DEGREE OF LAND DEGRADATION IN THE UPPER MAHAWELI CATCHMENT AREA (AN INDICATIVE MAP GENERATED USING GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS)

The Upper Mahaweli Catchment (UMC) is located in the central hills of Sri Lanka. Totalsurface area is 3110.81 Km2 with the sub-catchments of Kotmale, Victoria, Randenigalaand Rantembe. During the past few decades, land degradation has increased due tochanges in plantation agriculture, population growth and inappropriate land managementpractices on steep slopes in the UMC area.This study was carried out to identify land quality in three basic levels: degraded lands,degrading lands and good lands in the UMC area. From the agricultural perspective, theeffect of land degradation could be linked to the natural fertility levels of the land or cropyield characteristics. As such data was not available, present land cover and slope wereused as indicators of land degradation. Assumption is that, land cover could be taken as acumulative result of fertility levels, natural quality of soils & climate and anthropologicalimpacts. Accuracy was checked by field investigation.The results of this study can be useful for watershed management, agricultural resourcesmanagement and planning, to develop guidelines and policies.

Review of literature on chronic kidney disease of unknown etiology (CKDu) in Sri Lanka

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

A review on water governance in Sri Lanka: the lessons learnt for future water policy formulation

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

Geochemical and isotopic evidences from groundwater and surface water for understanding of natural contamination in chronic kidney disease of unknown etiology (CKDu) endemic zones in Sri Lanka

<p>Chronic kidney disease of unknown etiology (CKDu) is the main health issue in the dry zone of Sri Lanka. Despite many studies carried out, causative factors have not been identified yet clearly. According to the multidisciplinary researches carried out so far, potable water is considered as the main causative factor for CKDu. Hence, the present study was carried out with combined isotopic and chemical methods to understand possible relationships between groundwater; the main drinking water source, and CKDu in four endemic areas in the dry zone. Different water sources were evaluated isotopically (²H, ³H and ¹⁸O) and chemically from 2013 to 2015. Results revealed that prevalence of CKDu is significantly low with the groundwater replenished by surface water inputs. It is significantly high with the groundwater stagnated as well as groundwater recharged from regional flow paths. Thus, the origin, recharge mechanism and flow pattern of groundwater, as well as geological conditions which would be responsible for natural contamination of groundwater appear as the main causative factors for CKDu. Therefore, detailed investigations should be made in order to identify the element(s) in groundwater contributing to CKDu. The study recommends providing drinking water to the affected zones using water sources associated with surface waters.</p