sri lanka: who owns the rain?
elf/foe
sri lanka
King Parakramabahu of Sri Lanka
(1164-1197) knew the true value of water.
He created an entire civilization based on
highly complex irrigation systems to store,
distribute and manage water for
agriculture, drinking, sanitation and
landscape gardening.
This irrigation-based hydraulic system
went into decline once the country was
invaded by foreign rulers, who introduced
tea, rubber, coconut and coffee
cultivation. The accompanying clearing of
forests impacted groundwater, run-off and
river flows negatively. As farmers turned
towards rain-fed agriculture, traditional
water management fell into disuse.
Today, due to climate-induced weather
changes, rainfall is not sufficient to grow
food in the drier zones of Sri Lanka. Human
mismanagement, watershed degradation and
water pollution add to the serious water
shortages that the country faces today.
Almost all of Sri Lanka’s rain comes during
the short monsoon season from October to
January, and nearly half of the rainfall
escapes, unused, to the sea.
Friends of the Earth Sri Lanka believes
that these problems can be resolved by
resurrecting traditional irrigation,
management and storage systems and
addressing water pollution. But the
government is currently most interested in
implementing a method of charging fees for
water, thus satisfying the interests of
international organizations and
multilateral development banks.
The government’s new water policy, which
the Asian Development Bank helped to
formulate, transfers ownership of water
resources from the people to the
government. Whereas the rights of large
companies with water entitlements are
protected, small users will be charged
higher rates. Given experiences in other
countries, we are skeptical that the
introduction of water pricing will provide
the best water future for Sri Lanka.
ELF/Friends of the Earth Sri Lanka used
the media to inform the public about the
implications of the new water policy.
Public opposition grew, and the government
revised the policy. The new policy is still
problematic, however, and we have organized
public meetings to discuss entitlements,
the potential interference of multinational
organizations, the lack of attention to
water pollution, the principle of charging
for water, and the likelihood of future
water privatization given the contents of
the new policy. The government has promised
to take these considerations into account,
and has gone back to the drawing board.
