University of Jaffna to address Water Scarcity Issues in the Delft Island…
University of Jaffna to address Water Scarcity Issues in the Delft Island… Department of Fisheries Science, Faculty of Science, in collaboration with IUCN/MFF recently conducted a survey around Delft Island in order to identify the available ponds and waterholes in the area. Freshwater scarcity is a major problem among the communities of the Delft Island. Being an Island, salt water intrusion is also a crucial problem exists in shallow wells.Further, storing of water in the ponds or waterholes during rainy season is challenging because of the sandy nature of the soil and poor infrastructure associated with ponds or waterholes. Evaporation, in combination with salt water intrusionoften cause natural salinity levels to get higher in the area. Thus the Delft Island communities need a proper water management plan to cope with their daily requirements.
There are 37 ponds and 23 water holes identified in the Delft Island through this survey. It was observed that several ponds and water holes were completely dry during the dry season in the Delft Island. The research team has also been able to restore a small pond as a model to reduce water scarcity problem among the community in the Delft Island. Thoddichcha kulam, kerny ponds were restored under the IUCN – MFF research project through widening, bund raising, cleaning up the barrier of the pond and blocking seepages in bunds in order to increase access to water for domestic purposes.The restoration works were started last year. Restoring efforts signifi- cantly increased the water storing capacity of the ponds. In addition arjuna trees planted in the vicinity of the pond in order to reduce evaporation.
Prof. (Mrs). K.Sivashanthini is leading this survey as the project manager. The research team consists with Mrs. S. Sathyaruban (Lecturer, University of Jaffna), Mr. K.Gunaalan (Lecturer, University of Jaffna), Mr. T.W.S. Warnasooriya (Lecturer, Ocean University of Sri L a n k a ) , M r. Gaya n t h a R.L.Kodikara (Lecturer, University of Ruhuna) and the technical staff of University of Jaffna.