Sri Lanka is an island which has been blessed with natural beauty and an abundance of resources, which we have failed to manage sustainability over the last century. Water, fundamental for all life, has been a resource which has largely been available to most Sri Lankan citizens and fauna around the year. Some parts of the country, which were inherently arid and had less rainfall were sparsely populated in history, and became farmlands with the rich irrigation system, built by kings of bygone eras. Today, much of Sri Lanka’s historic irrigation system remains under-utilised and in a dilapidated condition. A sign of poor State policies over decades of administration by multiple governments.
Today, water scarcity is increasingly becoming a problem which is spiraling towards a major crisis that is on the horizon. Amid the ongoing dry weather spell, ensuring an uninterrupted supply of drinking water has become a crucial concern, despite the heavy rainfall experienced earlier under the southwest monsoon. Sri Lanka, is also like every other nation in the planet facing the challenges of climate change, which has thrown off the predictability of weather patterns which the Island had been dependent on over centuries.
The National Water Supply and Drainage Board (NWSDB) earlier this month, announced water supply interruptions in several areas as a result of the ongoing severe dry weather and urged the public to use water sparingly and responsibly. According to them, water levels in key reservoirs were rapidly dropping due to the prolonged drought, while water consumption had surged as people coped with the heat. It further requested people to minimise activities such as washing vehicles and gardening, while using water only for necessary daily tasks. However, the NWSDB stressed to the public that there was no drinking water shortage at present, saying: “We have spread awareness and people have reduced consumption.” Authorities acknowledged that if the dry weather persists, the board may consider reducing the duration of water supply from the current 24-hour provision to manage resources.
One challenge in supplying water, even when it is available in abundance, is that the increased population and largely unplanned urbanisation makes the delivery more complicated. It also points to a crisis in the offing, given the growing pressure on water resources. Rainfall itself is not uniformly distributed and on top of that, our water extraction mechanisms are not uniform. This creates water scarcity. Today, around one-third of the population is vulnerable and deprived of water sources, according to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
The UNDP has cautioned that Sri Lanka remains off-track in achieving water security, making the call for action on water resilience more urgent as climate challenges loom. Its report titled ‘Understanding Multidimensional Vulnerabilities: Impact on People of Sri Lanka’ further outlines that water is the second greatest contributor to vulnerability in the country. “Nearly half of Sri Lanka’s population, 48.8%, lack disaster preparedness, a key vulnerability factor aggravated by accelerating climate risks, while 35.6% are vulnerable and deprived of water sources, compounding the impacts of the poly-crisis, raising significant concerns in the context of El Niño’s and La Niña’s potential impacts coupled with the effects of climate change in Sri Lanka,” the report said.
Multiple communities in the dry zone face chronic struggles with water scarcity, especially in the northern region due to regional discrepancies in water equity and accessibility, the Food and Agriculture Organisation also notes that Sri Lanka is categorised as ‘highly water stressed’.
Given the stark realities Sri Lanka is facing and what may be in store for the coming years. There is a need for a review of current water and land use policies, and for new policy to be crafted to protect water source catchments – the upstream forested parts of highland areas where most of the rivers and streams originate, which carry water downstream to areas with higher population density. It is also important that demographic mapping and solutions to unplanned urbanisation are found, and soon.
Water is essential to life. We should not disrupt its natural cycle, and be more adaptive to build resilience and be more efficient in its use.