Presented by IWMI's Director General Jeremy Bird at the Annual General Meeting of the Institute of Environmental Professionals of Sri Lanka (IEPSL), October 31, 2014.

1. Water for All - Challenges of Change
Jeremy Bird
International Water
Management Institute
31st October, 2014
Photo: Hamish John Appleby, IWMI

2. Land and water degradation a major global challenge
U N I T I N G A G R I C U L T U R E A N D N AT U R E F O R P O V E R T Y R E D U C T I O N

3. Dietary change - meat requires 100 times more water than
grain protein
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
10 100 1000 10000 100000
GDP per capita (2000 constant dollars per year)
meat consumption
(kg/cap/yr)
Meat
China
India
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
India USA
10 100 1000 10000 100000
GDP per capita (2000 constant dollars per year)
milk consumption
(kg/cap/yr)
Milk
China
USA
Consumption and income 1961-2000
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 2003.
http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/78/3/660S.full#ref-8

4. Climate change - uncertainty and ambiguity in future
projections – a complex planning challenge
Projection 1 Projection 2
De Silva, 2006
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Projection 3
De Silva, 2006
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Spatial Pattern of Rainfall Projections for 2050s
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Dry
Zone
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Wet
Zone
Intermediate
Zone
Dry
Zone
Wet
Zone
Intermediate
Zone
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Basnayake et al. 2004 De Silva 2006
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Dry
Zone
Wet
Zone
Intermediate
Zone
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Punyawardane et al.
2010

5. Observed climatic changes
Dry
Zone
Wet
Zone
Intermediate
Zone
Temperature
Highest temperature increase in agricultural
areas
Source: Zubair et al. 2005
Anuradhapura
Badulla
Rainfall
Change in distribution of annual rainfall
Southwest
monsoon: Stable
(Yala)
Northeast
monsoon:
reduced and
variability
increased
(Maha)

6. Increasing variability of rainfall
Months (Season) 1931-1960 1961-1990
Dec- Feb (NEM) 31 % 42 %
March – Apr (FIM) 23 % 27 %
May – Sep (SWM) 21 % 16 %
Oct – Nov (SIM) 22 % 23 %
Annual 11 % 14 %
Punyawardena (2011)
Rainfall variability observed

7. Identifying climate change Vulnerability Hotspots –
to design locally relevant adaptation measures
Anuradhapura
Nuwara-Eliya
Ratnapura
Climate Change Vulnerability
Index
Exposure Index
Sensitivity Index
Adaptive Capacity
Index

8. Climate change will affect our rivers
The Sri Lanka Environmental Flow Calculator (SLEFC) is a
software package to estimate how much water should be left in
rivers to ensure they remain healthy
This methodology is being used by the Dam Safety and Water Resources
Planning Project (DSWRPP) in the National Water Resources Master Plan
and the Mahaweli and Mundeni Aru Basin development plans

9. E-Flows

10. Example Application to Ullapane on River Mahaweli
Establishing the natural flow Regime at Ullapane
10000
1000
100
10
1
Mallanda
0 20 40 60 80 100 120
Victoria
Reservoir
Talawakelle
Polgolla
Peradeniya
Ullapane
Mallanda
Flow Duration Curves before constructing Kotmale
Kotmale
Reservoir
Peradeniya
Ullapane
Discharge (MCM)
% of Time Flow Exceeded

11. Flood events in the last 10 years…extremes likely to increase
• 23 flood occurrences
• 500 lives lost
• 9 million people affected
• economic loss of USD 1 billion

12. What can be done to reduce impact?
If we can predict more accurately where
and when floods will occur, and how big
they will be, opportunities for mitigation
will be enhanced.
Digital geospatial flood inundation mapping
is a powerful new approach for flood
response and control that shows floodwater
extent and depth on the land surface.

13. Space technology can help manage flooding
Satellite data has been used to estimate
flood frequency and extent covering entire
Sri Lanka.
Flood impact on agriculture studied at
different scales.
There is future potential to develop flood-risk
mapping and agricultural insurance
products
Flood Risk Products

14. Extent of flooding during the years
2006–2011 derived from ALOS
PALSAR data (left) and cropland
extent (right) in Sri Lanka
• Fine-scale flood-risk products mapped using
satellite datasets from 2000 to 2011.
• Province-wise flood statistics and agricultural
impacts are being analyzed.
• Knowledge generated here can be used by the
Disaster Management Centre and the Irrigation
Department for mitigation, preparedness and
index-based crop insurance
Eastern Province (Trincomalee)
Agricultural flooding in Polonnaruwa

15. … another is to improve resilience through storage options –
Malwathu Oya and Kalu Ganga Basins
Water Storage Continuum
Source: McCartney & Smakhtin 2010

16. Low Cost Mobile Weather Stations for water
management decision making
Low cost mobile weather stations can record weather related variables (rainfall, wind speed)
electronically and send all information to one website.
Photos: IWMI
A prototype weather station has been set up in the Irrigation Department office in
Anuradhapura and is currently undergoing testing with the collaboration of the
Irrigation Department

17. Growth in irrigation through groundwater expansion, India
45000
40000
35000
30000
25000
20000
15000
10000
5000
0
Irrigated area in 1000 ha
Canal
Tanks
Canal irrigated area Tank irrigated area Groundwater irrigated area
Source: Mukherji, A., S. Rawat and T. Shah. 2013.

18. But, …risk of over-abstraction
Map: Tushaar Shah

19. Promoting sustainable Groundwater Use in the Dry Zone
A survey on water supply and agro wells is underway in the Malwathu Oya and
Mahaweli System H areas.
Photo: Salman Siddiqui, IWMI
The survey will help to determine how much groundwater can be safely extracted for
irrigation in these areas, and to what extent groundwater can supply water needs during
droughts

20. Research shows signs of sustainable abstraction thresholds
being exceeded in Jaffna…
Agro-well density, Jaffna
 Agro- wells increased by 37 %
 Agricultural land increased by 6%
(in Valikamam South, 2003 - 2007)
 Excess irrigation: up to 230 %
 Excess fertilizer: 108 in N (kg/ha)
(in Valikamam, 2011)
(IWMI, 2011)
Potential over-abstraction

21. Consequences on saline intrusion…
(IWMI, 2011)
Suggestions:
 Efficient irrigation
management
 Increase groundwater
recharge
 Salt tolerant crops
 Awareness programs
 Strengthen water
management committee
 …

22. …adopting
local,
efficient
systems
Kalpitiya
Photos: Herath Manthrithilake, IWMI

23. Groundwater-based Agrarian Change
in North Central Province, Sri Lanka
 Qualitative research into
unprecedented growth in commercial
agriculture underwritten by
groundwater accessed through agro-wells
and an intensification of land use
 Socio-economic surveys
 Feedback and policy dialogue in NCP
planned for Oct 2014
Photo: IWMI

24. Improving Groundwater irrigation in Yala season
Photos: IWMI
Area – 1.5 ac. of small onion
Initial investment for the system – LKR. 399,000
Cost for land preparation, fertilizer and harvesting – Last season- LKR. 197,000
Net profit – LKR. 1,054,000

25. Improving Irrigation Using ICT
• Installing automatic
flow gauges
• Increasing and
improving ICT use in
irrigation mgt
• Groundwater well
survey (Locations;
Depths)
• Improving Groundwater
irrigation in Yala season
Mahaweli system H – ( Right bank main canal)

27. Automatic Canal flow monitoring
http://dialog.scadanet.lk:8090/login.php
2014-10-2

28. Sri Lanka Water Resources Information System
slwater.iwmi.org

29. Increasing Waste : A Challenge for our Water Bodies
Solid waste
Liquid waste
Kinniya Hikkaduwa Eravur
Kinniya Kalmunai Gampaha
Photos: IWMI

30. From Challenge to Opportunity
Co-Composting
Safe Organic Fertilizer
Photos: IWMI

31. Safeguarding our
water bodies
 National sanitation policy considering improved
liquid waste (septage) management.
 National guidelines and manuals on septage
management for safe disposal and/or reuse.
 Close collaboration with:
Recovering
nutrients
for organic fertilizer
 Supporting Pilisaru project with technical
options for high value organic fertilizers.
 High priority on product safety.
 Market analysis to ensure max. cost
recovery.
 Soil and crop trials for farmer field schools.

32. Technical demonstrations to introduce
new concepts for value creation
 IWMI expertise transfer.
 Demonstrational projects to commercial pilots.
 Studies on local resource utilization.
 Applicability to local conditions - crops and soils
Knowledge transfer from
other countries
 Co-composting initiatives using urban waste
streams.
 Low cost technologies for nutrient recovery
and enhancement.
 Pelletizing technology from China, tested by
IWMI in India and Africa.

33. Report:
Lagoons of Sri Lanka: From
the Origins to the Present
Kappaladi Lagoon, Chilaw
Distribution of coastal lagoons in Sri Lanka

34. Incidence of CKDu
patients and fluoride
distribution
Complex challenge – CKDu
Working paper:
Chronic Kidney Decease of unknown
origin – Literature Review
Negative
Positive

35. CGIAR Research Program – Water Land and Ecosystems
Photo: Hamish John Appleby, IWMI
VISION
A world in which agriculture thrives within vibrant ecosystems, where communities have
higher incomes, improved food security and the ability to continuously improve their lives
MISSION
Informing the development of policies, institutions and investments toward sustaining
ecosystems and their services as a prerequisite for sustainable and resilient agricultural
intensification and improved livelihoods

36. www.iwmi.org www.wle.cgiar.org
Photo: Hamish John Appleby, IWMI