Managing Conflict in Watersheds of Sri Lanka
Publisher: United States Agency for International Development (USAID)
Author(s): ARD, Inc
Date: 2005
Topics: Governance, Land, Renewable Resources
This assessment of issues of conflict and natural resources management was undertaken one month before most of Sri Lanka’s coastal fringe was devastated by the tsunami on 26 December 2004. The basic findings and conclusions remain unchanged as most of the assessment took place away from coastal areas. The one major exception in this report was that the entire tourist infrastructure of Yala National Park at the tail end of Menik Ganga was destroyed, and some 200 park workers, hotel employees and tourists were killed.
We would like to highlight a few issues that arise from the destruction of coastal communities and damage to fragile coastal ecosystems.
•Communities formerly dependent on shallow freshwater coastal aquifers that are now polluted require access to fresh water from other sources, adding to pressures in those watersheds where water resources are already fully committed or overcommitted. Allocation mechanisms must accommodate changes in demand for freshwater that include the requirements for coastal communities who were previously not part of the allocation process.
•Resettlement of refugees from coastal communities inland will intensify pressure of land, forest, and water resources, particularly as some may never want to return to their former homes. Mechanisms to include them as part of the community-level decision-making process in their new homes will be a priority in order to avoid potential conflict between established residents and refugees.
•Refugees from communities formerly dependent on tourism, coastal fishery, and salt production require alternative livelihoods, and many of these will likely be agricultural. This may increase pressure on land and water resources in tail-end portions of watersheds which were already under stress. Where possible, the full watershed resources have to be utilized rather than resettling refugees as close as possible to their former homes.
•Some coastal agricultural lands have been salinized. Although in the long-term leaching will remove the added salt, medium-term efforts will be required to return to productive levels obtained before the tsunami.
•Ecologically important areas such as Yala and Bundala have been severely damaged by salt and sediment. They will probably require additional fresh water to help restore and maintain wildlife habitats, yet they were already experiencing deficits due to upstream abstractions for water supply and agriculture prior to the tsunami.
All of these issues point toward the need for long-term watershed planning, allocation, and development involving land, forest, and water resources in those watersheds where there is likely to be significant redistribution of population. The eastern and southeastern areas of the islandwill be the most critical because water resources were already scarce, many are damaged, and adjacent inland areas have poor soils and marginal forest cover. This long-term approach has to start quickly and must be coordinated with pressing survival and reconstruction needs so that short-term mitigation programs do not inadvertently lead to longer-term deterioration of land and water resources.