Sri Lanka: Swings and roundabouts - A narrative on water policy development

In the 1970s and 1980s, both World Bank and USAID-funded projects were initiated which supported policy development and aimed at enhancing the productivity of irrigated agriculture. These projects promoted management of irrigation by farmers’ organizations (FOs), and the charging of fees for irrigation water. However, these moves drew resentment as they were seen as ‘commodifying’ agricultural water, and many of the interventions did not get beyond the pilot stage. In some cases, this was because of poor levels of participation. Learning from this experience, one USAID project (an improved water management project focusing on the Gal Oya Left Bank Canal, 1979-86) took significant step towards farmer’s participation and established the concept of ‘institutional organizers’ as a means to facilitate the participation of farmers in water management. During the same period, donors actively supported dams and other major infrastructure development, for example the Mahaweli Multipurpose Development Project which was part-funded by the British government. The dam construction boom that dominated the 1980s gave way in the early 1990s to an emphasis on improving sector management through policy reform and greater financial control. At the same time, the failure of many irrigation projects led water professionals and donors to promote institutional reforms in the irrigation sector. The kind of changes which were widely proposed included new water resources management policies, new legislation, and the establishment of basin-wide organisations.

This case study tells the difficult story of a set of Asian Development Bank projects which were designed to streamline water resource management arrangements and introduce demand management to the country.

In spite of a decade of investment and effort these arrangements have not been implemented. This failure is largely attributable to a lack of understanding of the Sri Lankan context: a multi-party system with governments often held together in fragile coalitions, strong cultural values attached to water, a vocal civil society fearful of water privatisation, and a politicised media willing to exploit controversies.

The outcome of this controversial process was the suspension of ADB funding in 2004. The legacy of this failure has concerning future implications for water resources management in Sri Lanka: learning lessons, and implementing these lessons, is now of critical importance both for Sri Lanka and for other countries implementing similar processes.