The paper gives an overview of water quality problems occurring in Sri Lanka from the viewpoint of the government's Irrigation Department. There are 103 perennial and seasonal rivers draining the island in a radial pattern, and discharging 39% of the surface rainfall into the sea. At present, 6873 M m3 of river water has been tapped in lowland irrigation tanks and cascading highland hydropower reservoirs, which have inundated about 1000 sq km of the island surface area (65 525 sq km). Global warming by 1° C in 60 years has had some effects on the local hydrology. Sri Lanka's Dry Zone area suffers with excess fluorine. Eutrophication in urban reservoirs (tanks) is due to sewage entry. Other apparent problems include:- soil salinity due to elevation of water table by irrigation; excess nutrients in streams due to over-fertilisation; mineral leaching into irrigation canals; potential acid rain and industrial pollution.

assessment, canals, eutrophication, fluorine, globalwarming, groundwater, hydrology, irrigation, leaching, monitoring,reservoirs, soil salinity, surface water, water quality, Sri Lanka,South Asia, Asia, Developing Countries, Commonwealth of Nations, Ceylon,surveillance systems, water composition and quality, watering, WaterResources (PP200), Pollution and Degradation (PP600), Soil Fertility(JJ600)

• Journal Article

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