Identifying environmental impacts of Wemedilla Reservoir Construction in Galewela DS division

Abstract

Reservoirs have been used for thousands of years to regulate the river flows and ensure adequate supply of water during dry periods. In the future, as population increases lead to water consumption rises demanding more reservoirs and dams. However, in recent years the constructions of new reservoirs in Sri Lanka have created impacts on socio-economic- environmental sectors. The impacts can be both positive and negative. Wemedilla Reservoir located in Galewela DS Division were selected to undertake this research with the objectives; to find out the environmental impacts caused by Wemedilla reservoir construction, to find out the factors influencing on the impacts and to identify the measures to mitigate the negative impacts. Primary data have been collected within the study area through questionnaire survey, interviews and field observations. Secondary data have been collected from the Divisional Secretariat of Galewela, Irrigation Office of Dambulla and published and unpublished materials. Microsoft excel 2013, Arc GIS and SPSS were used for spatial and attribute data analysis. Further this study assesses the positive and negative impacts through the reservoir of Wemedilla in the study area. Reservoir construction is a part of development. According to that it means growth and change. This study tries to assess the pros and cons of Environmental aspects through reservoir construction of Wemedilla reservoir in Galewela area.