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Regeneration of abandoned cultivable land into productive land by Transferring 15 GL  of Killinochi Irrigation Area ( KIA) water to Vadamarachi east Lagoon (VEL).

This 15 GL (No conveyance losses due to by piping and concrete lined channel) will be used to keep the water level in VEL high enough ( a ground water mound) , so that the hydraulic gradient created by Sea water ( with a barrier width of about 2Km) associated with tide ( Tide level at + 0.8 m aMSL ) will pushed down the saline interface towards sea and thereby  salt water induced by capillary is minimised.

If VEL WL is above +0.0 m aMSL. Then for every 100 mm increase in WL indicates a 4 meters thick water lens floating on saline water profile. However , a young irrigation engineer Sarva’s work done on 29/11/2016 in Nilaaavarai well proportionately indicate that the usable thickness of the good  water ( as per SLS standard)  is only 2.0 meters just after rainy season.

Just sufficient for the 4-month evaporation loss of 500 mm from Jul , Aug, Sep, and Oct . Strategy adopted is when the water level falls below +0.4 m aMSL , this 15 GL is supplied around Jul/ Aug to top up  back to +0.90 m aMSL just 100mm above the tide level of +0.8 m aMSL. This 500 mm top up for30 sq.km is equal to 15GL. Operating band width is 500 mm. An Operation Guidelines (OG) needs to be in place with careful monitoring.

It is all by gravity ( no pumping at all)

Combination of pipes and existing KIA channel without any refurbishment

Just after Yala season and existing two canals with drop off facilities total > 250 ML/day is more than sufficient to supply required 15 GL in 2 months (Jul/Aug)

This indicates that to transfer of 15 GL water, there is  No requirement for diverting water from Kanagarajan Aru at causeway (Augmentation system is not required).

Potential to Top up of VEL can be done at any time when there is a slack in the system or when extra water available through Augmentation system or even with NCP water.

Our proposed system is capable to tap any spilled water  ( opportunity water) from Iranamadu tank ( 3 out of 10 years ) and capable to transfer 7.5 GL/month based on 250 ML/day through augmentation system, if and only VEL can accommodate this spill water or RfJ

Similarly, Our proposed system is capable to tap any Airspace water  ( opportunity water above 34 ft gauge level in dam or > 140 GL stored volume) from Iranamadu tank ( once in 10 years in addition to above spill water ) and capable to transfer 7.5 GL/month based on 250 ML/day through KIA Drop OFF  system, if and only VEL can accommodate this airspace water ( released due to d/s flooding avoidance) as RfJ

Also, A provisional Supplement irrigation Pump of 100 ML/day to supplement KIA lower D3 Irrigation system commanding 900 ha , whenever there is extra augmented water available more than  d/s requirement ( priority for Maha season) , this pump is kick start and supplement the 900 ha demand with an intention of reduced supply from Iranmadu water. I.e. Put back in the Iranamadu tank as a saving for future use.

Finally, a small 1GL storage at Uriyan for balancing all the needs in KIA but not for VEL, as VEL transfer is by  Bypass and nothing to do with storage.

In short , our main storage is Iranmadu tank which accommodate all the evaporation losses for a multi used system rather than individual shallow storages in several places.

 Yes , the quantity of water shared by KIA farmers for this 18 GL will be paid at the prevailing rate (presently Rs 10,000 /acre  is the water traded rate for Maha @ 7 ML/ha) which is worked out with 20% loss allowance is approximately Rs 3000 / ML , which is equivalent to Rs 54 M paid to KIA farmers / Annum shared along 7000 farms proportionate to Gazetted ownership.

Yes , there are other beneficiaries who can contribute and reduce the burden Rs 54M through implementation of using the EPL regeneration project for the other 10 months other than  Jul /Aug that being idle if not used for RfJ

Yes , the proposed Augmentation system is possibly brining about 12 GL  water during Maha and 3 ML during Yala through the system but this water is a mixture of

rainfall run off after effective rainfall use

Surface runoff through escapes

Base and interflows to drainage streams collected via percolation

Farm escape flows to streams

 This will straightaway reduce the burden of 15 GL to net 0 GL  ( if all these generated augmentation system water 12+3 = 15 GL is used within KIA boundary i.e. before EPL) and end up in paying Rs 5.4M to KIA farmers.

So, the purpose of the provisional  augmentation  pump 100 ML/day is to get the maximum use of 12 GL Maha augmentation water . 870 ha new area requires 6 GL + 1.0 GL (aqua) + 1.0 GL (stock) with a total of 8 GL leaving 4 GL for the  augmentation pump which corresponds to 100 ML/day pump with a peaking factor of 2.5 for 100 days irrigation.

Even though the Bypass facilities can deliver 7.5 GL/month during spill or air space management , VEL doesn’t hold any water more than +1.5 m aMSL with other consideration, so any resources available cannot be used unless it is for RfJ by lowering Thondamanaru barrage level.

In conclusion No money is paid to KIA farmers.

Resource wise is NIL balance ( No need to pay any money to KIA farmers)

Capital Project cost is around Rs 8.7 billion

Benefits are :

6000 ha of  regenerated land under Maha in VEL

1000 ha of cash crop with a short new season of cash crop ( J/a/s) in vel using GW storage

870 ha of non-gazetted land with Maha irrigation facilities with augmented water

400 ha Crop Intensity reduction by 5% in areas in RB and outer A9 west Pooncarie side by marginal productivity increase. Water charges to be paid by the users but overall district productivity increased.

10 livestock community scheme 500 ha each raring with total 30000 goats or 3000 cattle with a carrying capacity limited to 6 goats /ha ( fodder requirement).

4 no 100 Ha pilot project for Fish / prawn /crab ponds

This benefit of considering only via agriculture development will pay off the investment less than 10Yrs at a discount of 2%. So, in conclusion is a self-funded project if a business loan arranged less than 4% present Central Bank of Srilanka business loan facility.