A decision on whether to implement water cuts to preserve supplies will follow the National Water Supply and Drainage Board’s (NWSDB) review meeting on Monday (20).
Speaking to The Sunday Morning, NWSDB Chairman Chandana Bandara said there was currently no immediate need to impose water cuts, noting that the rainy season was beginning to pick up.
However, he said a final decision would be made after the review. “What decision will be taken going forward will be made on Monday,” he said, adding that no water cuts would be imposed until then.
Earlier, the NWSDB had announced that a review meeting would be held on Wednesday (15) to determine whether water cuts were necessary, after suspending supply interruptions from 11 to 14 April in view of the Sinhala and Tamil New Year festive season.
Commenting further, NWSDB General Manager T. Barathithasan said that the board was currently maintaining a 24-hour water supply in the Western Province, with the upcoming review expected to determine whether any changes were required.
“The rainy season has now started, so there is some rainfall. I hope this will continue,” he said.
Due to prevailing dry weather conditions, the NWSDB had previously introduced scheduled water supply suspensions as several reservoirs recorded declining water levels. With the Labugama and Kalatuwawa Water Treatment Plants operating at reduced capacity, time-bound supply interruptions were implemented in several areas.
Meanwhile, according to the Irrigation Department’s Reservoir Status database, several major reservoirs across the country remain below 50% effective storage. These include Ambakolawewa (41.86%), Attaragalla (47.15%), and Batalagoda (22.01%) in Kurunegala; Akathimuruppu (21.97%) and Viyathikulam (27.33%) in Mannar; Muruthawela (39.42%), Kekiriobada (22.34%), and Tissawewa (37.83%) in Hambantota; Tabbowa (48.62%) and Inginimitiya (46.35%) in Puttalam; and Senanayake Samudraya (46.55%) in Ampara as of Friday (17).
In addition, 10 medium-scale reservoirs are also operating below 50% effective storage, including Alugalge (26.74%), Dambawewa (42.01%), Debara Ara (29.46%), Hambegamuwa (42.04%), Kahakurullanpelassa (12.75%), Kandiyapita (37.24%), Kotiyagala (41.62%), and Mahawewa (37.58%) in Monaragala, as well as Haliela and Uyanwewa in Galle. Several other medium reservoirs remain below 70% effective storage.
However, water spillages due to excess capacity have been observed in some medium reservoirs, including Malipotha in Monaragala and Bomburuella in Badulla.