De-Silting of minor irrigation reservoirs : a study on major stakeholder opinions

Abstract

Minor irrigation reservoirs, commonly known as village tanks in Sri Lanka, play a vital role in the economic and social spheres of the rural village population, especially in the dry zone of Sri Lanka. A major issue of these reservoirs is the capacity reduction over time and the resulting rapid drying-up during the dry seasons of the year. Siltation of the reservoir bed is one of the major causes for decreasing storage capacity over time. As a remedial action, the Department of Irrigation launched a programme to de-silt the village tanks. This programme has received both positive and negative criticism. Therefore, the current study focuses on a collection of data from a sample area in order to evaluate the opinions of the major stakeholders, namely, farmers and the officials of the Government departments involved in these schemes. The specific objective of this paper is to highlight the opinions and concerns of the two stakeholder groups. The methodology includes a literature review, a sample survey (n=60) on 20 minor irrigation reservoirs in the Kurunegala district, and quantitative analyses on the collected data. The paper discusses stakeholder opinions on factors that could contribute to effective de-silting operations including catchment protection. It also highlights the necessity of stakeholder involvement in de-silting operations.