斯里兰卡建新水资源管理系统用于农业灌溉

AS IT IS 2015-08-03 Sri Lanka to Use Wasted Rainwater for Crops, Power 斯里兰卡建新水资源管理系统用于农业灌溉

Sri Lanka plans to store and use a billion cubic meters of rainwater each year to support irrigation and power generation. The rainwater would go into the sea if it is not used.

Sri Lanka is building the new water management system in the country's dry zone. The area covers the northern and eastern parts of the country. It is home to about one-third of Sri Lanka’s twenty million people. It is also mainly agricultural land.

Climate change has severely¹ hurt the area in the past 10 years. The region is also is suffering a severe water crisis.

Experts say the project could use enough water to fill two of the country's largest reservoirs, Victoria and Randenigala.

The government and donors² are paying for the $675-million project. Work begins this month and should be completed by December 2024.

The plan is one of the nation's largest water-related projects in the past years. It includes the construction of two new reservoirs and 260 kilometers of new canals linking existing reservoirs.

The aim is to help the dry zone better control its water supply for power generation and farming.

S. Shanmugasivanathan is a top official with the Department of Irrigation. He said that rain patterns have been changing and the dry zone is getting less water now. He said Sri Lanka needs to make the most of the water usage.

The country’s rainfall is 2,000 millimeters per year. Less than half falls in the dry zone. Most of the farming there depends on irrigation. Small water tanks hold water from the region's large reservoirs.

Mr. Shanmugasivanathan said the dry zone faces the extremes of floods and drought as the rain patterns have changed. But, he said there is no system in place to capture flood waters, so drought can happen even in years of floods.

Water to fight against poverty

A water infrastructure³ project for the dry zone has been in Sri Lankan plans since the 1970s. The Mahaweli Development Program included such ideas for the country's central hills and some of the north.

The idea was to use the waters of the Mahaweli River, the longest in the country, to increase power generation capacity by about 260 megawatts.

It was also designed to provide irrigation water to an additional 131,500 hectares of land.

But civil war delayed the project for 25 years until 2009.

Sri Lankan and Asian Development Bank officials said the new water management project is based on the Mahaweli plans. The ADB is providing $453 million in funding.

The international lender also estimates that 70 percent of the dry zone's population depends on agriculture. The average yearly earnings⁴ of the people there is 10 percent lower than in other parts of the country.

Lance Gore⁵ is a water resources expert with the ADB in the Philippine capital, Manila. He said the organization hopes that the new project will help end poverty in the area. The water expert said more water will increase the earning level of people dependent on agriculture. It also aims to supply safe drinking water to 350,000 people.

Words in This Story

irrigation – n. system of bringing water to plants for agricultural purposes

zone – n. an area that is different from other areas in a particular way

reservoirs – n. usually human-made lake is used to store a large supply of water for use in people’s homes, businesses, etc.

canal – n. a long, narrow waterway

pattern – n. something that happens in a regular way

drought – n. a long period of time during which there is little or no rain

1 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

2 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

4 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

5 gore   

n.凝血，血污；v.（动物）用角撞伤，用牙刺破；缝以补裆；顶

参考例句：

• The fox lay dying in a pool of gore.狐狸倒在血泊中奄奄一息。
• Carruthers had been gored by a rhinoceros.卡拉瑟斯被犀牛顶伤了。