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Lunugamvehera Reservoir |
Lunugamvehera Reservoir (Sinhala: ලුණුගම්වෙහෙර ජලාශය) is a major reservoir located on the verge of Lunugamvehera National Park, bordering the Uva and Southern provinces of Sri Lanka.
History
The reservoir was constructed under the Kirindi Oya Irrigation and Settlement Project (KOISP) which commenced in March 1979 (Wijayaratne & de Zoysa, 1998; Wijesekera, 1999). The construction works of the reservoir started in 1981 and were completed in 1986 (Sakthivadivel et al., 1992; Tampoe, 1992).
The Reservoir
The reservoir was constructed by damming the Kirindi Oya River which begins from Ravana Ella near Wellawaya (Wijayaratne & de Zoysa, 1998). The bund of the reservoir is about 3.25 miles long and the water spreads in an area of about 7,438 acres at its full supply level (Wijayaratne & de Zoysa, 1998). The reservoir has 6 sluices and consists of a left-bank and right-bank canal system (Wijesekera, 1999). It provides water to about 25 small villages with 5000 families located in close proximity (Wijesekera, 1999).
Five reservoirs downstream, viz; Debara Wewa, Tissa Wewa, Yoda Wewa, Pannegamuwa Wewa and Wirawila Wewa receive water through the main Left Bank canal of Lunugamvehera Reservoir (Matsuno et al., 2000).
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References
Journal Articles
1) Matsuno, Y., Elkaduwa, W.K.B. and Shinogi, Y., 2000. Irrigation water quality in the southeastern dry zone of Sri Lanka: the Kirindi Oya Scheme. In Status and Future Direction of Water Research in Sri Lanka, Proceedings of the National Conference held at the BMICH, Colombo, Sri Lanka, 4–6 November 1998 (pp. 89-100). International Water Management Institute (IWMI): Colombo, Sri Lanka.
2) Sakthivadivel, R., Brewer, J.D. and Wijayaratna, C.M., 1992. Participatory action research in irrigation management: an example from Kirindi Oya. In Advancements in IIMI's Research, 1992: A Selection of Papers Presented at the Internal Program Review. IWMI. pp.189-208.
3) Tampoe, M., 1992. Environmental impact of the Lunugamvehera Kirindi Oya irrigation project: a case study.
4) Wijayaratne, L. K. W. & de Zoysa, M., 1998. "Socio-economic achievements of the Lunugamvehera Irrigation Settlement: a comparative study. Paper 26 of Session 20," Conference Papers h023552, International Water Management Institute. pp.1-10.
5) Wijesekera, N.T.S., 1999. Irrigation reservoir performance: a case study of Lunugamvehera reservoir. Department of Civil Engineering. University of Moratuwa.
Location Map
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Attribution
To Whom
LankaPradeepa.com extends its gratitude to Mrs Badra Kamaladasa (Former Director General of Irrigation) for providing the necessary photographs required for this article. All the photos are published here with the permission of the author.