Title

Sri Lanka: Disaster Risk Reduction through Climate Change Adaptation in Aranayake

Armenia: Local solutions for waste water management in Parakar village

Australia: Managing salinity risks associated with importing irrigation water into Clare
Country
Sri Lanka
Armenia
Australia
Summary

Aranayake, a secluded agricultural area known mainly for tea and spice cultivation, came to the limelight for tragic reasons with the Samasara landslide of May 2015. Caused partly due to climate change and partly due to anthropogenic influences, the landslide was a result of 6 days of constant high intensity rains. The incident also caused the highest number of casualties ever recorded in a Sri Lankan landslide.

In the village of Parakar, untreated wastewater contaminated agricultural lands, jeopardised food safety and posed severe health risks. In 2010, the Parakar community supported by partners from the Country Water Partnerships of Armenia initiated and developed a demonstration pilot project for domestic wastewater treatment. Particular attention was given to community involvement. This case illustrates the value of small scale solutions.

In Australia, a new approach to water management was needed to allow imported water to be used for irrigation without increasing the salinity of the soils or groundwater. Action was taken to develop a framework to enable irrigators to manage the environmental risks associated with the use of River Murray water for irrigation. The key lesson is that a salt management strategy is relevant for land irrigation.
Related IWRM Tools
  • Climate Change Policies (
    A1.03
    )
  • Communities of Practice (
    B4.03
    )
  • WASH and Gender (
    B5.06
    )
  • Stakeholder Analysis (
    C1.03
    )
  • Public sector water utilities (
    B2.01
    )
  • Community-based water supply and management organisations (
    B2.03
    )
  • Communities of Practice (
    B4.03
    )
  • Negotiation (
    C6.01
    )
  • Training Water Professionals (
    B4.02
    )
  • Geographic Information System (
    C2.01
    )
  • The Rights of Rivers (
    A2.04
    )
Keywords
Climate Change Floods and Droughts Maha Oya River
Food and Nutrition Water Pollution Urban/WASH
Food and Nutrition Murray-Darling
Lessons Learned

This intervention addressed a real issue impacting the lives of communities in Sri Lanka’s Central Province. The complexity of this disaster has highlighted the need for operationalizing SDGs in future activities and moving from disaster relief to disaster risk reduction.

Consensus measures were taken to improve soil conservation in relation to tea smallholdings and reforestation which induced strong possibility of another landslide. Engaging community helps to identify the important form of Disaster Risk Reduction – a participatory model supported by local.

In a scenario where DRR is of critical importance, schoolchildren can be the most important conduit of DRR information. A non-supportive environment for ecosystem protection is caused by a school system, which does little to foster encounters with ground conditions.

Schools that received RWH tanks are expected to use this for maintenance of school attendance especially for girl children. Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM) calls for properly maintained, preferably girl friendly toilets.

In case of the small villages’ issues being neglected by the big water service investors, alternative initiatives are appropriate to consider.

Similar to other IWRM cases, local and small scale solutions proved to be one of the best alternatives in this case.

There are possibilities to incorporate integrated aspects of IWRM (e.g waste water service, improvement of condition for irrigation system and reduced degradation of community farmlands as well as public health considerations).

Community involvement is needed to make reasonable technical and financial plans. At the same time, there is a need to provide relevant information about health and environmental concerns in advance; to ensure responsive and responsible participation climate in the community.

The water licensing policies determine the locations at which salt will accumulate and the number of years that will pass before salt becomes the major issue.

A single source of regular, clear, consistent communication is essential to avoid confusion and to win support for any innovative strategy.

History shows that salt accumulation has caused the eventual failure of most irrigation schemes.

A salt management strategy is highly relevant wherever there are plans to irrigate land that has not previously been irrigated.
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