Water management study at Kaudulla irrigation scheme, Sri Lanka. I - Interim report on Yala season 1978 and Maha season 1978/79

Holmes, D. and Dawson, R.J. and Gunston, H. and Batchelor, C. (1979) Water management study at Kaudulla irrigation scheme, Sri Lanka. I - Interim report on Yala season 1978 and Maha season 1978/79. Project Report. HR Wallingford Ltd.

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Abstract

The irrigation schemes of the Dry Zone in Sri Lanka have traditionally supported two paddy crops; one grown in the Maha season with irrigation water supplementing high rainfall, the other in the Yala season with a limited water supply from local tanks (reservoirs). Water use in these schemes is reportedly inefficient. Division of water under the Mahaweli Development Scheme is making it possible to settle and farm new areas in the Dry Zone and it is important that all irrigation water should be used efficiently. An irrigation water management study has been set up at Kaudulla, near Polonnaruwa in the North Central Province, to investigate the efficiency of a typical scheme under normal operating conditions. Since April 1978 a network of instruments has been operating to monitor rainfall tank water levels, irrigation and drainage channel flows, groundwater levels and evaporation over the area of the Kaudulla scheme. Initial results are presented for the first two cropping seasons of the study. Preliminary conclusions indicate that irrigation water management is comparatively efficient during the Yala, but that rainfall over the cropped are could be used more effectively as a substitute for irrigation water during the Maha.

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