BANK RESERVATIONS ON MAJOR NATURAL STREAMS IN MAHAWELI SYSTEM B

Abstract

A survey was made of the existence, width, and floristic composition of streamreservations on the hanks of two ofthe major natural streams in MahaweliSystem 8 area in the dry zone. The Mahaweli Project is the biggest irrigationand settlement scheme in Sri Lanka. The surviving reservations were far smallerthan prescribed in the relevant legislation The farmers had graduallyencroached on the original reservations, especially fill' paddy cultivation. SOllieperennial crops like coconuts, mangoes, jak, and breadfruit had also beenplanted where the water table was higher, near the streams. Widening andstraightening the streams to cope with the discharge water in the rainy seasonhad also destroyed the natural vegetation, and there was very little of it left. The floristic survey found 32 species of woody plants along one stream, and 27 alongthe other; altogether there were 4 endemic species. Stricter legislation and moreextension work are recommended.