Nilwala Ganga River

Nilwala Ganga (Sinhala: නිල්වලා ගඟ) is considered one of the important rivers in southern Sri Lanka. 

The river originates from the Panilkanda, Kabaragala and Dolawak regions North East of Deniyaya (De Silva et al., 1988). After travelling about 72 km, it eventually empties into the Indian Ocean at Matara in Matara District (De Silva et al., 1988; Jayawardana & Edirisinghe, 2016). The water of the river is mainly used for drinking water supply, bathing, washing and other domestic purposes as well as for irrigation of crops (De Silva et al., 1988).

River basin

The Nilwala Ganga river basin extends in an area of about 1,073 km² (Elkaduwa & Sakthivadivel, 1999; Jayawardana & Edirisinghe, 2016). Approximately 70 % of the river basin is used for agricultural activities such as paddy, tea, coconut, cinnamon, citronella and rubber cultivations (Jayawardana & Edirisinghe, 2016).

See also

#) Rivers of Sri Lanka

Attribution

1) Nilwala River Matara Sri Lanka by Auston Rotheram is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0

References

1) De Silva, M.P., Karunatileka, R. and Thiemann, W., 1988. Study of some physicochemical properties of Nilwala River waters in Southern Sri Lanka with special reference to effluents resulting from anthropogenic activities. Journal of Environmental Science & Health Part A, 23(4), pp.381-398.
2) Elkaduwa, W.K.B. and Sakthivadivel, R., 1999. Use of historical data as a decision support tool in watershed management: a case study of the Upper Nilwala basin in Sri Lanka (Vol. 26). IWMI. pp.1-31.
3) Jayawardana, J.K. and Edirisinghe, E.A., 2016. Water quality of Nilwala River, Sri Lanka in relation to land use practices. Sri Lanka Journal of Aquatic Sciences, 21(2). pp.77-94.

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This page was last updated on 17 April 2022
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