentage. Accordingly, for a particular year, if the country-wide annual extreme and severe drought area percentage based on VHI drought classes is =30%, it can be declared as a drought year. Moreover, administrative districts of Sri Lanka were classified into four hazard classes, No drought, Low drought, Moderate drought, and High drought, using the natural-beak classification scheme for both agricultural and meteorological droughts. The findings of this study can be used effectively by the relevant decision-makers for drought risk management (DRM), resilience, sustainable agriculture, and policymaking.

Urbanisation will be one of the 21st centuryapos;s most transformative trends. By 2050, it will increase from 55% to 68%, more than doubling the urban population in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. Urbanisation has multifarious (positive as well as negative) impacts on the wellbeing of humans and the environment. The 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) form the blueprint to achieve a sustainable future for all. Clean Water and Sanitation is a specific goal (SDG 6) within the suite of 17 interconnected goals. Here we provide an overview of some of the challenges that urbanisation poses in relation to SDG 6, especially in developing economies. Worldwide, several cities are on the verge of water crisis. Water distribution to informal settlements or slums in megacities (e.g. N50% population in the megacities of India) is essentially non-existent and limits access to adequate safe water supply. Besides due to poor sewer connectivity in the emerging economies, there is a heavy reliance on septic tanks, and other on-site sanitation (OSS) system and by 2030, 4.9 billion people are expected to rely on OSS. About 62–93% of the urban population in Vietnam, Sri Lanka, the Philippines and Indonesia rely on septic tanks, where septage treatment is rare. Globally, over 80% of wastewater is released to the environment without adequate treatment. About 11% of all irrigated croplands is irrigated with such untreated or poorly treated wastewater. In addition to acute and chronic health effects, this also results in significant pollution of often-limited surface and groundwater resources in Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. Direct and indirect water reuse plays a key role in global water and food security. Here we offer several suggestions to mitigate water and food insecurity in emerging economies.

This paper examines whether there are systematic differences in the historical behaviors of households that are affected and unaffected by chronic kidney disease (CKD) in Sri Lanka pertaining to their water source choices, water treatment practices, and agrochemical use. This analysis is motivated by the Sri Lankan government’s largest policy response to this epidemic – to encourage communities to switch from untreated well water to publicly provided alternatives. We use recall methods to elicit information on the drinking water source and treatment choices of households over an 18-year period from 2000– 2017. Our analysis is based on a survey of 1497 rural ground-water dependent households in the most CKD-affected areas of the 10 districts of Sri Lanka with the highest prevalence of CKD. Our main findings are that (a) households that have ever used a pump to extract (typically deep) drinking water from a household well are more likely to be affected by CKD; (b) we fail to find a relationship between disease status and households’ use of buckets to extract (typically shallow) groundwater from their wells; and (c) those who have ever treated their shallow well water by boiling it are less likely to be affected by CKD. We also find that a greater share of CKD affected households historically used agrochemicals, used wells that were geographically removed from surface water sources, and displayed lower proxies of wealth. The implications of these findings are fourfold. First, since the systematic differences in the historical patterns of water sources and treatments used by CKD affected and non-affected households are modest, the sources of water and the treatment practices themselves may not be the sole risk factors in developing CKD. Second, although we find a negative association between boiling water and the probability of CKD, it is not obvious that a public policy campaign to promote boiling water is an appropriate response. Third, the hydrochemistry of deep and shallow well water needs to be better understood in order to shed light on the positive relationship between deep well water and disease status, and on why boiling shallow but not deep well water is associated with a lower probability of CKD. Fourth, there is a need for a deeper understanding of other risk factors and of the efficacy of preventative programs that provide alternative sources of household drinking water.

Purpose: The need to increase women’s access to extension has been extensively discussed. This paper assesses women’s access to extension services through the Plantwise extension approach as a baseline for future comparison of women’s access through other extension approaches. It also assesses whether crops that men and women farmers seek plant health advice on are similar or not, and attempts to disperse assumptions that continue to be made about what crops women and men grow. Approach: We analysed data from the Plantwise Online Management System for 13 countries using descriptive and inferential statistics. Findings: We show that the Plantwise extension approach enables higher levels of women’s access than generally reported for agricultural extension, that the crops that women and men seek extension advice on is not gender dependent, and there are few clear distinctions between their crops of interest. Practical implications: There is limited literature studying gender inclusiveness in different extension approaches. The findings add to the documentation of assessing women’s access to demand-driven extension. Theoretical implications: Plantwise is a new extension approach which needs to be assessed from spatial and temporal perspectives to understand whether demand-driven extension enables increased women’s access over time. Originality/value: Extension service provision is often based on assumptions about what crops are being grown. Small studies have challenged these assumptions, but this large dataset enables us to test these assumptions more thoroughly across 13 countries adding to the weight of evidence against the existence of women’s and men’s crops.

Over the last decade, the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) has explored the use of fecal sludge (FS) in combination with other organic waste sources to optimize FS treatment and composting for the production of a safe organic fertilizer, which can – depending on demand – be enriched with crop nutrients or pelletized for volume reduction, delayed decomposition or easier application. Based on IWMI’s experience, this training manual has been compiled for plant managers and trainers to help ensure that staff involved in FS treatment and production, and application of an FS-based co-compost adopt best practices in all processes involved. The manual can be adapted to local needs as required. It also includes information on compost registration and certification, as well as guidelines for co-compost application in the field.

Chunnakam aquifer is the main limestone aquifer of Jaffna Peninsula. The population of the Jaffna Peninsula depends entirely on groundwater resources to meet all of their water requirements. Thus for protecting groundwater quality in Chunnakam aquifer, data on spatial and temporal distribution are important. Geostatistics methods are one of the most advanced techniques for interpolation of groundwater quality. In this study, Ordinary Kriging and IDW methods were used for predicting spatial distribution of some groundwater characteristics such as: Electrical Conductivity (EC), pH, nitrate as nitrogen, chloride, calcium, carbonate, bicarbonate, sulfate and sodium concentration. Forty four wells were selected to represent the entire Chunnakam aquifer during January, March, April, July and October 2011 to represent wet and dry season within a year. After normalization of data, variogram was computed. Suitable model for fitness on experimental variogram was selected based on less Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) value. Then the best method for interpolation was selected, using cross validation and RMSE. Results showed that for all groundwater quality, Ordinary Kriging performed better than IDW method to simulate groundwater quality. Finally, using Ordinary Kriging method, maps of groundwater quality were prepared for studied groundwater quality in Chunnakam aquifer. The result of Ordinary Kriging interpolation showed that higher EC, chloride, sulphate and sodium concentrations are clearly shown to be more common closer to the coast, and decreasing inland due to intrusion of seawater into the Chunnakam aquifer. Also higher NO3 - - N are observed in intensified agricultural areas of Chunnakam aquifer in Jaffna Peninsula.

Since at least two decades, Chronic Kidney Disease of Uncertain Etiology (CKDu) has become an increasingly discussed health issue in Sri Lanka and as well as in other tropical regions. Areas that are particularly affected with the disease are mostly located in the dry zone of Sri Lanka. The disease is more prominent among communities that consume groundwater as their main source of drinking water. Hydrogeochemical investigations were carried out in the Ginnoruwa area, a known hotspot of CKDu. It revealed possible links between drinking water chemistry and the spreading of the disease. This work compares hydrogeochemical data of drinking water sources of wells whose consumers are affected by CKDu and other nearby wells whose consumers were not affected by the disease. A total of 63 groundwater samples were collected from selected wells. About one-third of these samples (i.e., 19) were collected from wells used by CKDu patients. Significantly higher values of pH, total hardness, electrical conductivity, Ca2+, Mg2+, F-, Cl-, PO4 3-, and SO4 2- were found in wells that were used by CKDu patients. Mean contents of Na+, Ca2+, and Mg2+ in CKDu affected wells were 33.8 mg/L, 30.1 mg/L, and 14.9 mg/L, respectively, compared to 23.1 mg/L, 26.7 mg/L, and 9.65 mg/L in non-CKDu wells. Differences in major ion geochemistry in groundwaters are possibly governed by variable time periods of water storage in fractured hard rock aquifers in this region. Hydrogeochemical parameters were statistically compared by a Mann–Whitney U test and indicated significant differences in total dissolved solids (TDS) (p=0.016), SO4 2- (p=0.005), PO4 3- (p=0.030), F- (p=0.048), Na+ (p=0.008), and Mg2+(p=0.008) between non-CKDu and CKDu wells at p=0.050 level. Other suspected solutes such as nephrotoxic trace elements including As, Cd, and Pb were similar in both types of wells. They were also lower than the accepted guideline limits of the World Health Organization (WHO). Results of this study suggest that fluoride in drinking water in combination with water hardness may be one of the responsible factors for kidney damage and progression of the disease. This may be particularly the case when elevated amounts of Mg2+ are present in hard groundwater.

This analysis provides new estimates of chronic kidney disease (CKD) prevalence – including CKD of unknown etiology (CKDu) – across ten districts most affected by CKD in Sri Lanka, including an examination of rural householdsapos; historical reliance on groundwater consumption. A carefully designed household survey provides information on whether these households self-reported having a member in the decade prior to 2018, who had been clinically diagnosed with CKD. Households were classified according to whether or not they had used groundwater (from household wells, agro-wells or springs) as their primary source for drinking or cooking for at least five years between 1999 and 2018. More than 98% of households reported having consumed groundwater as their primary source of drinking or cooking water for at least five of those years and gt;15% of households reported having at least one CKD-affected member in the ten-year period up to 2018, but these numbers varied across and within districts. The reported characteristics of symptomatic individuals reveal that the incidence of CKD was significantly higher among females (62%) than males (38%). In addition to CKD, about 63% of symptomatic individuals had hypertension and about one-third of them also had diabetes. About 33% of the symptomatic individuals had neither diabetes nor hypertension, where this group most closely fits commonly used definitions of CKDu. With a survey response of over 8000 households comprising as many as 30,000 individuals, these data illustrate the scale of CKD in the most-affected districts of Sri Lanka on an aggregate basis as well as revealing differences across districts and at the sub-district level.

In low- and middle-income countries, the management of fecal sludge from on-site sanitation systems has received little attention over many decades, resulting in insufficient or missing regulations to guide investments and management options. To address this gap, this report examines existing and emerging guidelines and regulations for fecal sludge management (FSM) along the sanitation service chain (user interface, containment, emptying, transport, treatment, valorization, reuse or disposal). It also draws empirical examples from guidelines across the globe to support policy-makers, planners, and sanitation and health officers, as well as consultants in low- and middle-income countries in the development and design of local and national FSM guidelines and regulations.

A reliable supply of water is critical for agricultural intensification and yield improvement. Technological devices that lift, transport and apply water contribute to increased yield from improved crop varieties and high input cultivation. The increasing use of motor pumps is a significant contribution to the development of small-scale irrigation. The objective of this study was to identify and analyze the trajectories of technological innovations and uptake for agricultural water management in farming systems in Sri Lanka, with a special focus on identifying impacts, emerging issues and potential responses to the rapid proliferation of motor pumps in the intensification of agriculture in the country. The Government of Sri Lanka promoted the rapid adoption of water pumps through interventions such as the development of groundwater wells for agriculture; provision of subsidies and credit facilities for purchasing micro-irrigation equipment; and government policies on tax, tariffs and extension support. At the same time, the high profit margin realized from cash crop cultivation motivated farmers to invest in water lifting and related technologies. Finally, water scarcity and restrictions on the use of surface water, i.e., canals, prompted a shift to using water-lifting technologies to pump groundwater. The use of water pumps in agriculture has expanded the area under cultivation; increased cropping intensity, especially during the dry seasons; changed the cropping pattern from low-return rice cultivation to high-return cash crop cultivation; and enhanced household incomes. Expanded and intensified cultivation has provided more opportunities for women to participate in agriculture, generating additional income, and enhancing their purchasing power and decision-making at the household level. Some farmers do not have groundwater wells and water pumps because they lack the necessary capital to make the initial investment. Smallholder farmers, in particular, are reluctant to risk their limited income on new technologies. This may lead to the further marginalization of poor farmers. Inclusive intensification will require helping farmers to access irrigation technology, for example, through carefully targeted subsidies and access to credit. Using water pumps can provide benefits to both users and non-users, but uncontrolled groundwater extraction may also create new problems by putting enormous pressure on common property resources. The government will need to take on a dual role to both promote the inclusive growth of small-scale irrigation, and to prevent and mitigate its negative environmental impacts. This second role may include establishing a regulatory system, setting standards for well construction, and monitoring and enforcing standards on extraction and water quality. There is an urgent need for institutional measures and governance arrangements to guide and regulate groundwater irrigation, especially in the context of intensive cultivation us

Farmers in Minor Irrigation Systems (MIS) experience many difficulties due to severe seasonal or year-round absolute water scarcity that affects their livelihoods. In order to address this problem, the resilience of the vulnerable communities needs to be enhanced through smart investments and appropriate adaptation strategies. Since there is no well-established method for assessing the resilience of the farmers in MIS, this study was aimed to develop a framework and prospective methodology to assess resilience and factors determining the resilience to shocks and stresses of MIS. A structured questionnaire survey was carried out among 188 households belong to eight farmer organizations under 16 MIS located in three Agrarian Service Divisions in the IL3 agro-ecological region in Kurunegala District. The resilience of farming was measured using adaptive capacity or the risk management strategies used at household levels related to farming practices using 20 indicators. Analysis of factors was performed with the principle component method and rotated (from Varimax with Kaiser Normalization technique) factor loadings were extracted to compute resilience index. Using the empirical equation derived from the study, the resilience of MIS was quantitatively determined. The results showed that there is an adequate space to enhance the resilience of farming in MIS by introducing and adapting various risk management strategies. It appears that capacity of the tank, accessibility of services and the trust of farmers both on farmer organizations and the agency officials are some of the key factors which govern the resilience of farming in MIS.

Storage of surface water is widely regarded as a form of insurance against rainfall variability. However, creation of surface storage often endanger the functions of natural ecosystems, and, in turn, ecosystem services that bene t humans. The issues of optimal size, placement and the number of reservoirs in a river basin – which maximizes sustainable bene ts from storage – remain subjects for debate. This study examines the above issues through the analysis of a range of reservoir con gurations in the Malwatu Oya river basin in the dry zone of Sri Lanka. The study produced multiple surface storage development pathways for the basin under different scenarios of environmental ow (EF) releases and reservoir network con gurations. The EF scenarios ranged from “zero” to “very healthy” releases. It is shown that if the “middle ground” between the two extreme EF scenarios is considered, the theoretical maximum “safe” yield from surface storage is about 65–70% of the mean annual runoff (MAR) of the basin. It is also identi ed that although distribution of reservoirs in the river network reduces the cumulative yield from the basin, this cumulative yield is maximized if the ratio among the storage capacities placed in each sub drainage basin is equivalent to the ratio among their MAR. The study suggests a framework to identify drainage regions having higher surface storage potential, to plan for the right distribution of storage capacity within a river basin, as well as to plan for EF allocations.

Overall high annual precipitation in Sri Lanka belies significant spatial and temporal variation in surface water availability. The ‘dry zone’ comprising two-third of Sri Lanka’s land area receives significantly less rainfall and has high precipitation rates and a five-month dry season. Nevertheless, these regions account for the majority of rice production, the staple crop, thanks largely to the ancient hydraulic civilization based on networks of rainwater harvesting (irrigation) tanks. This manipulation of surface water resources including modern surface irrigation schemes continues to form the backbone of dry zone farming. Groundwater irrigation has remained in the shadows except in the North where surface flows are absent. This scenario is now changing as population growth; poorly maintained infrastructure; commercial agriculture; sectoral competition for water and climate change combine to exert severe pressure on surface water resources. Since the dry zone is also home to a large number of Sri Lanka’s poor households, and a close association exists between high poverty clusters and access to irrigation, the implications of water insecurity for a range of poverty indicators are clear. Not surprisingly, these pressures have prompted an increasing recourse to groundwater in several parts of the dry zone, as governments and farmers recognize the imperative to increase agriculture output, promote crop diversification, and improve agrarian incomes. Yet, with limited groundwater potential, limited detailed knowledge of this resource, and under-developed groundwater-oriented institutions, it is far from certain whether future groundwater exploitation can steer away from anarchy.

Critical information on a flood-affected area is needed in a short time frame to initiate rapid response operations and develop long-term flood management strategies. This study combined rainfall trend analysis using Asian Precipitation—Highly Resolved Observational Data Integration towards Evaluation of Water Resources (APHRODITE) gridded rainfall data with flood maps derived from Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) and multispectral satellite to arrive at holistic spatio-temporal patterns of floods in Sri Lanka. Advanced Land Observing Satellite Phased Array type L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (ALOS PALSAR) data were used to map flood extents for emergency relief operations while eight-day Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) surface reflectance data for the time period from 2001 to 2016 were used to map long term flood-affected areas. The inundation maps produced for rapid response were published within three hours upon the availability of satellite imagery in web platforms, with the aim of supporting a wide range of stakeholders in emergency response and flood relief operations. The aggregated time series of flood extents mapped using MODIS data were used to develop a flood occurrence map (2001–2016) for Sri Lanka. Flood hotpots identified using both optical and synthetic aperture average of 325 km2 for the years 2006–2015 and exceptional flooding in 2016 with inundation extent of approximately 1400 km2. The time series rainfall data explains increasing trend in the extreme rainfall indices with similar observation derived from satellite imagery. The results demonstrate the feasibility of using multi-sensor flood mapping approaches, which will aid Disaster Management Center (DMC) and other multi-lateral agencies involved in managing rapid response operations and preparing mitigation measures.

Capturing inundation extent by floods is indispensable for decision making for mitigating hazard. Satellite images have commonly been used for flood mapping, but there are limitations such as unavailability due to satellite’s orbital period or cloud cover. Additionally, it would also be beneficial for policy makers to figure out the impact of water management measures such as water storage options on flood mitigation and irrigation water strengthening. Utilization of flood inundation models would support providing information for these demands. In this study, the rainfall–runoff inundation (RRI) model was applied in a flood-prone basin in eastern Sri Lanka, and its applicability was discussed. The RRI model was capable of simulating discharge and inundation extent during flood events, although it should be noted that the model had been calibrated targeting only the flooding period. Satellite-observed rainfall data corrected with a scale factor were able to be used as the model input to simulate long-term trends in runoff just as well as when gauged rainfall data were applied. The calibrated model was also capable of evaluating flood mitigation effects of existing and proposed water storage options by simulating discharge with and without flood capture operations. By reproducing long-term inflow to the storage facilities using satellite rainfall data, it was possible to determine that water would reach the maximum level of the proposed storage facilities even during low-rainfall years.

This report is the result of the implementation of an assessment methodology for Colombo and its city region food system (CRFS). Colombo stands as a unique city in Sri Lanka due to the complexity of its socio-demographic profile and the diverse food items that arrive through multiple channels. The busy and complex lifestyle of its inhabitants, together with the floating population of the city, creates a high demand for catering services that supply prepared food for direct consumption. In addition, the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) acts as the national hub for imported food items and the regional hub for vegetable and fruit. As a result, Colombo has one of the most complex food systems in Sri Lanka. The aims of the CRFS assessment include: to better understand the functioning the Colombo food system; to examine the current and future constraints on food security and safety, with respect to the challenges of urban growth, diversity, lifestyle and dynamics; to explore the sustainability and resilience of the Colombo CRFS; and to seek to improve the livelihoods of rural and urban dwellers now and in the future.

The safe recovery of nutrients from our waste streams allows us to address the challenges of waste management and soil nutrient depletion conjointly. Commercialization of waste-based organic fertilizers such as FortiferTM (fecal sludge-based co-compost) has the potential to generate significant benefits for developing economies via cost recovery for the sanitation sector and the provision of an alternative agricultural input for smallholder farmers. To guide future FortiferTM businesses, this report presents examples of detailed market assessments, based on farmers’ perceptions, attitudes and willingness-to-pay (WTP) for a pelletized and non-pelletized FortiferTM co-compost. The research was conducted in the Greater Accra and Western regions in Ghana, and in and around Kampala (Uganda), Bangalore (India), Hanoi (Vietnam), and Kurunegala (Sri Lanka). Cross-country analyses helped to understand the effects of market drivers and, where possible, capture lessons learned for knowledge sharing.

The performance of Satellite Rainfall Estimate (SRE) products applied to flood inundation modelling was tested for the Mundeni Aru River Basin in eastern Sri Lanka. Three SREs (PERSIANN, TRMM, and GSMaP) were tested, with the Rainfall-Runoff-Inundation (RRI) model used as the flood inundation model. All the SREs were found to be suitable for applying to the RRI model. The simulations created by applying the SREs were generally accurate, although there were some discrepancies in discharge due to differing precipitation volumes. The volumes of precipitation of the SREs tended to be smaller than those of the gauged data, but using a scale factor to correct this improved the simulations. In particular, the SRE, i.e., the GSMaP yielding the best simulation that correlated most closely with the flood inundation extent from the satellite data, was considered the most appropriate to apply to the model calculation. The application procedures and suggestions shown in this study could help authorities to make better-informed decisions when giving early flood warnings and making rapid flood forecasts, especially in areas where in-situ observations are limited.

The Kalu Ganga Basin in Sri Lanka is generally flooded once a year. A network of low-lying lands acts as natural retention and storage that captures floodwater, minimizing damage. An increase in the flood frequency has been observed in recent years. It is commonly perceived that this increase is caused by a rise in the frequency and severity of ‘very wet’ precipitation events. We conclude that land-use changes may have played a larger role in generating floods.

Co-composted dewatered faecal sludge (FS) with organic fractions of municipal solid waste (MSW) has a high potential to be used as an agricultural resource in Sri Lanka. In addition to options for cost recovery in waste management, closing the nutrient and carbon cycles between urban and rural areas, substitution of mineral fertilizers, reduced pollution. and the restoration of degraded arable land are possible with important benefits. Up to now little is known about the usage of FS-MSW as fertilizer and it needs to be studied in order to achieve a better understanding and generate application recommendations. The aim of these experiments has been to evaluate the possibility of substituting mineral fertilization. Two field experiments were conducted on sandy loam to assess the effects of MSW compost and FS-MSW co-compost, its pelletized forms, and mineral-enriched FS-MSW on crop growth. As a short-term crop Raphanus sativus “Beeralu rabu” (radish) was studied for 50 days in a randomized complete block design (RCDB). Results show that, under drought conditions, FS-MSW co-compost increased the yield significantly, while MSW and FS-MSW compost enabled the highest survival rate of the plants. Similarly, the second field trial with a long-term crop, Capsicum anuum “CA-8” (capsicum), was planted as RCBD, using the same treatments, for a cultivation period of 120 days. Results display that during a drought followed by water saturated soil conditions co-compost treatments achieved comparable yields and increased the survival rate significantly compared to the control, fertilized with urea, triple super phosphate, and muriate of potash. Cost-benefit analysis (CBA) revealed that pelletizing decreased the monetary benefits if only fertilizer value is considered. It can be concluded that, under drought and water stress, co-compost ensures comparable yields and enables more resistance, but might not be economical viable as a one-crop fertilizer. These findings need to be validated with further trials under different climate regimes and soils.

This Research Report presents the first comprehensive overview of the multiple climate hazard risks, and the proposed key issues and challenges facing the South Asian region. This report suggests methods for mapping such risks and estimating their impacts on people and agriculture in South Asia. Regional, country-wise and sub-national assessment of five climate-related risks – floods, droughts, extreme rainfall, extreme temperature and sea-level rise – is carried out. The approach involves overlaying climate hazard, sensitivity and adaptive capacity maps, and follows the vulnerability assessment framework of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). A combined index based on hazard, exposure and adaptive capacity is introduced to identify areas susceptible to extreme risk. There is a lack of a systematic and comprehensive risk assessment capturing multiple climate hazards for the entire South Asian region and the need for a common framework for risk assessment. While this approach is well grounded in theories and integration of various spatial data including remote sensing data to derive hazard information, there is a clear need for linking additional elements from the ground at a finer scale among various sectors in developing comprehensive risk assessment information for a disaster risk management plan and promoting risk financing strategies.

Background: Between 1955 and 2011 there were marked fluctuations in suicide rates in Sri Lanka; incidence increased six-fold between 1955 and the 1980s, and halved in the early 21st century. Changes in access to highly toxic pesticides are thought to have influenced this pattern. This study investigates variation in suicide rates across Sri Lanka’s 25 districts between 1955 and 2011. We hypothesised that changes in the incidence of suicide would be most marked in rural areas due to the variation in availability of highly toxic pesticides in these locations during this time period.; Methods: We mapped district-level suicide rates in 1955, 1972, 1980 and 2011. These periods preceded, included and postdated the rapid rise in Sri Lanka’s suicide rates. We investigated the associations between district-level variations in suicide rates and census-derived measures of rurality (population density), unemployment, migration and ethnicity using Spearman’s rank correlation and negative binomial models.; Results: The rise and fall in suicide rates was concentrated in more rural areas. In 1980, when suicide rates were at their highest, population density was inversely associated with area variation in suicide rates (r = -0.65; p lt; 0.001), i.e. incidence was highest in rural areas. In contrast the association was weakest in 1950, prior to the rise in pesticide suicides (r = -0.10; p = 0.697). There was no strong evidence that levels of migration or ethnicity were associated with area variations in suicide rates. The relative rates of suicide in the most rural compared to the most urban districts before (1955), during (1980) and after (2011) the rise in highly toxic pesticide availability were 1.1 (95% CI 0.5 to 2.4), 3.7 (2.0 to 6.9) and 2.1 (1.6 to 2.7) respectively.; Conclusions: The findings provide some support for the hypothesis that changes in access to pesticides contributed to the marked fluctuations in Sri Lanka’s suicide rate, but the impact of other factors cannot be ruled out.

Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectro-radiometer (MODIS) time-series Normalized Differential Vegetation Index (NDVI) products are regularly used for vegetation monitoring missions and climate change analysis. However, satellite observation is affected by the atmospheric condition, cloud state and shadows introducing noise in the data. MODIS state flag helps in understanding pixel quality but overestimates the noise and hence its usability requires further scrutiny. This study has analyzed MODIS MOD09A1 annual data set over Sri Lanka. The study presents a simple and effective noise mapping method which integrates four state flag parameters (i.e. cloud state, cloud shadow, cirrus detected, and internal cloud algorithm flag) to estimate Cloud Possibility Index (CPI). Usability of CPI is analyzed along with NDVI for noise elimination. Then the gaps generated due to noise elimination are reconstructed and performance of the reconstruction model is assessed over simulated data with five different levels of random gaps (10–50%) and four different statistical measures (i.e. Root mean square error, mean absolute error, mean bias error, and mean absolute percentage error). The sample-based analysis over homogeneous and heterogeneous pixels have revealed that CPI-based noise elimination has increased the detection accuracy of number of growing cycle from 45–60% to 85–95% in vegetated regions. The study cautions that usage of time-series NDVI data without proper cloud correction mechanism would result in wrong estimation about spatial distribution and intensity of drought, and in our study 50% of area is wrongly reported to be under drought though there was no major drought in 2014.

Selected rainfall characteristics derived by analyzing observed rainfall data in two Sri Lankan river basins (Malwathu Oya and Kalu Ganga) were compared with the perceptions of farmers. The rainfall characteristics used for this analysis are trends, onset and cessation dates, length of the growing period, number of rainy days, and length of the dry spell. Farmers’ perceptions of changes in those characteristics were collected through household surveys. The majority of farmers in both river basins failed to recognize the long-term upward trend in annual rainfall. They also failed to describe the adaptation measures they were currently practising.

The overuse and misuse of chemical pesticides has widely been reported in vegetable cultivation in Sri Lanka. While safer and environmental friendly pest and disease management methods such as Integrated Pest Management (IPM) are popular around the world, only little effort has been taken to promote IPM in Sri Lankan vegetable cultivation. Furthermore, farmers have not shown much interest on practicing IPM in vegetable cultivation. However, the level of IPM adoption by vegetable farmers and the factors influencing the adoption and strategies to promote IPM in vegetable cultivation have not been identified. Accordingly, this study was conducted to identify the level of IPM adoption and factors influencing the adoption of IPM in vegetable cultivation and to understand the strategies for promoting vegetable IPM in future. Primary data was collected by interviewing 290 farmer households. ‘Level of adoption’ and ‘farmers’ knowledge’ on nine practices used in IPM technique were tested and nine socio-economic variables were analyzed to identify the factors influencing the IPM adoption. Findings indicated that the main income source of the majority (68%) of respondents was from vegetable farming from which at least half of their household income was secured. A total of 47% farmers apply chemical pesticides before pests or diseases appear in the field as a routine activity, and without considering the ‘economic threshold level’. Although the majority (60%) of farmers have used the recommended dosage in spraying, mixing several pesticides when applying was common. According to the findings, although the term IPM was familiar to 44% of respondents, only 20% s had a certain level of understanding on the IPM technique. The adoption of IPM practices among farmers was not at a satisfactory level. Practices known and followed for a long time were better adopted compared to the practices which are relatively novel. Results also showed that despite the adoption of these practices, understanding of farmers regarding the benefits and the appropriate use of such practices was not at a satisfactory level. “Farmers’ knowledge on IPM” had a positive impact while the “proportionate income from vegetable cultivation” was negative on the level of IPM adoption. In addition, the results showed that gaps in policy and institutional setup, negative attitudes of farmers and officers on IPM were conduce for the lower adoption level of IPM in the vegetable cultivation.

Recent development activities in the Jaffna Peninsula are threatening the viability of the region’s natural groundwater supply. Rainwater Harvesting (RWH) represents one important approach to remedying this situation. By accumulating freshwater during Jaffna’s wet season, household RWH systems can supply drinking and cooking water for use during the water-limited dry season. Additionally, a RWH calculator created by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) can be used to customize a RWH system for each family given particular household parameters such as rooftop size and daily extraction rate. When paired with cost estimates for tank construction, a RWH installation cost-benefit analysis can be determined for either a specific household or for a collection of households within the Jaffna region.

Tick infestation in humans is a major public health concern. The diversity and distribution of tick species associated with human otoacariasis was studied in five districts: Anuradhapura, Kandy, Kurunegala, Nuwara Eliya and Ratnapura in the main agro-climatic zones of Sri Lanka. Ticks from patients attending the ear, nose and throat clinics of the General Hospitals were collected during a 3 year period. In total 426 ticks were collected. Most human otoacariasis cases were reported from Kandy (33.8 %) and the fewest from Nuwara Eliya (8.2 %). Of the five tick species identified, nymphs of Dermacentor auratus constituted 90.6 % of the collection. Rhipicephalus sanguineus, Hyalomma isaaci, Haemaphysalis bispinosa and Otobius megnini were found rarely infesting humans possibly as an accidental host; H. bispinosa and O. megnini in the human ear canal were first time records in Sri Lanka. Females and children under 10 years were identified as risk groups of human otoacariasis. Subsequently, a field study was carried out to determine socio-ecological risk factors of human tick infestations in the five districts. Based on hospital data, eight villages with high prevalence of otoacariasis were selected from each district. A total 40 villages were visited and 1674 household members were interviewed. Involvement in outdoor activities, presence of wild animals around the house, location of the house in close proximity to a forest and occupation were identified as major risk factors.

This paper reviews the institutional reforms taken place in minor irrigation systems in Sri Lanka by contrasting those observed during pre-colonial and colonial periods with those after the independence. Formal or informal institutions have governed the operation and performance of the minor irrigation systems with continuous change of authority. While the earlier reforms focused on the irrigation sector with quicker benefits and lower political risks, recent reforms have covered macro institutions, where the benefits are gradual with high political risks. In ancient irrigation system management, decision making and implementation were taken by communities themselves under the feudal system of “Rajakariya” ensuring sustainability and maintaining village ecosystem. With the abolishing of “Rajakariya” system after the arrival of British rulers, the authority was shifted from the community to the government along with the trend of irrigation system management towards centralization and bureaucracy. After independence, though the minor irrigation system management was the responsibility of beneficiary farmers, the authority of the systems was continuously changed between different government agencies. Now, minor irrigation systems are governed by the Department of Agrarian Development and/ or Provincial councils towards sustainability goals while emphasizing the different stakeholder involvement through enforcement of formal and informal rules and procedures. The government continues the commitment to reform because it provides evidence for the political and economic stability, tactical benefits, timely consideration of stakeholders’ perception and information towards the required change.

Since the 1980s, along with many other countries, Sri Lanka rapidly embraced groundwater irrigation. At the same time, the government, externally funded projects and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) made bold efforts to promote water-saving technologies, such as drip and sprinkler irrigation systems, among farmers, but achieved little or no success. Despite the continuous failure in the promotion of apos;professionally designedapos;, micro-irrigation systems across the country, grassroots innovations have emerged. These locally initiated endeavors, mainly in sprinkler irrigation, have been adopted comfortably and competently by the farmers themselves without any external assistance. Farmers in the Kalpitiya Peninsula have adopted this technology within a few years. This paper presents the apos;driversapos; behind this spontaneous apos;irrigation revolutionapos; that has occurred in the peninsula. The findings indicate that the adoption of sprinkler irrigation in this groundwater-based agricultural ecosystem has brought in tremendous changes to agricultural practices, and also to the lifestyles and livelihoods of the people living in the area. These positive and desirable results have been obtained with zero subsidy provision, and without any external inputs from the government or NGOs. Adoption of this sprinkler system for irrigation has increased the net sown area, net irrigated area and cropping intensity, resulting in significant economic returns and welfare gains. The low-cost sprinkler innovations are considered as an input cost that is recoverable within a year or two, rather than a long-term capital investment. The main drivers of this technological shift are (i) significant reduction in the cost of irrigation due to lower expenditure on labor and energy; (ii) user-friendly and affordable technology; (iii) easy to assemble, install and manage (operation and maintenance); (iv) easy access to components and spare parts (locally available); (v) potential to cultivate high-value cash crops; (vi) environmental context of the area (high number of rainless days, year-round availability of groundwater resources, low water-holding capacity of sandy soil); and (vii) immediate connection to markets through mobile phones and improved road networks. Promotion of micro-irrigation exclusively as a water-saving technology, as done in the past, is not a motive for farmers to adopt micro-irrigation systems. This is particularly the case where farmers do not recognize water scarcity as a apos;real constraintapos;. Conserving water and sustainable management of the resource, at least for the time being, is not factored in farmers decision making.

Groundwater provides nearly 100 % of the water supplies in some districts of Sri Lanka and is a major source of domestic water in all other districts. However, the resource remains largely neglected and invisible to society and policymakers. Groundwater offers the advantage of being a more reliable and readily available resource for agriculture, and offers the basis for a ‘silent revolution’ in many areas. A groundwater-supported agricultural boom has, while imparting a large number of benefits, created its own set of obstinate problems, including over-exploitation and depletion of groundwater resources. In some districts, over-exploitation is putting the livelihoods of farmers that have come to depend on groundwater resources in jeopardy. Micro-irrigation technologies have been widely promoted as a means of reducing water demand by enhancing farm-level water-use efficiency. These technologies are proven to improve irrigation uniformity; increase irrigation application efficiency, by reducing soil evaporation and seepage losses; and increase crop productivity. It is assumed that using these technologies will enable water to be reallocated for other uses. The Government of Sri Lanka has made repeated attempts to promote micro-irrigation as a means of improving irrigation performance to minimize water scarcity in areas of the Dry Zone. These attempts have involved providing substantial heavy subsidies, but have met with little success in terms of adoption of ‘professionally designed’ installations. However, in Kalpitiya, farmers have adopted a locally designed sprinkler technology within a short period of time without subsidies and professional design inputs. This paper reviews the evolving agricultural boom as a result of groundwater and sprinkler irrigation that has occurred on the Kalpitiya peninsula. The development of a farmer-led sprinkler technology is assessed with reference to improving livelihoods of the people, and the potential consequences on sustainable management of groundwater resources. The experiences in Kalpitiya show that, in the absence of effective groundwater governance and policies, supported with appropriate institutions, micro-irrigation has enabled the expansion of the cultivated area and crop intensification. This has increased, rather than decreased, net water use on the peninsula. The estimated increase in water withdrawals is 14,490 m3/ha /y. This indicates that promoting efficient technologies alone is not sufficient to achieve water savings, which requires control of overall abstractions and recharge levels to stabilize aquifer storage. In the absence of an appropriate regulatory framework and lack of political will to manage groundwater, it is recommended that the social framework and community governance arrangements are developed and strengthened to enable sustainable use of groundwater resources.

Agricultural practices are changing at an unprecedented rate in small pockets of the dry zone of Sri Lanka. Commercial vegetable production is flourishing underwritten by groundwater accessed via agro-wells, increased market access and new business opportunities. Since the early 1990s, small-holder farmers have been excavating agro-wells for highland field irrigation and reaping unprecedented returns. Highland fields were previously subject to rain-fed shifting cultivation with long fallow periods. Water from agro-wells with the addition of chemical inputs, along with the advent of mobile phones, reliable road transport, new markets, greater access to credit and a more secure post-conflict environment, have now made frequent highland cropping viable and profitable. This has ignited the entrepreneurial spirit of farmers whose financial inputs and investments and labour is bringing rapid socio-economic transformation. In a country where the dry zone constitutes roughly a third of the land area, and where many dry zone households lack surface water for dry season cropping, these pockets of groundwater driven dry season production may pose a way out of poverty. While acknowledging the significant impact of agro-well-based farming in lifting farmers out of poverty, the paper ends on a cautionary note. This type of agricultural intensification is predicated on a social-ecological system linked to a specific institutional architecture and an aquifer with highly variable water availability. Current success in poverty alleviation masks an inherent fragility and risk that warrants further investigation before attempts are made to scale out groundwater based dry season farming to other parts of the dry zone.

The foundation of rice production in the dry zone of Sri Lanka is a hydraulic civilization spanning at least 2,000 years, and based on constructed small irrigation tanks. Dotted across much of the dry zone, and often constituting cascades, the traditional management of these tanks for dry season irrigation water brought together sophisticated engineering skills, deep ecological knowledge and social organisation around the practical need for cooperation and spiritual belief systems. While these small tanks are often referred to with respect to their centrality to irrigating rice, the staple crop, the use of both natural and built elements in managing the tanks and their surrounding landscapes in fact constitute a remarkable multi-functional system that has provided a range of ecosystem services for human well-being. Despite its ancient roots, the ecological principles inherent in the traditional knowledge shaping this system resonate closely with modern concepts around natural resource management such as wise use, sustainability, social ecological systems and green infrastructure.

As Sri Lankan water resources are being increasingly exploited, particularly for hydropower and irrigation, ecologists, water practitioners and policymakers alike are realizing the importance of protecting these resources and setting environmental sustainability thresholds. Environmental Flows (EF) - the concept that helps define such thresholds – has now become an integral part of environmental impact assessments of river basin development projects. Considering EF is especially vital in the context of the accelerated infrastructure development program, launched after the end of the war in the north and the east of the country in 2009. This paper describes a simple, user-friendly software tool that facilitates quick, first-hand estimation of EF in Sri Lankan rivers. The tool uses ‘natural’ or ‘unregulated’ monthly flow time series, at any river location to construct a flow duration curve that is then modified depending on the desired condition of a river – an environmental management class – to generate an EF time series. The tool includes historical flow records from 158 gauged locations, but users may also feed in (observed/simulated) external data. The paper illustrates the application of the tool at two locations of existing/ planned infrastructure projects and discusses its usefulness as a policy tool.

On-site sanitation systems, such as septic tanks and pit latrines, are the predominant feature across rural and urban areas in most developing countries. However, their management is one of the most neglected sanitation challenges. While under the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the set-up of toilet systems received the most attention, business models for the sanitation service chain, including pit desludging, sludge transport, treatment and disposal or resource recovery, are only emerging. Based on the analysis of over 40 fecal sludge management (FSM) cases from Asia, Africa and Latin America, this report shows opportunities as well as bottlenecks that FSM is facing from an institutional and entrepreneurial perspective.

As in other cities of Sri Lanka, solid waste management has been a key problem in and concern for Balangoda Urban Council. Waste accumulations in the city have caused many problems, including unpleasant odours, contamination of water bodies, and contamination of paddy fields, giving rise to epidemic diseases such as Salmonella, typhoid fever, and diarrhoea. A Balangoda compost plant has been set up to process municipal solid waste into compost. The project started in 1999 as a city service to provide a solution to the solid waste problem, but converted into a business in later years. Integrated waste management in Balangoda now consists of a Municipal Solid Waste compost plant, septage treatment plant, plastic pelletiser and an open dump. In addition, as there is increasing awareness of environmental and health risks related to the use of agro-chemical fertilisers, demand for alternative – organic – fertilisers is increasing. As per the majority of the compost plants in the country, the Balangoda plants are located in semi-urban or rural areas, facilitating reuse of waste in agriculture, with farming areas located near the compost plants. The Balangoda system thus operationalises rural-urban linkages through the collection of urban food and organic waste and its recycling, sale, and reuse as compost for rural (and peri-urban) producers.

Beginning on 14 May 2016, a low pressure area over the Bay of Bengal caused torrential rain to fall across Sri Lanka. Some locations saw over 350 mm (13.77 inches) of rain fall in 24 hours. Floods and landslides have caused havoc in as many as 19 districts of the country, including around Colombo, causing floods and landslides which affected half a million people with causality reported over 100 and estimated economic losses closer to $2billion. In recent years, due to an increasing number in the frequency and intensity of extreme meteorological events potentially related to climate change, a growing attention has been paid to the operational use of satellite remote sensing applied to emergency response and relief measures. This is mainly due to the large and timely availability of different types of remotely sensed data as well as geospatial information acquired in the field which may be potentially exploited in the different phases of the disaster management cycle. IWMI jointly with Disaster Management Centre (DMC), Sri Lanka activated disaster charter with Sentinel Asia and escalated International Disaster Charter to access satellite images during the crisis response phase to support government agencies in relief and rescue measures. A total of 13 satellite images both microwave and optical datasets (ALOS-2, Sentinel-1, RISAT-1, RADARSAT-2, TerraSAR-X, FORMOSAT, Landsat-8) were provided by various space agencies to generate flood situation maps on a daily basis. The emergency flood situation maps were regularly shared to national and international organizations within 3-4 hours after the post-event image is acquired by the space agencies to support in relief measures. The derived flood maps were overlaid with local administrative division to give specific information on the priority area to the DMC and Air Force authorities to focus relief measures. These rapid response maps can further be used for postdisaster relief policy and damage assessment.

Increasing frequency of drought events coupled uncertainty imparted by climate change pose grave threat to agriculture and thereby overall food security. This is especially true in South Asian region where world’s largest concentration of people depends on agriculture for their livelihood. Indices derived from remote sensing datasets signifying different bio-physical aspects are increasingly used for operational drought monitoring. This study focuses on evaluating a newly created index for agricultural drought referred as Integrated Drought Severity Index (IDSI) in comparison with the traditional Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) primarily representing precipitation condition to delineate drought using custom created ArcGIS toolbox for a period of fourteen years (2001-2014) in Sri Lanka. SPI created using remotely sensed PERSIANN precipitation dataset was compared with the IDSI created using hybrid datasets. IDSI is created based on seamless mosaic of remotely sensed multi-sensor data that takes vegetation (computed from MODIS data product MOD09A1), temperature (MOD11A2) and precipitation (TRMM amp; GPM) status into consideration. The comparative study was made to assess the efficiency of newly created index and ArcGIS toolbox techniques for near real-time monitoring of spatio-temporal extent of agricultural drought. The result showed significant correlation of 0.85 between the two indices signifying the potential of using IDSI that integrates the response of agriculture drought variables (vegetation, rainfall, temperature and soil moisture) in monitoring shortterm drought and application in risk reduction measures.

During the past decades, many composting projects have been implemented with the assistance from various donor agencies to address the municipal solid waste (MSW) problem in developing countries, especially in urban areas. However, very few of these projects are sustainable and many were reported as failures, some even closed down and most ofexisting operations rely on heavy subsidies from the Government, foreign funding sources and Local Authorities (LAs). To enhance solid waste management (SWM) an initiative called quot;Pilisaruquot; project started in 2008 lead by the Central Environmental Authority (CEA) to develop the infrastructures of LAs for a better S WM system mainly focllsing on composting as an efficient low cost option for treatment of the organic waste fraction. However, the initial assessment of this initiative encountered many issues. Therefore, this study was proposed to identifY main lactors that affect the sustainability of municipal compost plants. The methods used to obtain data for this research comprise, sample survey that involved five selected compost plants operating under LAs in Sri Lanka; a specific lield survey that observed waste segregation activities: and a cl ients perception survey conducted in a super market in Colombo that aimed to assess customers perspective 011 buying and use ofcompost based Iquot;bod products. To supplement the findings ofthese investigations, a complementary literature revie\ and selected expert interviews were carried out with representative stakeholders. The research findings indicate that most of LAs do not have the needed expertise to design, implement and manage an integrated S WM system that allows efticient operation of compost plants according to recognized standards. Furthermore, it appears that 1110st ofthe compost plants do not manage it full-cost recovery of their Oamp;M cost with the main issues that users are not charged for the provided waste management services and .produced compost can not be marketed successfully, Besides, from the perspective of sustainable operation, need and provision offuture investment is unclear, especially for replacement to maintain an effective operation level. To overcome the emerging weaknesses of the Pilisaru project, it is recommended to provide a continuous capacity building programme for the LAs and involved stakeholders, supported by public awareness programs, especially lor enhanced waste segregation, marketing promotion for compost products as well as technical and financial assistance for relevant stakeholders that need support to perform their tasks in the SW value chain. Furthermore, it is envisioned to revisit the provided SWM policies and to add regulations that built on insights from best SWM practices in Sri Lanka but also from applicable international experiences from other developing countries. This should also include the production of quality compost that meets the fertilizer demands from an agriculture perspective. Lastly, th

This study looks at the groundwater issues in the dry zone of Sri Lanka and shows how the use of remote sensing with high-resolution images can help in groundwater management. A new approach is developed for automatic extraction of the location of agrowells using high-spatial-resolution satellite imageries. As an example, three pilot sites in three different aquifer systems in the country are considered, and their highresolution images are analyzed over two temporal time periods. The analysis suggests that the well density in all three regions has increased over the last few years, indicating higher levels of groundwater extraction. Using the well inventory developed by this new approach, the water budgeting was prepared for the mainland of Jaffna Peninsula. The analysis shows a wide variation in well density in the Jaffna Peninsula, ranging from (as little as) less than 15 wells per square kilometer to (as high as) more than 200 wells per square kilometer. Calculations made for the maximum allowable water extraction in each administrative division of Jaffna show that less than 3 h of daily extraction per well is possible in some districts. This points to an increasing pressure on groundwater resources in the region and thus highlights the importance of understanding groundwater budgets for sustainable development of the aquifers.

Recent development activities in the Jaffna Peninsula are threatening the viability of the regionapos;s natural groundwater supply. Rainwater Harvesting (RWH) represents one important approach to remedying this situation. By accumulating freshwater during Jaffnaapos;s wet season, household RWH systems can supply drinking and cooking water for use during the water-limited dry season. Additionally, a RWH calculator created by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) can be used to customize a RWH system for each family given particular household parameters such as rooftop size and daily extraction rate. When paired with cost estimates for tank construction, a RWH installation cost-benefit analysis can be determined for either a specific household or for a collection of households within the Jaffna region.

Chronic kidney disease of unknown (“u”) cause (CKDu) is a growing public health concern in Sri Lanka. Prior research has hypothesized a link with drinking water quality, but rigorous studies are lacking. This study assesses the relationship between nephrotoxic elements (namely arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), and uranium (U)) in drinking water, and urine samples collected from individuals with and/or without CKDu in endemic areas, and from individuals without CKDu in nonendemic areas. All water samples – from a variety of source types (i.e. shallow and deep wells, springs, piped and surface water) – contained extremely low concentrations of nephrotoxic elements, and all were well below drinking water guideline values. Concentrations in individual urine samples were higher than, and uncorrelated with, those measured in drinking water, suggesting potential exposure from other sources. Mean urinary concentrations of these elements for individuals with clinically diagnosed CKDu were consistently lower than individuals without CKDu both in endemic and nonendemic areas. This likely stems from the inability of the kidney to excrete these toxic elements via urine in CKDu patients. Urinary concentrations of individuals were also found to be within the range of reference values measured in urine of healthy unexposed individuals from international biomonitoring studies, though these reference levels may not be safe for the Sri Lankan population. The results suggest that CKDu cannot be clearly linked with the presence of these contaminants in drinking water. There remains a need to investigate potential interactions of low doses of these elements (particularly Cd and As) with other risk factors that appear linked to CKDu, prior to developing public health strategies to address this illness.

Flood management is adopting a more risk-based approach, whereby flood risk is the product of the probability and consequences of flooding. Two-dimensional flood inundation modeling is a widely used tool to aid flood-risk management. The aim of this study is to develop a flood inundation model that uses historical flow data to produce flood-risk maps, which will help to identify flood protection measures in the rural areas of Sri Lanka. The LISFLOOD-FP model was developed at the basin scale using available historical data, and also through coupling with a hydrological modelling system, to map the inundation extent and depth. Results from the flood inundation model were evaluated using Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) images to assess product accuracy. The impacts of flooding on agriculture and livelihoods were analyzed to assess the flood risks. It was identified that most of the areas under paddy cultivation that were located near the middle and downstream part of the river basin are more susceptible to flood risks. This paper also proposes potential countermeasures for future natural disasters to prevent and mitigate possible damages.

Small run-of-the-river systems (Anicuts) play an important role in irrigated paddy production in Sri Lanka. The total land area under Anicut cultivation is 98,000 ha, benefitting over 333,000 families. Farming under the Anicut schemes is largely smallholder (average 0.3 ha), and the average paddy yield obtained from a hectare of land is about one metric tonne less than the yield of major irrigated areas. As the Anicut schemes are not benefited by reservoirs/storages or major diversions, and are entirely dependent on local rainfall, climate change would make the Anicut farmers more vulnerable. Therefore, increasing efficiency in paddy production is vital to enhancing the productivity and livelihoods of the farmers. This study aimed to measure the farm-level technical efficiency of Anicut farmers in the Walawe Basin. Data collected from162 random farmers in six Anicut schemes in Badulla and Ratnapura districts were used to run the stochastic frontier production function to estimate technical efficiency. Farmer-related exogenous variables causing farm-level variation in technical inefficiency were also assessed. The findings show that the average technical efficiency of the Anicut farmers in Badulla and Ratnapura districts is 65.9% and 74.73%, respectively. This indicates that, in the given mix of inputs used in paddy production, there is a loss of production by 34.1% and 25.27% in Badulla and Ratnapura districts due to inefficiency and allocative errors in the production technique. This paper discusses the determinants of technical efficiency and its relationship with Anicut farmers’ socioeconomic attributes.

To assess the current situation of municipal solid waste (MSW) composting opportunities and potential acceptance of nutrient enriched pelletized compost in Sri Lanka,two field surveys were conductednationwide and in Kurunegala (Northwestern) area, respectively. Due to the low nutrient content of MSW compost, it qualifies mostly as a conditioner of the soil’s physical properties. As a result the compost so far produced across the country has received limitedattention. The surveys indicated that if the nutrient levels are in­creased, 74% of the farmers surveyed are willing to use thecompost. The percentage willing to use compost was similar among farmers of the three most common crops; coconut, paddy and vegetables,ranging from 72 to 77%. Using the land use pattern, the crop cultivation databases and the willingness to use (WTU) results, the potential demand for compost was estimated.As per the results, in the urban context of Kaluthara,a 160% larger capacity plant (present input capacity 38 t/day)would be needed to satisfy market demand within a 10 km radiusof theplant. For the Attanagalla plant (present capacity 10 t/day) within a rural setting, all compost could be absorbed within 2 km.

We explore processes that enable effective policies and practices for managing the links between water, energy, and food. Three case studies are assessed at different scales in the Mekong River basin, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe. We find that there are considerable opportunities for improving outcomes for sustainable development by finding solutions that accommodate multiple objectives in the nexus. These include making data more publicly available, commissioning independent experts to advise on contested issues, engaging under-represented stakeholders in decision-making, sharing benefits, exploring different perspectives in forums where alternative development options can be tested and engaging decision-makers at different scales.

Background Chloroquine combined with primaquine has been the ecommended antimalarial treatment of Plasmodium vivax malaria infections for six decades but the efficacy of this treatment regimen is threatened by chloroquine resistance (CQR). Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the multidrug resistance gene, Pvmdr1 are putative determinants of CQR but the extent of their emergence at population level remains to be explored. Objective In this study we describe the prevalence of SNPs in the Pvmdr1 among samples collected in seven P. vivax endemic countries and we looked for molecular evidence of drug selection by characterising polymorphism at microsatellite (MS) loci flanking the Pvmdr1 gene. Methods We examined the prevalence of SNPs in the Pvmdr1 gene among 267 samples collected from Pakistan, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Sudan, Sao Tome and Ecuador. We measured and diversity in four microsatellite (MS) markers flanking the Pvmdr1 gene to look evidence of selection on mutant alleles. Results SNP polymorphism in the Pvmdr1 gene was largely confined to codons T958M, Y976F and F1076L. Only 2.4% of samples were wildtype at all three codons (TYF, n = 5), 13.3% (n =28) of the samples were single mutant MYF, 63.0% of samples (n = 133) were double mutant MYL, and 21.3%(n = 45) were triple mutant MFL. Clear geographic differences in the prevalence of these Pvmdr mutation combinations were observed. Significant linkage disequilibrium (LD) between Pvmdr1 and MS alleles was found in populations sampled in Ecuador, Nepal and Sri Lanka, while significant LD between Pvmdr1 and the combined 4 MS locus haplotype was only seen in Ecuador and Sri Lanka. When combining the 5 loci, high level diversity, measured as expected heterozygosity (He), was seen in the complete sample set (He = 0.99), while He estimates for individual loci ranged from 0.00–0.93. Although Pvmdr1 haplotypes were not consistently associated with specific flanking MS alleles, there was significant differentiation between geographic sites which could indicate directional selection through local drug pressure. Conclusions Our observations suggest that Pvmdr1 mutations emerged independently on multiple occasions even within the same population. In Sri Lanka population analysis at multiple sites showed evidence of local selection and geographical dispersal of Pvmdr1 mutations between sites.

Over last decades, we have witnessed an upward global trend in natural disaster occurrence. Hydrological and meteorological disasters are the main contributors to this pattern. In 2011, hydrological disaster, such as floods and wet mass movements, represented 52% of the overall disaster reported, causing 139.8 million victims and more than U.S. $70 billion in damages. Remote sensing from space plays an important role in flood mapping and flood risk assessment. Satellite images acquired in both optical and microwave range of electro-magnetic emissions are utilized for solving many problems related to flood risk management. This paper presents two different research activities (1) flood detection algorithm which uses vegetation and water indices (NDVI, EVI, LSWI, DVEL) at a spatial resolution of 500m and time period 2000 – 2013 using MODIS Terra/Aqua and JAXA PALSAR satellite to spatially and temporally quantify flood inundation extent at a continental scale in South Asia, Southeast Asia and Nigeria in the context of emergency response and (2) blending satellite data and RADAR (Rapid Agriculture Disaster Assessment Routine) tool for rapid flood damage assessment in agriculture with a case study in Sri Lanka. The results of the present study will provide valuable information to flood policy makers and flood disaster researchers.

Flood water harvesting and underground storage is a concept that has received significant attention in many regions of the world. Its intention is to capture floodwater from currently flooded areas and to store it for later use, in order to both, reduce damage caused by floods, as well as to satisfy demands for water during drier periods. This paper presents a preliminary analysis of the prospects for its realization in Sri Lanka. A coarse scale suitability index is constructed and mapped at district level in order to identify the districts having higher prospects for its implementation. Preliminary results indicate three main clusters of highly suitable districts, subject to favourable geological conditions. Cluster 1 consists of Ampara and Batticalao, Cluster 2 of Kurunegala, Anuradhapura and Mannar, and Cluster 3 of Ratnapura. The potential for groundwater recharge of the highly suitable clusters need special investigation prior to arriving at concrete conclusions. If successfully implemented, this concept may prove a valuable intervention for adapting to current and future floods and droughts.

Sri Lanka is facing severe flood events during monsoon rainfall in each year all over the country. The rapid development of remote sensing and widely available satellite images can be used effectively to map the flood inundation in past years. This study is focused on the mapping of flood inundation together with flood recurrent based on both optical (MODIS) and microwave (ALOS/PALSAR) satellite images. In the first stage MODIS images with spatial resolution of 500m and temporal interval of eight day was used to map flood recurrent areas for risk assessment using images from 2000 to 2011. In the second state 16 satellite images from ALOS PALSAR images between 2006 and 2011 was analyzed by using pixel threshold value to map the flooded and non-flooded areas. The flood recurrent products from both MODIS and PALSAR images were generated to represent the repetition of flood inundated areas. The analysis of the results indicated that the PALSAR image based flood inundation mapping is much accurate and useful in the context of spatial variability than the temporal variability. The accurate land-cover map is also important to assess the flood damages and evaluate the future development and the cultivation planning. But there is no such an accurate and detailed land-cove map available for Sri Lanka to assess the flood damages. Thus, this study was focused on the preparation of land-cover map with GIS and RS approach. The land-cover classification was carried out by image fusion of optical (LANDSAT) and microwave (ALOS/PALSAR) under High Pass Filtering (HPF) technique. Unsupervised image classification method was used to classify the fused image in to different land-cover classes. Accuracy assessment of land-cover classification was conducted using existing ground truth information and Google Earth with as resulted in the overall accuracy as 71.16% and the Kappa statistics as 62.83%.

The term “Environmental Flows (EF)” may be defined as “the quantity, timing and quality of water flows required to sustain freshwater and estuarine ecosystems and the human livelihoods and well-being that depend on these ecosystems”. It may be regarded as “water for nature” or “environmental demand” similar to crop water requirements, industrial or domestic water demand. The practice of EF is still limited to a few developed countries such as Australia, South Africa and the UK. In many developing countries EF is rarely considered in water resources planning and is often deemed “unimportant.” Sri Lanka, being a developing country, is no exception to this general rule. Although the country underwent an extensive irrigation/water resources development phase during the 1960s through to the 1980s, the concept of EF was hardly considered. However, as Sri Lanka’s water resources are being exploited more and more for human usage, ecologists, water practitioners and policymakers alike have realized the importance of EF in sustaining not only freshwater and estuarine ecosystems, but also their services to humans. Hence estimation of EF has been made mandatory in environmental impact assessments (EIAs) of all large development projects involving river regulation/water abstraction. Considering EF is especially vital under the rapid urbanization and infrastructure development phase that dawned after the end of the war in the North and the East of the country in 2009. This paper details simple tools (including a software package which is under development) and methods that may be used for coarse scale estimation of EF at/near monitored locations on major rivers of Sri Lanka, along with example applications to two locations on River Mahaweli. It is hoped that these tools will help bridge the gap between EF science and its practice in Sri Lanka and other developing countries.

The production of competitive high-quality composts from Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) and recovering at least operational and maintenance (Oamp;M) cost of doing so are common challenges. A field study was conducted covering 13 public sector M5W compost plants in the country and their performance was assessed through semistructured interviews, and by exploring the challenges faced by the compost sector in general. To understand the potential of the industry, the quantities of nutrient recovered from the MSW collected and the amount of compost produced, which can actually be used as a soil conditioner and as an upgraded fertilizer blended with fecal sludge (FS), were estimated and compared with total nutrient demand from predominant farming systems. By considering the compost plant capacities the present compost potential in Sri Lanka is estimated as 200 tons/day. The nutrient values of the M5W compost are 0.9%,0.4% and 0.8% for N, P and K, respectively. If the MSW and FS co-composting is conducted the potential rice tones based on N,P,K values can be estimated as 44,000, 949,000 and 84,000 respectively. This is an increase of 130 %, 980 % and 290 % (with respect to N, P, and K) compared to the MSW compost. The actual sale to actual compost production is in the range of 1-100 %, with an average of 44 %. At present, most of the compost plants in operation in Sri Lanka are either medium or small scale. The present average cost recovery potential is as low as one-third of the Oamp;M cost ofthe compost plant, with variances from 3 % to 106 %. It was evidenced that the capital cost cannot be recovered. This will possibly reduce further if large-scale compost plants were introduced in cities that are more mechanized and consume more energy. The study concluded that the MSW compost industry should try to (a) improve its value proposition by producing a competitive organic fertilizer, e.g. by blending the MSW input with F5, (b) perform a detailed market analyses to assess its production potential before any new plant is built, and (c) avoid over-sized plants and those that are heavily dependent on energy to keep production costs to a minimum.

Background: Even though Plasmodium vivax has the widest worldwide distribution of the human malaria species and imposes a serious impact on global public health, the investigation of genetic diversity in this species has been limited in comparison to Plasmodium falciparum. Markers of genetic diversity are vital to the evaluation of drug and vaccine efficacy, tracking of P. vivax outbreaks, and assessing geographical differentiation between parasite populations. Methods: The genetic diversity of eight P. vivax populations (n = 543) was investigated by using two microsatellites (MS), m1501 and m3502, chosen because of their seven and eight base-pair (bp) repeat lengths, respectively. These were compared with published data of the same loci from six other P. vivax populations. Results: In total, 1,440 P. vivax samples from 14 countries on three continents were compared. There was highest heterozygosity within Asian populations, where expected heterozygosity (He) was 0.92-0.98, and alleles with a high repeat number were more common. Pairwise FST revealed significant differentiation between most P. vivax populations, with the highest divergence found between Asian and South American populations, yet the majority of the diversity (~89%) was found to exist within rather than between populations. Conclusions: The MS markers used were informative in both global and local P. vivax population comparisons and their seven and eight bp repeat length facilitated population comparison using data from independent studies. A complex spatial pattern of MS polymorphisms among global P. vivax populations was observed which has potential utility in future epidemiological studies of the P. vivax parasite.

This manuscript undertakes a review of current published information (peer-reviewed and grey literature) on Chronic Kidney Disease of Unknown Etiology (CKDu) in Sri Lanka. It attempts to provide an overview of the possible environmentally-induced causal factors that have been implicated in the development of the disease, and identifies the gaps in research and recommends potential areas for future research. The review specifically captures the potential role that agriculture and water resources may play as causal factors in the development of the disease, and calls for a systematic approach and stresses the need for an integrated multi-disciplinary research effort to address the problem.

This study combines a livelihoods approach with a regression approach to quantify the effectiveness of irrigation infrastructure investment on improving people’s livelihood strategies. Using a unique dataset based on households in southern Sri Lanka, and a natural experimental setting, we estimate from a two-stage income regression model to show that irrigation access has a positive effect on income through livelihood choices. We also show through qualitative approaches that factors not linked to irrigation infrastructure may contribute to changes in livelihood portfolios. In addition, we highlight factors that result in certain households being unable to move out of poverty despite access to the improved irrigation infrastructure.

Environmental flow describes the stream flow (quantity and regime) required to sustain upstream and downstream habitats, riparian vegetation, human livelihoods and wildlife. When natural rivers or tributaries are held back by weirs, anicuts, barrages or dams, for a variety of purposes such as diversion for irrigation, hydropower generation or flood control often the downstream flow requirement is ignored or neglected. Although there is no universally accepted definition, convention or law on environmental flow, it has been now recognized that environmental flow is essential for sustainability of riparian ecosystem and their services, which are essential for our own existence, livelihoods and many more. This paper looks at physical structures constructed across rivers and tributaries in Sri Lanka since ancient times to date (including mini-hydro power stations) with a view to understand whether simple ancient wisdoms are more appropriate than modern structures for nature conservation. There are tangible evidence to defend that the ancient anicuts known as “amuna” surged sufficient water in tributaries and rivers, to sustain the environment than modern engineering works which has created dead river beds immediately downstream in many streams and rivers.

Due to its low nutrient content, compost from municipal solid waste (MSI1 qualifies mostly as a conditioner of soil physical properties than soil fertility. This limits the value proposition of the compost and its potential for cost recovery to maintain the compost stations. One way to enhance the compost value is to enrich it with nutrients. Given the increasing attention to fecal sludge (FS) management from septic tanks and latrines, co-composting of both waste streams could be a win-win option to increase the compost nutrient value. To assess the current situation of MSW composting and opportunities and acceptance of co-composting in Sri Lanka several field surveys were conducted including a study of 13 MSW compost plants and current septage management practices in 41 local authorities (LA), a detailed case study of an existing plant mixing MSW and FS, and a willingness to pay study among 257 farmers in proximity of a designated pilot co-composting station. The average cost recovery percentage of the existing compost plants was less than one third of the Oamp;M costs in Sri Lanka with significant variations. The willingness to pay study indicated a high interest in enriched compost. Field trials showed that co-composting with septage could enhance the MSW compost nutrient value. For example, the Phosphorous content of 0.4% could be increased nearly 10 times. In general, co-composting could increase the financial sustainability of the existing compost plants to a substantial degree, while nutrient recovery from MSW without septage addition may not be financially sustainable. Pelletized co-compost could have an increased market value of 70%-1000,1, compare to the normal MSW compost.

Urbanization, population growth and rapid development have created a notable shift in septage* management in Sri Lanka, necessitating a vast and rapid improvement in the service of mechanized septage collection by trucks and finding additional space to meet the increasing septage disposal needs. According to data collected in 2012, 58% of the Local Authorities (LAs) in Sri Lanka have access to septic truck services. Septage (from septic trucks) appears as a non-traditional and fairly new urban waste stream without proper regulatory and institutional arrangement to manage. This paper contains a comprehensive legal, regulatory and institutional analysis of the present situation, and identify the needs and gaps that need to be filled to establish a sustainable septage management service in Sri Lanka. This review has elicited the need for a new array of regulatory and institutional interventions from national level to local level to manage septage.

The lack of accessibility to safe drinking water is one of the primary constraints affecting rural livelihoods, especially in the Dry Zone of Sri Lanka. This situation affects the poor more than the rich people in the community. Rainwater harvesting systems (RWHS) were implemented using the roof as the catchment at household level under subsidized schemes, which was a measure to minimize water and sanitation issues. The harvested rainwater was intended to be used for drinking and other domestic purposes with or without treatment. Assessment of the current status of RWHS in the country shows that there is a high correlation between the lack of some of the essential components of RWHS and non-use of the system. All the systems that were not being used lacked one or more of the essential components of a typical RWHS, such as gutters, tank lid, filter and first flush device. Due to the subsidized scheme, part of the system was provided by the beneficiaries in order to get ownership. Economic reasons and the willingness to use rainwater delayed providing the expected contribution to the beneficiary. With time, the system never became fully functional. There were some who made use of the system and maintained it fully, but this was around 50% of the original number of beneficiaries. Awareness also plays an important role in adoption of the system. As expected, almost all the beneficiaries who had undertaken routine maintenance of RWHS used the harvested rainwater for drinking purposes. Abandonment of systems takes place when the system provided is incomplete or if it lacks one or more of the essential components.

Introduction: With the renewed drive towards malaria elimination, there is a need for improved surveillance tools. While time series analysis is an important tool for surveillance, prediction and for measuring interventions’ impact, approximations by commonly used Gaussian methods are prone to inaccuracies when case counts are low. Therefore, statistical methods appropriate for count data are required, especially during ‘‘consolidation’’ and ‘‘pre-elimination’’ phases.Methods: Generalized autoregressive moving average (GARMA) models were extended to generalized seasonal autoregressive integrated moving average (GSARIMA) models for parsimonious observation-driven modelling of non Gaussian, non stationary and/or seasonal time series of count data. The models were applied to monthly malaria case time series in a district in Sri Lanka, where malaria has decreased dramatically in recent years.Results: The malaria series showed long-term changes in the mean, unstable variance and seasonality. After fitting negativebinomial Bayesian models, both a GSARIMA and a GARIMA deterministic seasonality model were selected based on different criteria. Posterior predictive distributions indicated that negative-binomial models provided better predictions than Gaussian models, especially when counts were low. The G(S)ARIMA models were able to capture the autocorrelation in the series.Conclusions: G(S)ARIMA models may be particularly useful in the drive towards malaria elimination, since episode count series are often seasonal and non-stationary, especially when control is increased. Although building and fitting GSARIMA models is laborious, they may provide more realistic prediction distributions than do Gaussian methods and may be more suitable when counts are low.

We present a framework for prioritizing adaptation approaches at a range of timeframes. The framework is illustrated by four case studies from developing countries, each with associated characterisation of uncertainty. Two cases, on near-term adaptation planning in Sri Lanka and on stakeholder scenario exercises in East Africa, show how the relative utility of ‘capacity’ versus ‘impact’ approaches to adaptation planning differ with level of uncertainty and associated lead time. A further two cases demonstrate that it is possible to identify uncertainties that are relevant to decision-making in specific timeframes and circumstances. The case on coffee in Latin America identifies altitudinal thresholds at which incremental versus transformative adaptation pathways are robust options. The final case uses three crop-climate simulation studies to demonstrate how uncertainty can be characterised at different time horizons to discriminate where robust adaptation options are possible. We find that ‘impact’ approaches, which use predictive models, are increasingly useful over longer lead times and at higher levels of greenhouse gas emissions. We also find that extreme events are important in determining predictability across a broad range of timescales. The results demonstrate the potential for robust knowledge and actions in the face of uncertainty.

This study combines a livelihoods approach with a regression approach to quantify the effectiveness of irrigation infrastructure investment on improving people’s livelihood strategies. Using a unique data set based on households in southern Sri Lanka, and a natural experimental setting, we estimate from a two stage income regression model to show that irrigation access has a positive effect on income through livelihood choices. We also show through qualitative approaches that factors not linked to irrigation infrastructure may contribute to changes in livelihood portfolios. In addition, we highlight factors that result in certain households being unable to move out of poverty despite access to the improved irrigation infrastructure.

This paper shows that winds of change are blowing in the dry zones of north-central Sri Lanka, the original hydraulic civilisation of the world. The social organisation of tank irrigation – which for centuries had combined a stylised land-use pattern, a system of highly differentiated property rights, and elaborate rules of community management of tank irrigation –has now been morphing in response to demographic pressures, market signals, technical change and modernisation. What are the lessons for south Asia and sub-Saharan Africa?

The Jaffna Peninsula has four main aquifer systems, of which the largest Chunnakam aquifer is in the Valikamam area. This is an intensively cultivated area in the Jaffna Peninsula, and consequently, excessive application of nitrogen fertilizer is found. Other sources of nitrate include organic manures, and urine and excreta of animals through human activities. The aim of this study was to assess the N-nitrate contamination in drinking water of the Chunnakam aquifer, which was a sub-objective of a research project carried out by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI). Forty four (44) groundwater samples were collected from wells representing different uses and land use patterns. The sampling covered the period from January to December, 2011, representing all seasons. Nitrate-N in sampled water was determined colorimetrically using a spectrophotometer. The spatial variations of the water quality were mapped using ArcGIS 10. Nitrate-N values from domestic, domestic with home garden and public wells ranged from below 0.1 to 12.1 mg Lapos;I. During the rainy season, 38% of the agro-wells exceeded the limit of WHO drinking water guidelines (10 mg L I) and these were not suitable for drinking purposes. However, this percentage was 15% at the end of the dry season. A decreasing trend in nitrate-N concentration was observed from January to March. During the rainy season, the soil was wet enough up to the water table facilitating nitrate leaching. Nitrate-N found in most of the wells surrounded by areas with highland crops (onions, chillies, tobacco and brinjals) also exceeded the acceptable level (10 rug Lapos;l). Even though these wells are used for agricultural purposes, people who work in the field use agro-wel1s for drinking. This water pollution is very likely related to the heavy use of N-based fertilizers for cultivation in the region. This leads to groundwater unsafe for drinking. Therefore, effective management of groundwater quality in the region is vital and further, creating awareness among population would possibly reduce the excessive use of chemical fertilizers in agriculture.

In southern Sri Lanka, irrigation influences the concentrations of faecal bacteria and inorganic toxic contaminants in groundwater. We develop a groundwater vulnerability map describing the potential human health implications of harmful constituents in the Uda Walawe Basin, by overlaying geological and land use data with information describing the irrigation system, the oxygen isotope composition of water bodies, and the concentrations of selected contaminants. Given the limited data available, we examine the spatial distribution of harmful constituents and the potential human health risks. Fluoride poisoning from groundwater is the greatest health threat in our study area, where fluoride concentrations ranging from 0.1 to 9.2 mg/L are associated with a geologic origin. Arsenic occurs in high concentrations, up to 0.4 mg/L, in areas with low recharge, although the source of arsenic is not clear. Nitrate concentrations are low, ranging from 0.4 to 23 mg/L, despite high fertilizer inputs, except in areas with low recharge and non-favourable reducing conditions, where concentrations up to 136 mg/L are found. Faecal bacteria decrease from surface water via shallow groundwater to deep groundwater. Irrigation water appears to play a major role in increasing microbial contamination and diluting inorganic constituents in groundwater. Hence, the most important determinants for mapping groundwater vulnerability are local geology and infiltration of irrigation water. The method we present provides a qualitative, yet practical, alternative to commonly used vulnerability mapping techniques for countries where high human health risk via consumption of groundwater is inevitable, and thus acts as a tool for selecting preventive and curative measures.

Agricultural development towards security of food, nutrition and livelihood is high on the political agenda in Sri Lanka. Recently, national priorities have included the development of food-secure and resilient cities; in this regard, the Western Province has been a forerunner, having commenced its urban agriculture campaign as early as 2000.

Changes in future rainfall distribution for the agro-ecological regions of Sri Lanka were analyzed. The baseline period to compare future predictions was taken as 1970 to 2000. Downscaled climate change prediction grids were extracted from the UK Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and Research Model (HadCM3). These grids were extracted for 2050. In the baseline period 76 stations of147 showed decreasing trends in annual rainfall and 71 increasing trends. Thirty six of the 76 stations showing a decrease were in the wet zone. In the intermediate zone 17 stations showed increasing trends and in the dry zone 34 stations indicated increasing trends. Mean annual rainfall (MAR) for the baseline period for the whole country was 2094 mm/year while the projected value for 2050 is 2249 mm/year. The increase of MAR over Sri Lanka by 2050 compared to the baseline period is about 7%. The comparison of rainfall between the baseline period and 2050 showed that some areas of the dry zone will receive MAR of more than 1750 mm and could be classified and included into the intermediate zone by 2050. Further, the increase of MAR for 11 agroecological regions goes beyond the variability observed in the baseline data set.

This paper describes the value of a computer-based simulation model in the implementation of participatory water allocation policy in Sri Lanka. The model simulates the interconnected networks of 7 basins, including 18 reservoirs, 19 irrigation schemes and 13 hydropower stations. Stakeholders are involved in data collection for the simulation runs, review of the technically acceptable water allocation plan, implementation of the plan and post-implementation review. The modelled nexus captures 72% of the available surface water resources of the island. The result helps to achieve the food and energy security of the country, serving the livelihoods of millions of people.

Ecosystem based approach (EBA) for resource management is a concerted, environmentally tuned and an integrated framework that holistically addresses the ecological character of the natural resource, its societal benefit spectrum and its environmental functions. In this paper, the EBA concept is closely linked with the emerging concept of multiple use systems (MUS) while taking account of environmental, economic, and social factors that govern the ecosystems services and benefits. We elucidate a multi-scalar approach and multiple case studies to understand EBA particularly in context of a wetlandscape. At the global scale, Ramsar sites of international importance are geospatially analyzed with reference to their agro-ecology and biodiversity. At regional scale, the agrarian use of inland wetlands in India was re-evaluated taking account of database from a recent inland wetland inventory. At the local scale, drawing on the landscape characterization and the ecological economics for fresh water Lake Kolleru in India and the Muthurajawela Marsh-Negombo Lagoon coastal marsh in Sri Lanka, we illustrate some of the practical challenges in balancing wetland conservation, development needs and the overall well-being of local people. We also discuss how variability in the scale, geophysical characteristics of the site and the data availability confines the ability to simplify a single complete approach to address issues in complex ecosystem such as wetlands. All levels of the study are supported by a variety of earth observation data and the geographical information system (GIS) tools. The site level analysis also draws on socio-economic assessment tools.

The two components of the study reflect assessment and change analysis of a tropical wetland in Sri Lanka. The first section explains spatial classification using pixel level-disaggregated image analysis and refined aggregated image analysis and comparison of information extracted by all methods to analyse a better classifier. The second section illustrates change analysis calibrating the land change modeller (LCM) [IDRISI-Andes]. Key observations: a) visual interpretation provides comprehensive blueprint of the wetlandscape compared to supervised and unsupervised classifiers b) change in landscape pattern reflect substantial transition in wetland use. Validation using field coordinates and socioeconomic data showed kappa value (%) of 87.

Availability of rainfall time-series is limited in many parts of the World, and the continuity of such records is variable. This research endeavors to extend actual daily rainfall observations to ungauged areas, taking into account events of rainfall as well as cumulative total daily rainfall, over a period of 11 years. Results show that rainfall events histograms can be reconstructed, and that total cumulative rainfall is estimated with 85% accuracy, using a surrounding network of rain gauges at 30-50 Km of distance from the point of study. This research can strengthen various types of research and applications such as ungauged basins research, regional climate modeling, food security early warning systems, agricultural insurance systems, etc.

On December 26, 2004, the earthquake off the southern coast of Sumatra in the Indian Ocean generated far-reaching tsunami waves, resulting in severe disruption of the coastal aquifers in many countries of the region. The objective of this study was to examine the impact of the tsunami on groundwater in coastal areas. Field investigations on the east coast of Sri Lanka were carried out along a transect located perpendicular to the coastline on a 2.4 km wide sand stretch bounded by the sea and a lagoon. Measurements of groundwater table elevation and electrical conductivity (EC) of the groundwater were carried out monthly from October 2005 to August 2007. The aquifer system and tsunami saltwater intrusion were modeled using the variable-density flow and solute transport code HST3D to understand the tsunami plume behavior and estimate the aquifer recovery time. EC values reduced as a result of the monsoonal rainfall following the tsunami with a decline in reduction rate during the dry season. The upper part of the saturated zone (down to 2.5 m) returned to freshwater conditions (EC lt; 1000 S/cm) 1 to 1.5 years after the tsunami, according to field observations. On the basis of model simulations, it may take more than 15 years for the entire aquifer (down to 28 m) to recover completely, although the top 6 m of the aquifer may become fresh in about 5 years.

Of the various types of irrigation system in the Dry Zone of Sri Lanka and South India small tank systems are the least well-endowed in terms of the quantity and reliability of water. Yet, these systems have existed for centuries and continue to support a sizeable proportion of the population. The Tank systems generally provide or regulate water for multiple uses: irrigation, domestic needs, livestock, inland fishery and sub-surface moisture for upland crops The multiple use of resources was facilitated by moderating the strategic behavior of agents in a semicommons setting where the tank and water conveyance structures were held as common property and a system of private property rights exercised over scattered parcels of land in the command area. The resilience the system was further strengthened strengthened by operating the system within the framework of a moral economy. In recent decades the economic significance of minor tanks is on the wane. Important performance indicators such as area irrigated, cropping intensities, productivity levels, efficiency in water use are below potential. Farmers are increasingly compelled to rely on off farm employment and rainfed cultivation for their subsistence needs. Underlying many of the problems is a set of circumstances creating a vicious cycle which starts with pollution pressure, sub-division of land, fragmentation of in property rights regimes from semi-commons to private property, degradation of the catchment area, deterioration of the water conveyance systems and the proliferation of groundwater development resulting in differential access to water and consequently significant socio-economic differentiation in a traditionally egalitarian society and weakening the moral economy. This paper is an attempt to grasp the complex dynamics that characterize the transitional nature of agrarian systems and the fragmentation of property rights in tanks systems in Sri Lanka and Tamilnadu due to changes in social, economic, political, cultural processes and technological innovations, This paper identifies potential vulnerable areas in the management of commons property resources in the villages especially in the context of less reliance l on local resources; change in the individual preferences; enhanced economic, social, and geographical mobility of people; the high transaction costs of social arrangements to manage local resources; gradual loss of common interests and group identity, and greater integration to the market, The paper attempts to examine the shape and the role of the institutions managing the small tank systems under such changing circumstance and propose institutional arrangements for the effective governance of the tank systems.

This is the final report (2009-2011 June) of the RUAF-FSTT Programme for the South and South East Asia Region, coordinated by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), from its Regional Office in Hyderabad, India. The programme of activities were carried out in two cities, namely Magadi, Ramanagara District, India, and Gampaha, Sri Lanka from 2009 to June 2011, with an no-cost extension of six months, ending in year June 2011. This programme of activities came under IWMI’s theme on Water quality, Health and Environment.The programme was aimed at strengthening farmer organisations and their marketing capacities in urban/periurban settings, and developing sustainable urban farming systems that will contribute towards poverty alleviation, empowerment of disadvantaged and underserved groups in cities, enhance urban food security and social inclusion in development. The core activities were planned around two major components; 1. Operationalisation of a City Strategy Agenda (CSA), through a city multistakeholder forum (MSF) to promote Urban/Periurban Agriculture (UPA), which included diverse UPA activities and supported the shaping of policies to sustain UPA activities; 2. An innovation project that targeted low-income urban producers to innovate their farming practices from a market chain perspective, promoting eco-intensive agriculture based on ecological principals and maximum use of natural resources.

The Muthurajawela-Negombo wetland system in Sri Lanka provides critical ecosystem services for local people. The wetland has, however, undergone considerable ecological change over the past few decades. A multi-scale, inter-disciplinary approach that combined geospatial analyses with livelihoods analyses was used to assess environmental change in the wetland and the impact of this change on local livelihoods. While a geospatial model was used to determine broad changes in land use patterns in the wetland, an in-depth case study covering one village was conducted, using local perceptions to explore the inter-linkages between environmental change and livelihood systems at the household level. The findings of this study suggest that there have been significant changes in the wetland cover/use patterns during the period under investigation and that these changes have been observed and experienced by local communities. There are differences in local perceptions on whether these changes are for the better or worse. This may be linked to whether the land cover types are directly accessed and used in the household livelihood system, and to the geographic location of the land cover types in relation to the village. The findings indicate the usefulness of adopting this type of approach where both conservation and development needs are considered to address environmental concerns and related livelihood issues in wetlands.

The geographical distribution of genetic variation in Plasmodium vivax samples ( N = 386) from nine districts across Sri Lanka is described using three markers; the P. vivax merozoite surface protein -3a ( Pvmsp -3a) gene, and the two microsatellites m1501 and m3502. At Pvmsp -3a, 11 alleles were found with an expected heterozygosity (H e ) of 0.81, whereas at m1501 and m3502, 24 alleles (H e = 0.85) and 8 alleles (H e = 0.74) were detected, respectively. Overall, 95 unique three locus genotypes were detected among the 279 samples positive at all three loci (H e = 0.95). Calculating the pairwise fixation index ( F ST ) revealed statistically significant population structure. The presence of identical 2-loci microsatellite genotypes in a significant proportion of samples revealed local clusters of closely related isolates contributing to strong linkage disequilibrium between marker alleles. The results show evidence of high genetic diversity and possible population substructure of P. vivax populations in Sri Lanka.

The purpose of this case study is to describe the importance of groundwater for secure emergency water resource after the huge Hanshin-Awaji (Kobe) earthquake which occurred in 1995. Around 1,270,000 households were cut off from municipal water supply after the earthquake and medical activities in many hospitals were seriously affected by water scarcity. However, it was possible to pump groundwater from several wells immediately after the earthquake. Resistance of wells against the impact of earthquakes has been noted and registration system of citizen’s wells has been established in 1996 in Kobe. Within next two years 517 suitable emergency wells were registered and their location entered on maps. Based on the Kobe experience similar emergency water well systems have been established by many municipal and local governments in Japan to be used as a safe source of water in emergency. In some hospitals deep wells have been drilled, equipped with pumps and diesel driven generators and are prepared for immediate use in an emergency situation.

The global prevalence of chronic kidney disease (CKD) of uncertain etiology may be underreported. Communitylevel epidemiological studies are few due to the lack of national registries and poor focus on the reporting of noncommunicable diseases. Here we describe the prevalence of proteinuric-CKD and disease characteristics of three rural populations in the North Central, Central, and Southern Provinces of Sri Lanka. Patients were selected using the random cluster sampling method and those older than 19 years of age were screened for persistent dipstick proteinuria. The prevalence of proteinuric-CKD in the Medawachchiya region (North Central) was 130 of 2600 patients, 68 of 709 patients in the Yatinuwara region (Central), and 66 of 2844 patients in the Hambantota region (Southern). The mean ages of these patients with CKD ranged from 44 to 52 years. Diabetes and long-standing hypertension were the main risk factors of CKD in the Yatinuwara and Hambantota regions. Age, exceeding 60 years, and farming were strongly associated with proteinuric-CKD in the Medawachchiya region; however, major risk factors were uncertain in 87% of these patients. Of these patients, 26 underwent renal biopsy; histology indicated tubulointerstitial disease. Thus, proteinuric-CKD of uncertain etiology is prevalent in the North Central Province of Sri Lanka. In contrast, known risk factors were associated with CKD in the Central and Southern Provinces.

Agricultural development towards food, nutrition and livelihood security is high on the political agenda in Sri Lanka. A number of national programmes (e.g. Api Wawamu Rata Nagamu 2007-2010 1 and Divi Neguma) have focussed on achieving greater self-sufficiency at household level in order to reach a higher GDP in the agricultural sector with higher economic returns. Recently, national priorities have included the development of food-secure resilient cities, and in this regard, the Western Province has been a forerunner, having commenced its urban agriculture campaign already in 2000.

Irrigated agriculture plays an important role in achieving food security in developing countries. As competition for water increases, water transfers from agriculture to other water use sectors should be approached in a scientific manner. Improvements of water use efficiency in agriculture and the optimal water allocation among competing users are seen as feasible solutions to this problem. In situations where water demand exceeds the supply, a holistic management policy is required. This work analyses a rural river basin, the Walawe River Basin in Sri Lanka, where different users face supply shortages while up to 44% of water is still available for use in the basin. The study analyses how the variability in supply and demands can lead to water shortages in the basin. Several demand management scenarios are analyzed to evaluate the effects of irrigation efficiency increase and hydropower production mode on the overall water supply-demand situation. The results provide valuable information for formulating management practices and policies.

There is ample evidence to suggest that Sri Lanka’s climate has already changed. However, the bigger question of national importance is what Sri Lanka’s climate will look like in 50 or 100 years and how prepared the country is to face such changes. This report reviews the status of climate change (CC) research/activities in Sri Lanka in terms of observed and projected climatic changes, their impacts on water resources and agriculture, CC mitigation and adaptation, and research needs. The study also developed a pilot level CC Vulnerability Index, which was subsequently mapped at district level. The maps indicate that typical farming districts such as Nuwara Eliya, Badulla, Moneragala, Ratnapura and Anuradhapura are the most vulnerable to CC due to their heavy reliance on primary agriculture.

Nishadi Eriyagama highlights a number of important results on climate change in Sri Lanka based on a recent study by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), including the identification of the country’s agricultural vulnerability hotspots and existing knowledge gaps. A pilot level Climate Change Vulnerability Index consisting of three sub-indices (Exposure; Sensitivity; and Adaptive Capacity) was developed and mapped at district scale. Various “smart investments” and “no regrets” adaptation options in the water sector that “simultaneously deliver climate resilience and address current development needs” are being considered. These include rainwater harvesting in drought prone areas; restoration of the ancient tank system; development of sustainable groundwater; promotion and adoption of microirrigation technologies; wastewater reuse; increasing water use efficiency; and change of allocation practices, as well as research on crop adaptation (e.g., rice; field crops; horticultural crops; tea; rubber and coconut). Sea-level rise is also being considered. However, “a comprehensive national study on river basin or district scale on vulnerability of Sri Lanka’s water resources and agriculture sectors to climate change”, using reliable methodologies and tools, is “urgently needed” for better “strategic” adaptation planning. She stresses the importance of “creating awareness among different stakeholders on vulnerabilities, impacts and adaptation options”, as well as encouraging “farmers to take individual or communal action to prepare for climate change.”

This is the second volume of the proceedings of the National Conference on ‘Water for Food and Environment’, which was held from June 9 –11, 2009 at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH). The volumes 1 and 3 have been produced as separate documents of this report series. In response to a call for abstracts, 81 abstracts were received from government institutes dealing with water resources and agriculture development, universities, other freelance researchers and researchers from the International Water Management Institute (IWMI). Forty seven of the eighty-one abstracts that were submitted were accepted for compiling full papers.; In the past couple of years the sharp increase in food prices worldwide has raised serious concerns about food security, especially in developing countries. To effectively address these concerns a holistic approach is required that encompasses improved agricultural water productivity, adaptation to climate change, targeted and appropriate institutional and financial measures, and a consideration of environmental issues. The main purpose of the conference was to share experiences in these areas and to find opportunities to improve farmers’ incomes and food production, and to promote environmentally sustainable practices in Sri Lanka in the face of growing water scarcity and the challenges of climate change.

This is the first volume on the proceedings of the national conference on ‘Water for Food and Environment’, which was held from June 9–11, 2009 at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH). The volumes two and three have been produced as separate documents of this report series. In response to a call for abstracts, 81 abstracts were received from government institutes dealing with water resources and agriculture development, also from universities, other freelance researchers and researchers from the International Water Management Institute (IWMI).; Forty Seven of the eighty-one abstracts that were submitted were accepted for compiling full papers.; In the past couple of years the sharp increase in food prices worldwide has raised serious concerns about food security, especially in developing countries. To effectively address these concerns a holistic approach is required that encompasses improved agricultural water productivity, adaptation to climate change, targeted and appropriate institutional and financial measures, and a consideration of environmental issues. The main purpose of the conference was to share experiences in these areas and to find opportunities to improve farmers’ incomes and food production, and to promote environmentally sustainable practices in Sri Lanka in the face of growing water scarcity and the challenges of climate change.

Climate is changing world-wide, and the science community in Sri Lanka has come up with ample evidence to suggest that the country’s climate has already changed. During 1961-1990 the country’s mean air temperature increased by 0.016 0C per year, and the mean annual rainfall decreased by 144 mm (7 %) compared to the period 1931-1960. In addition, mean annual daytime maximum and mean annual night-time minimum air temperatures increased. However, the bigger question of national importance is what Sri Lanka’s climate will look like in 50 or 100 years and how prepared is the country to face it. Apart from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) projections at the coarse global scale, few studies have attempted to project future climate scenarios for Sri Lanka and to identify climate change impacts on agriculture, water resources, the sea level, the plantation sector, the economy and health. Vulnerability and adaptation to climate change are the least studied areas. This paper reviews the status of climate change research and activities in Sri Lanka with respect to future climate projections, impacts, climate change mitigation and the country’s ability to adapt, and identifies existing knowledge gaps. Messages emerging from this review suggest that Sri Lanka’s mean temperature during the North-East (December-February) and South-West (May-September) monsoon seasons will increase by about 2.9 0C and 2.5 0C, respectively, over the baseline (1961-1990), by the year 2100 with accompanying changes in the quantity and spatial distribution of rainfall. Extreme climate events are expected to increase in frequency. These changes will bring about widespread impacts on the country’s agriculture and economy For example, an increase of 0.5 0C in temperature can reduce rice yield by approximately 6%; extended dry spells and excessive cloudiness during the wet season can reduce coconut yield resulting in annual losses between $32 and $73 million to the economy. Pilot studies in the Galle District suggest that sea level rise could inundate about 20 % of the land area of Galle’s coastal District Secretariat Divisions. Adaptation measures already undertaken in the agriculture sector include the development of low water consuming rice varieties and the use of micro-irrigation technologies. Tools have been developed for predicting seasonal water availability within the Mahaweli Scheme and annual national coconut production. However, Sri Lanka is yet to undertake a comprehensive national study on the vulnerability of her water resources and agriculture to climate change. The formulation of detailed and reliable future climate scenarios for the country is therefore, urgently required.

Water is a multiple use resource. Increasing scarcity and competition from various sectors is an important dimension to be considered in its management. Understanding the value of water to different water uses is, therefore, necessary to assist decision-making in water allocation among sectors. Although water used in agriculture can be valued using production function approaches, such direct valuation methods are not available for the environmental uses of water. This paper uses non-market valuation methods to estimate the economic value of a committed flow through a unique ecosystem, the Yala Protected Area Complex (YPC). The Yala Protected Area Complex is an important wildlife refuge situated in south-eastern Sri Lanka. Its large land extent, undisturbed nature, and abundance and diversity of fauna contribute to its uniqueness. The fact that the YPC is also the most visited national park in Sri Lanka is partially a result of this uniqueness. However, maintenance of the park’s ecosystem depends on the flow of the Menik Ganga. This flow is regulated by the Veheragala Reservoir Project, and there is now discussion of reducing flow into the park by about half of the current level. The proposed plan ensures dry season flow into the YPC and, therefore, has been deemed acceptable. However, there is a possibility that farmers will demand further water releases during the dry season which could in turn endanger the planned downstream water releases. So there is a potential trade-off between environmental and irrigation uses of water. A willingness to pay (WTP) survey was conducted in ten districts in Sri Lanka during the fourth quarter of 2008 to estimate the WTP of the general population of the country towards maintaining this important environmental resource. In the hypothetical market presented, participants were told of the need for financial contributions from the general public to ensure the release of a minimum downstream flow commitment of 50 MCM. Participants were also informed of how this flow would enhance the ecosystem of the YPC. A single bound dichotomous choice contingent valuation approach was used as the elicitation format. Nonobligatory voluntary contributions were solicited towards a trust fund that could be used to ensure release of the required quantity of water downstream during dry months. According to the results of a binary logistic regression, income, age, and religious attachments are important factors affecting the decision to contribute to environmental flow maintenance to the YPC. Sixty-five percent of respondents were willing to pay something to ensure the maintenance of an adequate environmental flow in the YPC. The estimated mean WTP for water releases to enhance the YPC is Sri Lankan Rupees (SLR) 435 per year. Over the requested payment horizon of 10 years, the present value of aggregate WTP from the Sri Lankan population to enhance the ecosystem of the YPC is SLR 12 billion. This quantity greatly surpasses the present

Assessment and provision of Environmental Flows (EF) is important for the protection of aquatic ecosystems. EF are a set of discharges of a particular magnitude, frequency and timing that are necessary to ensure a certain range of benefits from a river. Such flows need to be scientifically determined and economically justified. Limited exposure to the concept of EF exists in developing countries. This paper gives two recent relevant example studies, which were conducted by IWMI, with foci on EF Assessment (EFA) and valuation of EF benefits in the Walawe and Menik Ganga river basins located in a semi-arid zone of southern Sri Lanka. The Walawe example illustrates the simple method for estimation of EF. The EF are approximated at two sites along the main stream of the Walawe River, which are located below the two main reservoirs. A desktop method is used, which is based on simulated, unregulated daily flow time series and their flow duration curves. The study also illustrates how the required hydrological information can be generated for the locations where EF assessment is intended – quickly and in conditions of limited observed data. The second Menik Ganga example is used as a case study to evaluate the costs and benefits of environmental water allocations. The EF components evaluated include the water needs for religious festivals, and the requirements of the Yala National Park, the Pilinnawa coastal wetland and grasslands, and the Yala Fisheries Management Area (YFMA) off the coast. Almost all estimates are based on use values of EF such as marketed goods and recreation. The paper intends to stimulate discussion and further research in the fields of EF assessment and economic valuation.

Wetlands are habitats with temporary or permanent accumulation of water. The degradation and loss of wetlands is more rapid than that for other ecosystems, and wetland-dependent biodiversity in many parts of the world is in continuing and accelerating decline. They have been confirmed to deliver a wide range of critical and important services vital for human well-being. Therefore, it is clear that sound wetland management is now expected to not only consider conserving the ecological integrity of the ecosystem but also to pay specific attention to the well-being of local people, thereby contributing to poverty alleviation. Wetlands, both fresh and marine, have a multitude of benefits, in addition to environmental benefits, such as for agriculture, flood control, water purification, fisheries and recreation. For the maintenance and sustainability of wetlands the crucial requirement is water – a resource that has multiple demands and competition. The main competitor for the water resource around the world is agriculture for food production, a basic requirement for human survival. Therefore, in a situation of wetlands versus food production, the balance tips towards food production without considering the adverse consequences to the wetlands or adequately appreciating the benefits from achieving a balance. This is where Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) should be adopted to facilitate this process and enable wetland management and agricultural management to fit into the picture along with the other multiple uses of water. Integrated Water Resource Management should be of considerable interest for Sri Lanka, being a country which has agriculture very high on the agenda. The country is also home to a range of wetlands including 103 distinct river basins and 42 lagoons, which support a multitude of functions and services to people. The relationship between agriculture and wetlands in Sri Lanka is complex. The proliferation of village level water storage structures (small tanks) has created an unusually large number of man-made wetland habitats that add significantly to the natural wetlands that are concentrated mainly in the coastal belt. The absence of an integrated approach to water resource development however, continues to erode natural wetland systems. Two major problems, which concern downstream fisheries and livelihoods, are high levels of agricultural pollution, especially through the excessive use of fertilizers, and modifications to the hydrology. The objective of this paper is to review the work of the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) on wetlands and agriculture in Sri Lanka, to look at the competing water demands between water for wetlands and water required for agriculture, keeping in mind the requirements for nature as well as the sustainability of livelihoods. The paper will address some impacts of agriculture on wetlands, the consequences for livelihoods and the benefits of adopting the IWRM approach, building a

This is the third volume of the proceedings of the national conference on ‘Water for Food and Environment’, which was held from June 9 –11, 2009 at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH). The volumes 1 and 2 have been produced as separate documents of this report series. In response to a call for abstracts, 81 abstracts were received from government institutes dealing with water resources and agriculture development, universities, other freelance researchers and researchers from the International Water Management Institute (IWMI). Forty seven of the eighty-one abstracts that were submitted were accepted for compiling full papers.; In the past couple of years the sharp increase in food prices worldwide has raised serious concerns about food security, especially in developing countries. To effectively address these concerns a holistic approach is required that encompasses improved agricultural water productivity, adaptation to climate change, targeted and appropriate institutional and financial measures, and a consideration of environmental issues. The main purpose of the conference was to share experiences in these areas and to find opportunities to improve farmers’ incomes and food production, and to promote environmentally sustainable practices in Sri Lanka in the face of growing water scarcity and the challenges of climate change.

Agriculture development has been the main strategy for the socioeconomic development in the country since time immemorial, even though its contribution to GDP has been declining recently. Successive governments of Sri Lanka since independence have invested heavily in the irrigated agriculture sector to address the food security concerns of the country. The continuous investment in irrigation was required to address problems such as spatial and temporal variations in monsoonal rainfall in the country, which has a serious negative impact on food production and livelihoods of people. The need for pursuing irrigation development and management has become more important in the country in the face of rapid population growth and increasing food prices in the world market. In this context, managing irrigation schemes for productivity increase is becoming increasingly important and different irrigation management models have also emerged through attempts made in this direction by countries including Sri Lanka, where irrigation plays a leading role in food production and nation development. Farmers’ active involvement in irrigation management, especially operation and maintenance (Oamp;M) and decision-making as well, has been identified as a key requirement to attain productivity goals and the sustainability of irrigation systems. This paper aims at reviewing participatory irrigation management approaches adopted in medium and major irrigation systems in Sri Lanka with a view to identifying their past and present trends and future directions. The review will contribute to an improved understanding by policymakers, managers of irrigation schemes and farmers of the role of participatory irrigation management, its past and present including institutional structures, responsibilities and performance and the directions it should take to meet future challenges as a dynamic institutional mechanism. As all the medium and major irrigation schemes in the country are jointly managed by farmers and government agencies, the inferences drawn from the review would be important for the agencies and farmers alike to introduce necessary changes in their programs to address future needs and requirements.

The demand and use of water resources is permanently increasing, while the quality of water is dropping and the availability of water in the context of climate change is becoming uncertain. To meet these growing problems it is necessary to carefully assess the existing water stocks and future trends in a country. The accuracy of such an assessment highly depends on the quality of data and information used. In other words – we cannot manage what we do not measure. In most developing countries, the lack of readily accessible and quality controlled data is the major obstacle for scientifically-based assessments on water resources, water development planning and evaluating the status and trends of water resources. Sri Lanka too faces similar obstacles. Recently IWMI initiated the development of a prototype system for managing national water resources data and information, which can be accessed online by various users and interested stakeholders. The data and information in the system is being organized in modules to provide user-friendly access. The ‘overview’ module includes information on topography, soil, land use, land cover, river network and settlement patterns. The ‘water availability’ module contains data on various components of the hydrological cycle, including rainfall, runoff, evaporation, ground- water, river basin characteristics, per capita water availability and trends, and water scarcity. The ‘Demand and use’ module focuses on the factors that affect demand, such as population growth, sectoral demand, irrigation requirements and withdrawals. The ‘water quality’ module provides information on salinity, water quality constituents and Water related diseases. The ‘governance and management’ module contains information on institutions, legislation and finances in the Sri Lankan water sector. The ‘disaster and risk’ module focuses on the characteristics of floods, land slides, tsunami etc. Finally, the ‘climate change’ module covers the impacts of climate change on rainfall, salinity and sea level rise to guide adaptation planning. The system is designed with a view to facilitate assessments of water resources at various administrative (e.g., province, district) and hydrological (e.g., river basin) units. The map-based interface ensures quick access to available data and allows the date to be downloaded and displayed. The system is currently a ‘work in progress’ and only an illustration of what can be achieved. It is envisaged that by cooperating with national agencies, the system will be enhanced into a unified platform for maintaining and sharing data by various participating agencies and will be used to conduct a systematic assessment of water resources in Sri Lanka. By developing a comprehensive and national water audit, Sri Lanka may provide as an example to other developing countries too.

This study examines changes in frigate tuna populations in southern Sri Lanka, based on reports from fishers in three age classes. Significantly higher values for best day’s catch and largest specimen ever caught were obtained by older fishers than younger ones. Values were also significantly higher during early years, providing clear evidence of a decrease in the resource over time (1951–2007).Older fishers reported best catches further inshore and in shallower waters which, on becoming depleted, forced younger generations to fish in less exploited areas further offshore. Heavy harvesting is also evident from the significantly greater number of sites reported by older fishers as being depleted, compared with observations of younger fishers.These findings contrast markedly with catch and catch per effort patterns from statistics for frigate tuna and bullet tuna (combined) in southern Sri Lanka (1994–2004). No stock decline is evident, and at least one report in the early 1990s advocated increasing exploitation rates by 40% to maximize yields.Although not a primary research objective, fisher observations on frigate tuna populations were also analysed to help evaluate possible effects of the 2004 tsunami. Most fishers reported post-tsunami decline, but mainly from a larger new generation of fishers, rather than extra boats provided by aid money or (direct or indirect) biophysical impacts from the tsunami.Reliance on fishery statistics, especially for mixed species and over a limited period, can be risky and easily mask true stock status. Evidence of harvesting effects on frigate tuna in southern Sri Lanka is evident using questionnaire data over a longer time scale.This study provides another compelling case of the ‘shifting baseline syndrome’, whereby fishers of different ages have altered perceptions/experiences of their environment. This may be its first reported occurrence in Sri Lanka. Traditional knowledge from this and similar surveys may provide national fishery management with valuable insights and help improve conservation prospects for frigate tuna and other marine resources.

Genetic diversity and population structure of Plasmodium vivax parasites can predict the origin and spread of novel variants within a population enabling population specific malaria control measures. We analyzed the genetic diversity and population structure of 425 P. vivax isolates from Sri Lanka, Myanmar, and Ethiopia using 12 trinucleotide and tetranucleotide microsatellite markers. All three parasite populations were highly polymorphic with 3–44 alleles per locus. Approximately 65% were multiple-clone infections. Mean genetic diversity ( H E ) was 0.7517 in Ethiopia, 0.8450 in Myanmar, and 0.8610 in Sri Lanka. Significant linkage disequilibrium was maintained. Population structure showed two clusters (Asian and African) according to geography and ancestry. Strong clustering of outbreak isolates from Sri Lanka and Ethiopia was observed. Predictive power of ancestry using two-thirds of the isolates as a model identified 78.2% of isolates accurately as being African or Asian. Microsatellite analysis is a useful tool for mapping short-term outbreaks of malaria and for predicting ancestry.

Direct effect of four common agricultural pesticides viz., chlorpyrifos, dimethoate, glyphosate and propanil, on the survival, growth and development of malformations in common hourglass tree frog, Polypedates cruciger (Anura: Ranidae) was studied under laboratory conditions in acute and chronic exposure. Acute exposure to high concentrations was carried out to determine the LC50. The 48 h LC50 of the pesticides were within the Pesticide Area Network specified limits, except for propanil. The percentage survival of the tadpoles under chronic exposure to ecologically relevant doses was lower (glyphosate 75%, dimethoate 77.5%, chlorpyrifos 80% amp; propanil 85%) than the control group (95.5%) and was significantly affected by the concentrations. Exposed tadpoles took more time to metamorphose and were significantly smaller in size than the control tadpoles. They also developed malformations at high frequencies (glyphosate = 69%, dimethoate = 64%, chlorpyrifos = 60%, propanil = 45%). Malformations were mainly kyphosis (hunched back), scoliosis (curvature), skin ulcers and edema. However, severe limb malformations were not observed in the study. Chlorpyrifos had a profound effect even at very low concentrations (0.05 ppm). This study provides the first empirical evidence of a comparative study on the effect of pesticides on an endemic amphibian species in Sri Lanka and underscores the importance of investigation the level of agricultural pesticides in freshwater ecosystems and their effect on non-target organisms.

Climate is changing world wide, and the science community in Sri Lanka have come up with ample evidence to suggest that the country’s climate has already changed. During 1961- 1990 it’s mean air temperature has increased by 0.016 0C per year (higher than the global average of 0.013 0C), and mean annual rainfall- decreased by 144 mm (7%) compared to the period 1931-1960. In addition, mean annual daytime maximum and mean annual night-time minimum air temperatures increased. However, the bigger question of national importance is what Sri Lanka’s climate will look like in 50 or 100 years and how prepared is the country to face it. Apart from the IPCC projections at the coarse global scale, few studies attempted to project future climate scenarios for Sri Lanka and to identify climate change impacts on agriculture, water resources, the sea level, the plantation sector, the economy and health. Vulnerability and adaptation to climate change are the least studied areas. The paper reviews the status of climate change research/activities in Sri Lanka with respect to future climate predictions, impacts, mitigation and adaptation, and identifies existing knowledge gaps. Messages emerging from this review suggest that Sri Lanka’s mean temperature during the North-East (December-February) and South-West (May-September) monsoon seasons will increase by about 2.9 0C and 2.5 0C respectively, over the baseline (1961-1990), by the year 2100 with accompanying changes in the quantity and spatial distribution of rainfall. Extreme climate events are expected to increase in frequency. These changes will bring about widespread impacts on the country’s agriculture and economy. For example, a 0.5 0C increase in temperature can reduce rice yield by approximately 5.9%; extended dry spells and excessive cloudiness during the wet season can reduce coconut yield so that annual losses can range between $32 and $73 million. Pilot studies in the Galle District suggest that sea level rise could inundate about 20% of the land area of coastal district secretariat divisions. Adaptation measures already undertaken in the agricultural sector include development of low water consuming rice varieties and use of micro-irrigation technologies. Tools have been developed for predicting seasonal water availability within the Mahaweli Scheme and for predicting annual national coconut production. However, Sri Lanka is yet to undertake a comprehensive national study on the vulnerability of its water resources and agriculture to climate change. Formulation of detailed and reliable future climate scenarios for the country is and urgent need in this regard.

Hospital effluents can be especially hazardous and toxic due to their content of chemical, pathogenic and bio-hazardous wastes. Many of these toxic pollutants are not fully removed or neutralized by traditional municipal wastewater treatment plants, which are primarily designed to address parameters such as Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD), Total Suspended Solids (TSS), etc. They are also not easily removed by filtration, settling or flocculation. The common disposal of liquid waste from hospitals into the municipal network collection system or in cesspits is of serious concern and it requires swift and effective address. Wastewater from hospitals contains pollutants that are hazardous and require on-site management to prevent contaminating the city’s sewage system and other surface waters. Unlike industrial operations that typically have a few large volume waste streams; hospitals generate different volumes of a wide variety of wastes and emissions. Most important chemicals in hospital wastewater are disinfectants (due to their major use in hospital practice), antibiotics, cytostatic agents, anesthetics, heavy metals (silver, chromium, zinc, lead, copper, platinum, and mercury), rare earth elements (gadolinium, indium, and osmium) and iodinated X-ray contrast media. Pollution prevention strategies and Best Management Practices (BMPs) to pollutant load reduction at the source is the best solution available to overcome this problem. The pollutant load reduction can be initiated by applying pollution prevention strategies and Best Management Practices (BMPs) to practices that use these chemicals. The goal of pollution prevention in healthcare environments is the same as throughout industry do to eliminate and/or reduce pollution at the source. The major difference when undertaking pollution prevention at healthcare facilities is that they do not manufacture a ‘product’, operate a fabrication ‘process’ or generate waste materials that can be readily recycled, reused or reprocessed. Therefore, the role of Pollution Prevention Strategies, Best Management Practices and Cleaner Production will be somewhat different than other industrial sectors. Pollution Prevention Strategies, Best Management Practices and Cleaner Production applicable to hospital wastewater management in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are addressed in this paper.

A multiple purpose wetland inventory is being developed and promoted through partnerships and specific analyses at different scales in response to past uncertainties and gaps in inventory coverage. A partnership approach is being promoted through the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands to enable a global inventory database to be compiled from individual projects and analyses using remote sensing and GIS. Individual projects that are currently part of this global effort are described. They include an analysis of the Ramsar sites’ database to map the distribution of Ramsar sites across global ecoregions and to identify regions and wetland types that are under-represented in the database. Given the extent of wetland degradation globally, largely due to agricultural activities, specific attention is directed towards the usefulness of Earth Observation in providing information that can be used to more effectively manage wetlands. As an example, a further project using satellite data and GIS to quantify the condition of wetlands along the western coastline of Sri Lanka is described and trends in land use due to changes in agriculture, sedimentation and settlement patterns are outlined. At a regional scale, a project to map and assess, using remote sensing, individual wetlands used for agriculture in eight countries in southern Africa is also described. Land cover and the extent of inundation at each site is being determined from a multi-temporal data set of images as a base for further assessment of land use change. Integrated fully within these analyses is the development of local capacity to plan and undertake such analyses and in particular to relate the outcomes to wetland management and to compile data on the distribution, extent and condition of wetlands globally.

As the demand for water in cities increases, the quantity of wastewater being produced is growing at a phenomenal rate. If resources are to be managed effectively, a new paradigm is required for urban wastewater management. This paper reviews the initial findings of a participatory action planning process for managing wastewater for agricultural use. It finds that such processes need considerable facilitation, capacity building and knowledge sharing, but that if a plan can be devised that meets the needs of the stakeholders, even if some compromise is required, then certain stakeholders are likely to take responsibility for specific aspects. This may not meet the entire integrated water resources management (IWRM) vision of the plan but provided the plan is developed in such a way that incremental implementation will be beneficial then this will produce some success and may stimulate further cooperation.

Multi-stakeholder processes (MSPs) and platforms are being used to address various aspects of water management. They have been championed as a way to improve planning and coordination to involve marginalized groups, and to increase learning and uptake of innovations. Between 2005 and 2008, a project called ‘WASPA Asia’ established multi-stakeholder platforms in two cities, Kurunegala in Sri Lanka and Rajshahi in Bangladesh, to address wastewater use in agriculture and its impact on farmers’ livelihoods. This paper presents findings on the benefits and constraints of a particular MSP around a ‘Learning Alliance’. It also describes and analyzes the methodology used to obtain findings and suggests ways in which such a methodology could be used to improve results of MSPs. The paper indicates that the obvious merit of MSPs is in providing spaces for information sharing and awareness-raising. In time, MSPs can evolve to bring about changes in stakeholders’ attitudes and actions but in many cases they are established around short-term projects, which limits their potential for (institutional) change. Given this constraint, attitudinal change and a better understanding of the issues amongst stakeholders are major accomplishments. Analysis of the methodology used for the review shows the benefits of regular joint monitoring, open communication, and the usefulness of relatively simple tools such as ‘change stories’.

With the renewed drive towards malaria elimination, there is a need for improved surveillance tools. While time series analysis is an important tool for surveillance, prediction and for measuring interventionsapos; impact, approximations by standard Gassing methods are inaccuracy-prone when counts are low. Therefore, especially during quot;consolidationquot; and quot;pre-eliminationquot; phases, statistical methods appropriate for count data are required. Methods: Generalized antiprogressive moving average models (GARCIA) were extended to generalized seasonal antiprogressive integrated moving average (SABRINA) models for modeling non-stationary and / or seasonal time series counts. The models were demonstrated using monthly malaria episode time series in a district in Sri Lanka, where malaria has decreased dramatically in recent years. Results: The malaria series showed long-term changes in the mean, unstable variance, and seasonality. After fitting negative-binomial Bayesian models, both a GSARIMA and a GARIMA deterministic seasonality model were selected. The Bayesian modeling allowed for analysis of the posterior distributions of fitted observations. Those of negative-binomial models were more appropriate than those of Gaussian models. The G(S)ARIMA models satisfactorily accounted for the autocorrelation in the series, and produced plausible prediction intervals. Discussion: GSARIMA models may be particularly useful in the drive towards malaria elimination, since episode count series are often seasonal and non-stationary, especially when control is increased. Although building and fitting of GSARIMA models is laborious, they provide more realistic prediction intervals than Gaussian methods, and are more suitable for surveillance and the evaluation of interventions when counts are low.

This report documents the fourth year and final report of the RUAF-CFF programme in the South and South East Asia region, coordinated by the International Water Management Institute, Hyderabad office, India. It is arranged in three sections: Introduction, activities for the year 2008 and cumulative results of 2005 -2008. The overall content reflects the activates, outcomes and outputs of the four year RAFT-CFF programme.

This study examines the perceptions of 500 Sri Lankan fishers about influences on the outcome of the 2004 Asian tsunami. It is based upon analysis of questionnaire data on 13 natural environmental and development risk factors, in relation to human deaths and house damage (impact indicators).Mangroves, coral reefs and sand dunes afforded protection against tsunami damage (67–94% of fisher responses), as did housing and roads.Fishers overall believed rivers/estuaries, concave coastlines and hotels exacerbated impacts. However, a significantly greater proportion of fishers living within 100m of the coast reported that rivers/estuaries had a protective role than those living further inland. Rivers seemingly diverted ‘tsunami water’ far inland, where it overflowed and caused damage.Risk and damage are multi-faceted concepts and measurable in different ways. Findings are considered in the light of ecological studies and modelling, with special reference to mangroves, whose alleged protective role has become equivocal during post-tsunami research.Insights of fishers and other communities with intuitive knowledge add a valuable perspective to the understanding of natural disasters and environmental change. This approach is seen as complementary rather than an alternative approach to purely ‘scientific’ research.

Even though malaria continues to cause high morbidity and mortality in most of the malaria endemic countries in the world, it is currently not a major health problem in Sri Lanka. Despite the low malaria incidence, the development and spread of anti-malarial drug resistance, combined with a recent increase in the armed conflict hindering provision of effective health services will make it difficult to control malaria in Sri Lanka. Since chloroquine (CQ) resistant Plasmodium falciparum was first reported from Dambulla area in 1984, the number has increased to more than 50% observed in vivo from various endemic areas. In concordance with this, single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in genes of P. falciparum responsible for CQ resistance are present. A limited number of trials have investigated the efficacy of the second line drug, sulfadoxine/ pyrimethamine (SP) against P. falciparum and a few cases of resistance have been reported. Moreover, SNPs in P. falciparum genes responsible for SP resistance are present and may constitute a sign of evolving SP resistance development. For P. vivax, drug resistance is not yet recorded as a problem in Sri Lanka, however the prevalence of SP resistant SNPs in P. vivax populations seems high and may pose a risk despite that SP is not used directly against P. vivax infections. Continuous monitoring of drug efficacy in vivo, as well by measuring the prevalence of SNPs related to drug resistance are major issues to be addressed.

In Sri Lanka rice is grown under conditions of sub-optimal water and land availability. Thus, innovations such as the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) that can increase productivity and save resources are needed. The objective of this study was to understand how SRI was implemented on farms in Sri Lanka, and the consequences of changes in practices on: 1) input utilisation, 2) agronomic traits of rice, and 3) soil chemical properties. It was found that SRI farmers had made significant changes in their production systems: irrigations, seeding rates and herbicide usage were reduced by 24%, 85% and 95%, respectively, and plant spacing was increased by 60%. Total inputs of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium were similar across SRI and conventional plots, but the source of nutrients was different. Yields were variable, but significantly higher on SRI farms, soil available potassium and phosphorus were increased, and SRI plants exhibited tolerance to low moisture stress.

Zinc (Zn) and iron (Fe) deficiencies may prevail in populations dependent on cereal-based diets containing few animal products. The contribution of Zn and Fe from foods of preschool children of a hill country village in Sri Lanka, is discussed as it is known that the presence of phytic acid (PA) in the diet limits bioavailability of micronutrients. The Zn, Fe and PA contents of cereal-based (rice or wheat flour) composite meals (n ¼ 12), wheat flour-based products (n ¼ 5), pulses used as staples, snacks or accompaniments (n ¼ 6) and other miscellaneous accompaniments (n ¼ 4) were determined. Additionally, 20 rice and 3 paddy varieties consumed were also analysed. Although the Zn and Fe levels were reasonable in the composite meals, the PA to Zn molar ratios (5–43) were relatively high, in a majority of meals. Composite meals containing wheat flour (refined) had lower PA levels (o6 mg/ 100 g) in the absence of pulses and scraped coconut, than rice meals. All rice varieties were partially polished but the A to Zn molar ratios varied. The major contributors of PA appeared to be soy-textured vegetable protein, all types of jak fruit and scraped coconut kernel. Potable water was a poor source of Zn and Fe. These diets could potentially lead to marginal Zn and Fe deficiencies, and dietary diversification and counselling would be beneficial.

Background: Rainfall data have potential use for malaria prediction. However, the relationship between rainfall and the number of malaria cases is indirect and complex. Methods: The statistical relationships between monthly malaria case count data series and monthly mean rainfall series (extracted from interpolated station data) over the period 1972 – 2005 in districts in Sri Lanka was explored in four analyses: cross-correlation; cross-correlation with pre-whitening; inter-annual; and seasonal inter-annual regression. Results: For most districts, strong positive correlations were found for malaria time series lagging zero to three months behind rainfall, and negative correlations were found for malaria time series lagging four to nine months behind rainfall. However, analysis with pre- whitening showed that most of these correlations were spurious. Only for a few districts, weak positive (at lags zero and one) or weak negative (at lags two to six) correlations were found in pre- whitened series. Inter-annual analysis showed strong negative correlations between malaria and rainfall for a group of districts in the centre-west of the country. Seasonal inter-annual analysis showed that the effect of rainfall on malaria varied according to the season and geography. Conclusion: Seasonally varying effects of rainfall on malaria case counts may explain weak overall cross-correlations found in pre-whitened series, and should be taken into account in malaria predictive models making use of rainfall as a covariate.

The paper proposes a reassessment of the hopes vested in pricing mechanisms to regulate water diversions in the irrigation sector, focusing on large scale (surface) public irrigation. It first lists a series of major constraints that explain why the economic rationale applied to urban water supply cannot readily be transposed to surface irrigation. It then offers a review of situations where water is scarce and where irrigation schemes are able to distribute water volumetrically, either at the bulk or individual level. Such situations are relatively rare at the world level but they provide the context where volumetric pricing policies can be implemented and can demonstrate their potential for putting demand and use in line with supply. The review provides clear evidence that, instead of administered prices, quotas are almost invariably chosen as the main regulation mechanism, with prices mostly used to regulate use at the margin, beyond the quota, rather than for rationing scarce water. The paper then reviews the advantages and limitations of quotas and attempts to explain why they are systematically preferred to pure price-based regulation. If made tradable, quotas or entitlements can be more easily reallocated among users according to criteria of economic efficiency. Such situations still remain rare because there are several cultural, technical and institutional constraints to their development, most notably in developing countries. Finally the paper expands its conclusions to irrigation in general and shows that although much hope has been vested in pricing mechanisms for regulating water use their potential is much lower than is commonly believed.

Although hydropower does not directly consume water, its generation frequently conflicts with other uses, notably irrigation, because its release schedule does not always correspond to the timing of water use by other activities. This article analyses a case from the Walawe river basin, Sri Lanka, where economic efficiency can be raised by reducing releases from the dam for irrigation for the benefit of hydropower generation. The tradeoff is analysed in financial and managerial terms and different options for reducing irrigation diversions are reviewed. Although the high level of current diversions for irrigation warrants the possibility of improvement in management, it is shown that finding ways to reduce supply faces technical and socio-political constraints that make the realization of economic benefits costly and difficult.

In order to assess the immediate and intermediate impacts of the December 26, 2004 tsunami on groundwater and associated water supply on the east coast of Sri Lanka, a monitoring program, focusing on domestic drinking water wells, was conducted in three study areas in the period March to July, 2005. The areas investigated were overlaying shallow, unconfined sandy aquifers, and the topography was flat. A total of 150 wells were monitored, covering both affected (inundated by tsunami water) and unaffected wells. Results indicate that wells were affected by salinity intrusion to various degree between the sites and within sites, up to 1.5 km inland. Thirty nine percent of all monitored wells had been flooded within a distance of 2 km from the coastline. Salinity levels after seven months after the tsunami were above a defined drinking water acceptability criterion (1000 S/cm) in the majority of the affected, tsunami-flooded wells (91%). Excess salinity in wells is expected to persist for at least one more monsoon season.

Reports on malformations in amphibians due to trematode infections prompted this study on an endemic frog species in Sri Lanka. The effect of an infection with a monostome-type cercaria is reported here. Ten days post-hatch, tadpoles (Gosner stage 27) of the common hourglass treefrog Polypedates cruciger (Anura: Ranidae), were exposed to a monostome-type cercaria, in a dose-dependent manner, under laboratory conditions. Malformations, survival and growth of the tadpoles were monitored for four treatments having different doses of cercariae (control=0, low=16, intermediate=32 and high=48). The severity and the number of malformations varied depending on the dose of the infection. A higher percentage (90%) of malformations was observed at higher doses of cercariae. Overall, malformations in the limbs, spine and skin pigmentation were common after parasite exposure. Survival declined with increasing doses of parasite infections, declining to 88% in the high treatment group, although not statistically significant. The growth rates of tadpoles as measured by weight and snout to vent length showed that exposed individuals were significantly smaller and had higher variance in growth compared with that of the controls. Thus, this trematode infection significantly affected the growth and induced severe malformations in P. cruciger, under laboratory conditions. Such malformed tadpoles and adults may face high predation under natural conditions. Here, we present the first empirical evidence of the effect of a trematode infection on the development of malformations, growth and survivorship in an endemic amphibian species in Sri Lanka.

Halimeda opuntia and Diplosoma virens are common marine organisms in the Indo-Pacific. Halimeda grows to dense populations, and the ability of didemnids to overgrow coral has been well documented. In the light of their abundance in the Hikkaduwa Nature Park in Sri Lanka, this study investigated the effect of these two associates on the growth and survival of the commonly occurring staghorn coral, Acropora formosa. The results showed that both affected the growth rates of the host coral colonies significantly (P=0.11 at 0.15 error level). The two associates also displayed a strong negative correlation between the spreading rate and the host growth rate (–0.71 for H. opuntia and –0.55 for D. virens). The results show that D. virens could have serious implications on coral survival with a population bloom.

The overarching goal of this study was to develop a comprehensive methodology for mapping natural and human-made wetlands using fine resolution Landsat enhanced thematic mapper plus (ETM+), space shuttle radar topographic mission digital elevation model (SRTM DEM) data and secondary data. First, automated methods were investigated in order to rapidly delineate wetlands; this involved using: (a) algorithms on SRTM DEM data, (b) thresholds of SRTM-derived slopes, (c) thresholds of ETM+ spectral indices and wavebands and (d) automated classification techniques using ETM+ data. These algorithms and thresholds using SRTM DEM data either over-estimated or under-estimated stream densities (S d) and stream frequencies (S f), often generating spurious (non-existent) streams and/or, at many times, providing glaring inconsistencies in the precise physical location of the streams. The best of the ETM+-derived indices and wavebands either had low overall mapping accuracies and/or high levels of errors of omissions and/or errors of commissions. Second, given the failure of automated approaches, semi-automated approaches were investigated; this involved the: (a) enhancement of images through ratios to highlight wetlands from non-wetlands, (b) display of enhanced images in red, green, blue (RGB) false colour composites (FCCs) to highlight wetland boundaries, (c) digitizing the enhanced and displayed images to delineate wetlands from non-wetlands and (d) classification of the delineated wetland areas into various wetland classes. The best FCC RGB displays of ETM+ bands for separating wetlands from other land units were: (a) ETM+4/ETM+7, ETM+4/ETM+3, ETM+4/ETM+2, (b) ETM+4, ETM+3, ETM+5 and (c) ETM+3, ETM+2, ETM+1. In addition, the SRTM slope threshold of less than 1% was very useful in delineating higher-order wetland boundaries. The wetlands were delineated using the semi-automated methods with an accuracy of 96% as determined using field-plot data. The methodology was evaluated for the Ruhuna river basin in Sri Lanka, which has a diverse landscape ranging from sea shore to hilly areas, low to very steep slopes (0 to 50), arid to semi-arid zones and rain fed to irrigated lands. Twenty-four per cent (145 733 ha) of the total basin area was wetlands as a result of a high proportion of human-made irrigated areas, mainly under rice cropping. The wetland classes consisted of irrigated areas, lagoons, mangroves, natural vegetation, permanent marshes, salt pans, lagoons, seasonal wetlands and water bodies. The overall accuracies of wetland classes varied between 87% and 94% (K hat = 0.83 to 0.92) with errors of omission less than 13% and errors of commission less than 1%.

The success of development programs, including water resource projects, depends on two key factors: the role of underlying institutions and the impact synergies from other closely related programs. Existing methodologies have limitations in accounting for these critical factors. This paper fills this gap by developing a methodology, which quantifies both the roles that institutions play in impact generation and the extent of impact synergies that flows from closely related programs within a unified framework. The methodology is applied to the Kala Oya Basin in Sri Lanka in order to evaluate the impacts of three water-related programs and the roles of 11 institutions in the context of food security. The results provide considerable insights on the relative role of institutions and the flow of development synergies both within and across different impact pathways. The methodology can also be used to locate slack in impact chains and identify policy options to enhance the impact flows.

Most households in the districts of Sri Lanka affected by the tsunami possessed drinking water wells, and these wells were contaminated by debris, sludge and saltwater. Once the wells were cleaned, only time and the onset of monsoon rains could reduce the levels of salinity – but local people continued to need information and reassurance about the quality of their water supplies.

This project is funded by the European Commission under its Asia Pro Eco II Program. It is undertaken by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), Sri Lanka; COSI, Sri Lanka; the International Water and Sanitation Centre (IRC), the Netherlands; NGO Forum for Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation, Bangladesh; and the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), Sweden. The project pilot cities are Rajshahi City in Bangladesh and Kurunegala City in Sri Lanka.

This project is funded by the European Commission under its Asia Pro Eco II Program. It is undertaken by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), Sri Lanka; COSI, Sri Lanka; the International Water and Sanitation Centre (IRC), the Netherlands; NGO Forum for Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation, Bangladesh; and the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), Sweden. The project pilot cities are Rajshahi City in Bangladesh and Kurunegala City in Sri Lanka.

This project is funded by the European Commission under its Asia Pro Eco II Program. It is undertaken by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), Sri Lanka; COSI, Sri Lanka; the International Water and Sanitation Centre (IRC), the Netherlands; NGO Forum for Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation, Bangladesh; and the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), Sweden. The project pilot cities are Rajshahi City in Bangladesh and Kurunegala City in Sri Lanka.

The success of development programs depends on the role of underlying institutions and the impact synergies from closely related programs. Existing literature has limitations in accounting for these critical factors. This paper fills this gap by developing a methodology, which can quantify both the institutional roles in impact generation and the impact synergies from related programs. The methodology is applied to the Kala Oya Basin in Sri Lanka for evaluating the impacts of three development programs and 11 institutions on food security. The results provide valuable insights on the relative roles of institutions and the varying flow of impact synergies both within and across impact pathways.

My study aims to investigate the key socio-economic and policy factors influencing the sustainability of natural resource based livelihoods in rural coastal households. While I adopt a sustainable livelihoods approach as an overall conceptual framework, I focus specifically on two aspects of livelihood security - food security and personal wellbeing. I investigate the usefulness of using a combination of food security and personal wellbeing indices that I develop together with other standard qualitative tools, to highlight aspects of livelihoods sustainability that are not covered by conventional poverty approaches. I also apply these approaches to assess first, how certain coastal zone management policy processes such as Special Area Management (SAM) has affected rural coastal livelihoods, and later, to assess the impact of the Asian tsunami on coastal communities and their livelihoods. SAM is a co-management approach applied in specific coastal sites. I collected data from two SAM sites - Rekawa and Kalametiya, on the south coast of Sri Lanka. I collected data from a total of 210 households that covered 6 villages (3 villages in each site). A combination of participatory methods and conventional surveys methods were used. I first examined the major qualitative trends and influences, and thereafter investigated the differences between households within and between villages and between male and female respondents using univariate analyses. Finally, regression analyses were used to relate the food security and personal well-being indices to a number of explanatory variables such as location of village, wealth rank, livelihood activities and SAM participation. My findings suggest that in terms of coastal resource management initiatives, the use of indices and tools such as those developed under this study, could prove to be useful in respect to better targeting the poorer groups among coastal communities. This in turn would contribute towards the overall success and long-term sustainability of coastal zone management initiatives.

The groundwater present in the hard rock region of the dry zone of Sri Lanka is made up of the shallow apos;Regolith Aquiferapos; and the deeper fracture zone aquifer is now clearly recognized. However, up to now no study had been carried out or reported in this country on the dynamic nature of this shallow regolith aquifer. This is the very first study carried out and reported in this regard. As part of the study, the impact of the Mau Ara trans-basin canal on the groundwater conditions below the area of influence of this trans-basin feeder canal has also been examined.

This paper discusses the importance of equitable water allocation for all farmers of an irrigation system. It addresses the potential and relevance of high tank dual canal systems for equitable allocation of scarce land and water resources to alleviate poverty. Recent irrigation settlement projects in Sri Lanka have significantly contributed to poverty alleviation. Yet, a considerable number of farm households in these settings face transient or chronic poverty while some others are well off. Inequities of resource allocation and inefficiencies in resource use are two main reasons for this. In a given agricultural settlement potential for crop production is not unique to all parts of the land. It varies with soil conditions, terrain, elevation and ease of obtaining irrigation water. Availability of water for tail-enders depends on total stock of water available in the system as well as usage of head-enders. Although all farmers would prefer land at the head end, with the increasing pressure on land more and more people have had to be settled at the tail end. Further, lands that were once abandoned due to low productivity, difficulties in irrigation etc have also had to be used by utilizing alternative technologies. Another problem that features in the Sri Lankan contest is almost all farmers have a tendency to cultivate staple food of rice in their fields. Rice needs huge amounts of water compared to other crops and when unsuitable lands are used, it results in huge losses. Uda Walawe Irrigation project in Sri Lanka is a water-short irrigation system which has hardly enough water to irrigate its total command area. This has forced downstream developers to come up with innovative ways of water allocation to ensure equitable amounts of water for all farmers in the command area. The high-tank dual canal system introduced under the extension and rehabilitation project of the Walawe left bank is one novel approach which attempts to maximize resource use with equitable distribution. It helps to solve two basic resource based conflicts; demand for water and fertile land. Tanks with this system consists of four main canals; two each from left and right banks, instead of only two main canals in conventional system. Two canals; one from each bank is allocated to provide water for paddy lands while the other two canals provide water for non paddy crops. The quantity of water release and the interval of water release are low for the non paddy crops. Firstly, this new system reduces conflicts among farmers within the command area for water and land allocation. Secondly, planned and careful water use of these farmer groups release some water for some other water uses of the tail end of the main irrigation system. This paper analyzes the potential of new approach in saving water and providing equitable allocation of land and water resources. It estimates level of poverty with and without new technique to analyze the relevance of the approach in reducing poverty

Wetlands are amongst the earth’s most productive ecosystem and directly and indirectly support millions of people by providing ecosystem services or benefits, many through maintenance of the hydrological system. Land use changes in developed and developing countries are resulting in gradual elimination of wetlands at global and regional scales. Moreover, anthropogenic pressure to convert wetlands for other land uses is reported to be increasing significantly from developing countries. The Convention on Wetlands is an international initiative that provides a framework for wetland inventory, assessment, monitoring and wise use worldwide. In support of the Convention a multi-scalar wetland inventory was developed by IWMI. At the global level, the distribution of Ramsar sites has been analysed, focusing on the role and impact of agriculture activities. At the regional scale, the role of geospatial data sets has been tested for identifying wetlands in India. In addition a multiple-scale site analysis, using earth observation data and GIS, is underway to detect trends in wetland use for a coastal lagoon-marsh wetland complex in Sri Lanka and for the inland fresh water Lake Kolleru, India. For the regional analysis, two different datasets viz., national wetland inventory data (from SACON-30m) and GIAM (Global Irrigated Area Map-500 m) were used. The preliminary analysis reflects 57 % overlap in wetland area for Gujarat and 10 % for Tamil Nadu. The geospatial change analyses (studied using IDRISI-Andes) in Sri Lanka reflect the loss of deep water lagoon(5%), littoral forest (2 %.) and marsh (1%) due to sedimentation, infilling, vegetation clearance and expansion in built up areas; hence identifying urban development, pollution and the population pressure as the primary ‘indicators of stress’. In Kolleru, the temporal spatial analysis addresses the balance in conservation measures and livelihood dynamics. We intend to integrate the biophysical and socio-economic parameters to explain the role of earth resource satellite data and geospatial tools for sustainable management of wetland systems.

Many decisions on water allocation in river basins are made on economic grounds. Environmental and social benefits of water should also be considered in river basin management, and attempts should be made to value them similarly. This is not a straightforward task and very few studies have directly addressed this issue to date. In this paper, the Menik Ganga (River) in southern Sri Lanka is used as a case study to attempt and evaluate the costs and benefits of environmental water allocations, referred to as ‘environmental flows’ (EF). In this study, a broad definition of EF is used: the components of EF evaluated include the requirements of the religious festival, the requirements of the Yala National Park, the requirements of the Pilinnawa Coastal Wetland and the requirements of the Yala Fishery Management Area, off the coast. Almost all estimates are based on use values of EF such as marketed goods and recreation. For some components multiple estimates have been attempted. The religious EF requirement is estimated using the cost of alternative water supplies. The benefits of the EF requirement for the Yala National Park are estimated using the forgone value of tourism in the dry season and the benefits of avoiding the Human-Elephant Conflict. The Additional expenditure for the park in the dry season is also presented as another proxy estimate of the benefits of EF. The Benefit Transfer method was used for the Pilinnawa Wetland and grassland due to data constraints. The market prices of lobster and income of chank divers are used as proxies for the economic benefits of EF to the Yala Fishery Management Area. Finally, the cumulative value of the individual components is presented and discussed. The paper intends to stimulate discussion and further research on the complex subject of valuing the social and environmental benefits of water – whether it is in the Menik Ganga, elsewhere in Sri Lanka or elsewhere in the world.

A pre-conference to Humid Tropical Ecosystems, 5 -9 December, 2006, Kandy, Sri Lanka, commemorating the 50th anniversary of UNESCO Humid Tropics Programme Organized by United Nations University and the International Water Management Institute.

One year ago, the authors of this article reported in this journal on the malaria situation in Sri Lanka prior to the tsunami that hit on 26 December 2004, and estimated the likelihood of a post-tsunami malaria outbreak to be low. Malaria incidence has decreased in 2005 as compared to 2004 in most districts, including the ones that were hit hardest by the tsunami. The malaria incidence (aggregated for the whole country) in 2005 followed the downward trend that started in 2000. However, surveillance was somewhat affected by the tsunami in some coastal areas and the actual incidence in these areas may have been higher than recorded, although there were no indications of this and it is unlikely to have affected the overall trend significantly. The focus of national and international post tsunami malaria control efforts was supply of antimalarials, distribution of impregnated mosquito nets and increased monitoring in the affected area. Internationally donated antimalarials were either redundant or did not comply with national drug policy, however, few seem to have entered circulation outside government control. Despite distribution of mosquito nets, still a large population is relatively exposed to mosquito bites due to inadequate housing. There were no indications of increased malaria vector abundance. Overall it is concluded that the tsunami has not negatively influenced the malaria situation in Sri Lanka.

This project is funded by the European Commission under its Asia Pro Eco II Program. It is undertaken by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), Sri Lanka; COSI, Sri Lanka; the International Water and Sanitation Centre (IRC), the Netherlands; NGO Forum for Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation, Bangladesh; and the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), Sweden. The project pilot cities are Rajshahi City in Bangladesh and Kurunegala City in Sri Lanka.

This project is funded by the European Commission under its Asia Pro Eco II Program. It is undertaken by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), Sri Lanka; COSI, Sri Lanka; the International Water and Sanitation Centre (IRC), the Netherlands; NGO Forum for Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation, Bangladesh; and the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), Sweden. The project pilot cities are Rajshahi City in Bangladesh and Kurunegala City in Sri Lanka.