Wetlands as Water Infrastructure: A South Asian Experience

Missaka Hettiarachchi (Sri Lanka)Jayati Chourey (India)

IntroductionPresent state of wetlands in South Asia

•Wetlands are among the least protected ecosystems and are subjected to severe environmental degradation •Loosing important environmental services they offer •(Mis)management is the main issue

Case 1:Colombo Flood Detention Area Wetlandsby Missaka Hettiarachchi

Present status (ecological status )• Water quality highly degraded:

BOD – 29.5mg/l, DO – 4.6 mg/l Phos: 0.21 mg/l Fecal coli – 2600 nos/100 ml [Spatial and Temporal mean for the whole system]

• Proliferation of invasive speciesPlants: Pond Apple (Annona glabra), Water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes). Anona glabra cover increased by 110% form 1982 -2008 Fish: Knife fish, Kissing gourami, Thilapia (Avg. 2 invasive species identified in each plot)

Present status (eco-system services)• Earlier: Human consumption, flood attenuation, drainage,

agricultural use, transport, fishing • Present: flood attenuation and drainage (serves as the only

drainage and flood retention infrastructure in the area)

Problems• Number of small solid waste dumps, two major municipal solid

waste dumps.• 89.5% of the households (200m from the wetland); NO sanitary

latrine• 52.5% of the households discharge gray water to the marsh• 60% of the households are effected by floods

Management Scenario• Owned and managed by SLLRDC (Sri Lanka Land Reclamation and Development

Corporation)

• No community participation in management or decision making • Involvement of other stake holder organisations (CEA, LGAs)

minimal• Function as a major water infrastructure is identified by managers

but not properly accounted/ incorporated in development decision making .

by Jayati Chourey

Case 2: Kondakarla Ava Wetland, India

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Services provided by Kondakarla Ava wetland to the communities

Irrigates more than 3000 Ac. of land

Inland Fishery

Water for washing cloths

Fodder and drinking water for cattle

Aquatic plants and sediment for various purposes

Ground water recharge

Ecotourism

Ava supports a population of 25000 in 17 villages

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Institutional Stakeholders

• District Administration • Mandal Revenue Office• Mandal Development Office • Irrigation Dept • Fisheries Dept • Agriculture Dept• Forest Department • Tourism Department • Gram Panchayats

• Ava Inland Fishermen Co-operative Society

• Ava Water Users Association (WUA) • Lift Irrigation Committees • Washer-folk Society• Cattle rearers’ Society• Women Self Help Group• Youth Organisations

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Management Scenario

• With a plethora of “stakeholders”, it is difficult to define the rights and responsibilities for each of these groups. conflicts exist at inter and intra village levels among different user groups.

• A very common perception here is that wetland degradation is a natural process. None of the user groups has wetland conservation and management as one of its objectives.

• There is no common forum, which can coordinate and monitor all the wetland use practices and take up conservation activities.

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Problems to Ava ecosystem affecting local livelihoods

• Decrease in water holding capacity, reduction in the level and area of water

• Eutrophication and Pollution

• Decrease in bird and fish diversity and population

• Conflict among user groups

Year 2003Year of Misery; Consequence of Unwise Use of Ava.

• Ava was fully dried for the first time in its history due to excessive irrigation supplies affecting the livelihoods of several subsistence users

• Five local species of fish disappeared and bird populations reduced by 60%.

Key Messages

•Wetlands offer important ecological services and are instrumental in influencing the lifestyle and development of the communities

•Economic value of wetlands should be established and they should be understood and treated as water sector infrastructure in development decision making

•Present management system appears to be very complex with no linkages between and among different user groups.

•A participatory institution for ecosystem based management, comprising all the stakeholders, is the need of the hour.

Thank you

Missaka Hettiarachchi : nandalochana@yahoo.co.uk

Jayati Chourey : jayati27@rediffmail.com