More than 80,000 people are already affected by Sri Lanka’s intensifying dry spell, with emergency drinking water being supplied to tens of thousands. But with El Niño threatening a potentially much harsher period ahead, the real test is whether the country uses the rain that does fall to prepare for the rain that may not.
Sri Lanka is already supplying drinking water to tens of thousands of people across seven districts as the present drought bites, while water levels in hundreds of smaller tanks have reportedly fallen to around 10 per cent.
Latest official figures indicate that more than 81,000 people from over 25,000 families are now facing difficulties because of the dry weather.
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The Government has allocated Rs.4.8 billion for water distribution, while the effects of the drought are beginning to extend beyond household supplies. Coconut and vegetable crops are under stress, and water is also being supplied to Yala National Park for wildlife.
The more important question, however, is not simply how Sri Lanka responds to this drought. It is whether the country is preparing for what could come next. Meteorological warnings surrounding the developing El Niño have become increasingly serious.
International forecasters believe the present event could become exceptionally strong, while Sri Lankan authorities have warned of potentially severe consequences for the country.
That uncertainty is itself an argument for preparation rather than complacency.
Sri Lanka cannot manufacture rain. It can, however, become considerably better at retaining the rain it receives.
That means ensuring reservoirs and village tanks are capable of holding maximum practical volumes when the rains arrive; repairing canals, sluices and irrigation networks before they are urgently needed; reducing leakage in urban water systems; protecting catchment areas; and encouraging farmers to adopt irrigation techniques which produce more with less water.
The Irrigation Department has already been promoting water-saving methods, including alternate wetting and drying, which can substantially reduce the amount of water required for paddy cultivation.
There is also a larger question of national planning.
Sri Lanka has thousands of tanks and reservoirs precisely because generations before us understood that an island dependent upon seasonal rainfall must store water when it is abundant in order to survive when it is not.
Climate volatility makes that ancient principle more important, not less.
Major and medium irrigation reservoirs are presently reported to contain only around 36 per cent of their overall capacity. If substantial rains arrive during the coming months, every practical opportunity to capture that water should therefore be treated as part of the country’s drought response.
Water security must also be considered alongside food security and electricity generation because prolonged dry weather can place pressure on agriculture, drinking-water supplies and hydroelectric generation simultaneously.
The immediate requirement is understandably to get drinking water to communities that need it.
But bowsers are an emergency response. They are not a water policy.
The warning has arrived. The rain, hopefully, will too.
The question is whether Sri Lanka will save enough of it before the taps begin running dry.
