IRI Team: Lareef Zubair, Reid Basher, Upmanu Lall,
Chet Ropelewski
Mahaweli Authority of Sri Lanka Team:
Herath Manthrithillake, Ranjan Attygalle
Overview
of the Mahaweli River and Mahaweli Project
Current IRI Project
Progress of the Current Project
Anticipated Output by the
End of 2001
Related Project
in Development - March 2001
Additional Web Material
Related Reports
Links and Contact Details
Press
Reports
Also see Visual Introduction
Overview
of the Mahaweli River and the Mahaweli Project
The 207 mile long Mahaweli river traverses from the so-called "Wet
Zone" of the island to the "Dry Zone" - a process which has been augmented
with dams, canals and tunnels starting over 2000 years ago. Of the annual
precipitation in the basin of 28,000 MCM, 9,000 MCM is discharged to the
sea. The Accelerated Mahaweli project, which was carried out in the last
two decades, was the largest development project in Sri Lanka involving
the generation of hydroelectricity, irrigation of the "Dry Zone", land
settlement, employment generation and infrastructure development. This
project led to hydropower generation capacity of 470 MW and irrigation
of an additional 365,000 ha of land in the Dry Zone. Its catchment spans
10,448 square km and it feeds 1003 tanks. Subsequent to construction, attention
has shifted to watershed management, water management, crop diversification,
participatory management and enterprise development. There have been concerted
efforts to manage the watershed in the upper reaches of the Mahaweli.
The Mahaweli Authority also manages the Walawe basin whose headstream and downstream climatology and geography are similar to that of the Mahaweli. The Walawe basin is a simpler basin and serve as a pilot basin for research.
Current IRI Project
Following sustained interaction with the Directors of Environment and
Monitoring and Plan Implementation Units of the Mahaweli Authority in early
2000, a proposal was formulated and letters of understanding
on this proposal were exchanged between the Director-Generals of the Mahaweli
Authority of Sri Lanka and the IRI. Broadly, the project team seeks to
develop tools for the use of climate information for river basin system
management, to generate indices for droughts, floods and hazards and to
study various environmental impacts (floods, droughts, malaria) and societal
impacts (equity, communication of forecasts) of climate. The
project has been funded by the IRI and the Mahaweli Authority (Office
Support and Local Travel).
Progress of the
Current Project
In the seven months since the project proposal was accepted, we have
developed
our partnership with the Mahaweli authorities, collected data and literature,
studied the ENSO sensitivity of climate and rice production in Sri Lanka
and are progressing towards a comprehensive forecasting system. The coverage
of Sri Lanka by the IRI forecasting system and its skill is relatively
good. Lareef Zubair visited the river basin in August 2000 to initiate
the project. The local authorities were found to be quite helpful
and to have adequate infrastructure to support our work.
Anticipated
Output by the End of 2001
Towards the end of this year, our output should include
· Tailored climate and stream flow forecasts for Mahaweli and
Walawe
· Forecasts for water availability in the Upper Mahaweli and
Walawe Basins
· Studies on Climate Variability and Impacts in Mahaweli and
Walawe (on Rice and Tea production and Malaria)
Related
Project in Development - March 2001
The climatological and hydrological work done in the Mahaweli project
is being used to to collaborate on a proposal to study the “Impacts of
Climate Variability on the Transmission of Malaria Transmission and the
Development of an Early Warning System” with the Lamont Doherty Climate
Group and partners in Sri Lanka, namely, the International Water
Management Institute, University of Sri Jayawardhenepura, Department of
Meteorology and the Anti-Malaria Campaign of the Ministry of Health. This
proposal is under review by funders.
i. Slides
on IRI Mahaweli Project
http://iri.ldeo.columbia.edu/~lareef/iri/mahaweli/presentation/index.html
ii. General Information
on Project and Climatology and Hydrology
http://iri.ldeo.columbia.edu/~lareef/
iii. Newsletter
for Climate and Related information in Mahaweli and Sri Lanka at
http://iri.ldeo.columbia.edu/~lareef/slmon/
iv. IRI
Asia Climate Update
( http://iri.ldeo.columbia.edu/~lareef/iri/climate/asiadigest.html
)
i. The influence of ENSO on Sri Lankan rainfall
ii. The relationship of Sri Lankan rainfall and global sea surface
temperatures
iii. A dynamical model for orographic rainfall in monsoonal Sri Lanka
iv. Diurnal and Seasonal Variations in Surface Wind at Sita Eliya,
Sri Lanka
v. Review of Monsoon Changes and Climate Extremes in South Asia
vi. Diurnal and Seasonal Wind Characteristics in Southern Sri Lanka
vii. An Evaluation of the IRI Climate Net Assessment for Southern Asia
viii. Cyclone Hazard and Response in Sri Lanka
ix. ENSO Influences on Rice Production in Sri Lanka
x. The 1997-1999 ENSO event in Sri Lanka: Forecasts, Media and Responses
(under preparation)
xi. History of Meteorological Studies in Sri Lanka
xii. A bibliography of Climate and Related Aspects in Sri Lanka
xiii. Hydrologic simulation of the Walawe basin.
xiv. Water Resources Management in the Mahaweli basin
xv. Challenges to Environmental Impact Assessment in Sri Lanka
xvi. Modernization of Sri Lanka’s Traditional Irrigation System and
Sustainability
Letter
from Director/General of the Mahaweli Authority of Sri Lanka
Major
Rivers in Sri Lanka
(Clockwise - Yan Oya, Mahaweli Ganga, Gal Oya, Kumbukkan Oya, Walawe, Kalu
Ganga, Kelani, Kala Oya)
Map
of Mahaweli Project Area
Climate
in Sri Lanka
Ministry
of Mahaweli Development, Sri Lanka
Mahaweli
Authority of Sri Lanka
Environment and Forest Conservation Division of the Mahaweli Authority
Polgolla
Office
Natural Resources Management Services Office Outside,
Inside
Energy Assessmnet
for Sri Lanka
Project Coordinator
Dr Lareef Zubair
International Research Institute for Climate Prediction
P O Box 1000, Palisades, New York, 10964, United States
Phone +1 914-680-4424 Fax +1 914-680-4864 Email: lareef@iri.ldeo.columbia.edu
