IMPACT OF RIVER SAND MINING IN RATNAPURA DISTRICT IN SABARAGAMUWA

PROVINCE
Concise report of the study done by Volunteer team of Net water
Executive Summary
This report summerises the findings of the study conducted by NetWwater on behalf of
the Sri Lanka Water Partnership in Ratnapura District on impact of sand mining on
environment and ground water-body. Sand is being removed from rivers, rivers mouths,
banks and at inland sand deposits and hence rivers in our country are under immense
pressure.
1. Introduction
Like many other minerals sand has become a scare resource in Sri Lanka, due to high
demand for constriction and developmental activities. Traditional sites for sand mining
are rivers and beaches. But alternatively sand is being removed from river mouths,
banks and even at inland sand deposits. Rivers in Sri Lanka are under immense pressure
due to various kinds of human activities among which indiscriminate extraction of sand
is the most disastrous one. The situation is rather alarming in certain major rivers
including Kalu Ganga , Walawe ganga , Kelani ganga , Nilwala ganga , Deduru Oya, Ma
Oya and Kirindi Oya.
Some of the above rivers traverse through Ratnapura district. In July 2010, on the
request of NetWwater, the District Secretary organized an awareness meeting with
officials in Ratnapura area (Divisional Secretaries, Agricultural officers, Samurdhi
officers, Environmental officers, Grama Niladahries, Officers from GSMB, Forest
Department, SL Police) with members of NetWwater as resource persons. This meeting
is a follow up of a series of workshops and discussions conducted by the NetWwater in
Sabaragamuwa Province earlier. According to the participants, there is a tremendous
increase in removing sand from rivers, waterways and old river beds. It has been
reported that severe damages are evident in Walawe ganga and Kalu ganga specially in
the areas including Elapatha, Kotamulla- Dambemulla, Diwulwala, Kahawatte and
Galnewa.
NetWwater was invited to conduct a scientific study in Ratnapura District on this aspect
by the District Secretary, since policy decisions on controls of removing sand within the
district to be taken with sound information. NetWwater members attached to
University of Colombo thus volunteered to conduct a pilot study with the support of
undergraduate students. This report is the outcome of the field study conducted by this
team.
2. Impacts of sand mining
Although often neglected, sand mining could cause severe environmental, social and
economic issues that are not reversible. The impacts are of several folds: Due to
removal of sand, ground water table in the vicinity of the river will drop, affecting the
moisture content in the soils. Due to the drop in river water levels, quantity and quality
of water intakes for drinking water will be affected badly specially during the dry season.
The reduction of the bed level slope due to river sand mining also results in a reduction
of the sand discharge to the coast, when water bodies end up at the sea. Salt water
intrusion is a direct result of lowering of bed levels. Widening of river mouths and
reduction of sand available for the beach nourishment of the coastal system due to
mining from the coast also can be observed as a result. Due to increased levels of sea
water penetration in to the rivers, salinity level of fresh water will increase. Salt water
intrusion is a potential problem at water intakes, especially during the dry season. Sand
mining has destroyed river banks leading to instability in the ecosystem. Water scarcity
will affect livelihoods of people- agriculture and commercial activities and cause decline
in water availability for dependent plants and animals. In extreme cases it can cause
species decline and extinction.
The exposure of the riverbed to solar radiation following deep mining has resulted in its
drying up. This has decreased the water volume and caused salt water intrusion in to
rivers and ground water. Continued sand mining has led to obstruction in the free flow
of water in the rivers.
3. Objectives of the study:
The present study was carried out by the volunteers in NetWwater (Specialists in Water
resources and Ecosystem management) with the help of undergraduates, all from
University of Colombo.
The objectives were to:
a. Identify the areas with moderate-high sand mining
b. Investigate the nature and extent of damage (on ground water resources ,
biodiversity and ecosystem functioning)
c. Recommend actions to be taken to manage RSM problem
The study area is shown in the map below;
The study was conducted in the eastern slope of the Rathnapura District of Sabaragamuwa
Provincial Council.
Fig 1;Map of Sabargamuwa Provincial Council Fig 2; Study area
Study was conducted in the 4 different locations in the eastern slope of the Rathnapura District
covering two rivers viz Kaluganga and Walawe Ganga .
1
2
3
4
1. Walawa ganga and surrounding area in the Embilipitiya Sooriya wewa road.
2. Kuda oya and surrounding area in the Galpaya area (Pallebeddera)
3. Weganga along the Hunuwela to Kahawatta road
4. Kaluganga in the Rathnapura town area (close to Saman Devalaya)
4. Methodology
The study team comprised with 3 Senior Lecturers and 10 undergraduates carried out
the investigation in August 2010 following a pilot field visit in early July. Two main
aspects covered during the study were impact on ground water resources and impact on
biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. Detail methodologies adopted are given
separately under each study.
5. Survey on the impact on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning
A matrix was developed to assess the damage that has caused to the river and the
adjacent ecosystems by the team engaged in this study. The features considered were:
the nature of topography, river hydrology and functioning, water quality, stability of the
river banks and river bed, erosion, threat to fauna and flora.
Each parameter was given a rank in relation to the threat and the nature of damage.
Seven locations were visited where sand is been removed and the matrix was filled for
each location separately. Overall ranking was developed using the cumulative (addition)
of the sub ranks.
Overall ranking was as follows:
Severely damaged (3) , moderately damaged(2) , limited damaged (1) and no visible
damage (0)
Overall damage to biodiversity and ecosystem functioning
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
site
d
a
m
a
g
e
/

r
a
n
k
damage
6.0 Results ofSurvey on the impact on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning
In all sites studied, there were some sort of damage caused by RSM activities. Out of the
7 sites four ranked as highly damaged and the rest as moderately damaged. There were
no sites ranked as limited or zero damage.
The summary of the damage on the ecosystems and biodiversity is as follows.
Table 1: Summary of the damage on the ecosystems and biodiversity
Parameter Nature of damage
vegetation Moderate- severe damage: uprooted plants, damaged to plant
parts such as branches, loss of tree species, disturbances to
survival, habitat loss
Animals Moderate- severe damage: loss of aquatic habitats (specially for
fish), loss of fish species (Koraliya), decreased species diversity
due to loss of sensitive species, loss of spawning grounds for
aquatic species and river bank dwelling species, disturbances to
food webs, habitat loss for bank dwelling species such as aquatic
birds, reptiles, amphibians
Ecosystem stability Moderate- severe damage: soil erosion, loss of fertile soil, bank
instability and collapse, loss of protective structures provided by
trees, changes to topography due to temporary foot paths and
transportation network, obstacles to water flow
Water quality Pollution by sedimentation, silt loads, vehicular discharge, solid
waste dumping by humans, visible impairment of water quality,
decreased dissolved oxygen concentration
Graph 1: Graph of overall damage to biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in study
sites
Damage/ rank ; 2- moderately damaged, 3- severely damaged
(1-7 locations included)
7.0 Survey on the impact on ground water resources.
7.1 Methodology
In order to identify the affect of the sand mining (in river bed and inland) to the groundwater
resources, a monitoring study was conducted in open shallow dug wells. Locations of the dug
wells were identified with aGPS. Dug wells monitoring were conducted using the questionnaire
and the collected informations on Electrical Conductivity (EC) and Total Dissolved Solids (TDS)
were measured using the portable EC/pH. GIS package arc-view was used to prepare maps. The
dug wells which are constructed in the river basins in the alluvium sandy to sandy clay
unconfined aquifer. The study was conducted in the 4 different locations in the eastern slope of
the Rathnapura District.
7.2 Observations
The underground water table in the Walawa river basins is related to the surface water
level in rivers and irrigation channel system in the Walawa project. River sand mining
and inland sand mining along the river during the past two decades has deepened the
riverbed by an average three to four metres, while there are some points where it has
dropped by more than six metres in the river Walawa. Consequently, the water
table in the wells in the catchment areas and the river basin has also fallen sharply to
the surface water levels in the rivers (figure 1). The study revealed that presently
groundwater levels depend on irrigation water canal system and not from the river due
the river bed deepening.
The field study reveled that in stream sand mining in the Walawa ganga bank area
resulted in channel bed degradation and erosion, deepening the river bed, head cutting,
and stream bank erosion. All these changes adversely affect water resources balance of
the area either directly by damage to organisms or through habitat degradation.
Further, effects on stream geomorphology (e.g., channel incision) can result in
infrastructure damage and Irrigation water supply intake to the Welangahawela anicut
constructed in the British period. As a result of the deepening of the Walawa river, the
water table within the valley is directly affected. When the riverbed level falls, the
hydraulic gradient of the groundwater is increases leading to higher velocity.
Study area in the Walawa River area and distribution of dug wells
According to the study, it was revealed that close to the river bank groundwater table
has been lowered up to 11 metres from 2 metres during the last decade. Most of the
ground water levels in this area stabilized in 4 to 6 meters during the cultivation period
but during the dry periods (post harvesting period) its going down up to above 9.0
meters.
Ground water level before sand mining
Ground water level after sand mining
Dug well
River
Inland and river sand mining areas surrounding Walawa ganga
(Sooriyawewa road)
Total depth variation in the study area after sand mining
Salinity of the river water 260 micro siemens/ cm but groundwater salinity most of
the wells were more than 500 and some time its increased up to 3500 micro
siemens/ cm. Salinity variation depends on the deepening of the river bed because
more deeper soil formations are exploiting to wells and dissolve the soil salinity.
People complained this groundwater salinity increased recent past years due to river
sand mining.
Inland sand
mining
areas
Riversand
mining areas
Water Quality Variation
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
3500
4000
A
1
A
2
A
3
A
4
A
5
A
6
A
7
B
1
B
2
B
3
B
4
B
5
B
6
B
7
C
1
C
2
C
3
C
4
C
5
C
6
C
7
Well number
E
C

v
a
lu
e

/
s
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
A
1
A
2
A
3
A
4
A
5
A
6
A
7
B
1
B
2
B
3
B
4
B
5
B
6
B
7
C
1
C
2
C
3
C
4
C
5
C
6
C
7
Well number
T
o
t
a
l

d
e
p
t
h

(
m
)
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
G1 G2 G3 G4 G5 G6
Well no
T
o
t
a
l

d
e
p
t
h

(
m
)
TD(m)
Groundwater salinity distribution in the study area
Kuda oya and surrounding area in the Galpaya area (Pallebeddera)
In the Galpaya area the sand mining was conducted along the Kuda oya river bank
deposits. Morphologically the sand deposit area is highly meandering and vulnerable for
mining. According to the field study revealed that groundwater is the only source for
domestic and drinking purposes. But due to the sand mining, most of the Galpaya area
groundwater level were decreased up to 7.5m. Most of the open dug wells total depth
in between 4.7 to 7.5m. Salinity of the groundwater varies from 400 to 800 micro
siemens/ cm.
Impact on infrastructure in the Weganga along the Hunuwela to Kahawatta road
Destruction of roads, damages to bridges (bridge) is a nother result of rampant sand
mining ; damage to Hunuwela to Kahawatta road and the Bridge crossing the Weganga
is observed. Another concern is that the sand mining in river bed has bared the bases of
the pillars of the bridges to the extent that the foundation that are supposed to remain
under the riverbed are now exposed. Along the Weganga River bank erosion directly
impacts to the loss of bank stability, destruction of ecosystems, spreading of mosquito
related diseases and pollution of river water. A detailed study was not conducted due
the damage to road.
8. Discussion and recommendations
Ratnapura area consists of natural vegetation such as forests, shrubs and cultivation
such as tea, rubber, paddy. According to published records a. 20 %of the total area is
under utilization, b. 25 %of the total area is misused c. 05 %of the total area is over
utilized and c. Continuous loss of land due to the natural disasters in Ratnapura. Due to
its location in rain forest areas in the South Western wet zone of Sri Lanka this area is
gifted with a wealth of biodiversity including a variety of endemic and threatened plants
and animals. The famous Sinharaja Man And Biosphere reserve and Sri Pada are also
situated in Ratnapura. This area is famous for the gem industry and frequently face
natural disasters including floods and landslides. All these contribute to increased
environmental sensitivity.
On top of this, river sand mining has caused severe environmental problems that has
links to various social, health and economic problems. These problems need integrated
approaches to mitigate and manage to achieve sustainable development.
As per the results of the present study with anecdotal evidence and other literature
sources we would like to submit the following recommendations.
Recommendations :
i. Establish a high level action committee to control RSM activities which
should include the District Secretary, Politicians, representatives of divisional
secretariats, police, officials from GSMB, CEA and members of community
organizations
ii. Establish a mechanism to observe and follow up whether permit procedure is
efficient and controlled
iii. Ban RSM in sensitive and vulnerable areas
iv. Enforce law in an efficient and unbiased way
v. Restore damaged and affected natural environment using natural barriers
such as tree plantations
vi. Stop political and other interferences when issuing permits and enforcing law
vii. Raise public awareness and strengthen community organizations to combat
illegal RSM activities