Water Resources Development / Management for Agriculture in Sri Lanka; Past and Future

Water resources have been developed in Sri Lanka since the pre-Christian era, merely for irrigated agriculture. Technology development during the last century has further developed this sector for hydropower generation, domestic water supply, industry and other uses as well. Major users of surface water are irrigated agriculture, hydropower and domestic supplies while the ground water is extensively used for industry and conjunctive use in commercial agriculture. Irrigated agriculture sector uses almost 85-90%, of developed water, in terms of volume, according to recent estimates. Pipe borne water facilities are provided to about 70 percent of the urban and 15 percent of the rural population and there are ample requests for more domestic water supply schemes in the rural areas in view of introducing good sanitation practices. Despite the commendable achievement in the sector during the last few decades, this sector suffers many crises and has got to face many challenges in the future.