Author: mwskumara
•11:02 PM
The Walawe basin, drained by these and smaller water courses, covers an area of 956 square miles (612,000 acres)
The rainfall in the upper reaches of the basin is over 100 inches per year on the average, while at Ambalantota near the river mouth, it is below 40 inches per year. The river discharges 1,100,000 acre feet of water into the sea annually. The development area under the Walawe Basin Project, includes two small areas, extending on the east upto the Malala oya and on the west upto Urubokka oya.

The walawe irrigation system in Southern Sri Lanka draws water from the Uda Walawe reservoir on the Walawe Ganga. There are two main canals on the right and left banks respectively, which flow through several smaller tanks on tributaries of the Walawe, and which cotribute to the system’s water resources.

The Uda Walawe reservoir constructed across Walawe Ganga at Uda Walawe has a capacity of 268 million cubic meters (MCM) or 217,800 ac.ft. The irrigated area is fed through two main canals, one on the Right Bank and the other on the Left Bank. These canals flow through several smaller tanks on tributaries of the Walawe basin which also contribute to the overall project water resources. The RBMC is a single banked canal for most of its 40.9 km and therefore collects some direct runoff from the adjacent higher ground. The Right Bank Main Canal empties into Chandrikawewa 17 km below the main reservoir and then takes off through a regular at the southern end to supply water to the balance 24 km of the RBMC

Towards the north of the sanctuary near the Walawe River the shy Sambur and herds of spotted Deer roam in the thicket. Leopards and Bear inhabit the Rocky areas and are rarely met. The bird life is profuse in this park. The immaculate white Egrets, GrayPelicans, Colorful painted Stork. Gray Herons and King Fishers in all there varieties are found here. The greedy fishing bird Cormorant's together with Spoonbills and monitor Lizards are found by the water holes. Birds of prey the Brahiminy Kite and Serpent Eagle hover above. Peafowl and jungle Fowl (The Sri Lankan national Bird) is found in abundance. Towards the north lining the river are the Kumbuk Trees with their unmistakable polished bark and whose roots are said to purify the water. From top of these trees Hornbills and Gray Languars call each other in metallic discords. Medicinal trees like Aralu, Bulu, Nelli and expensive timbers such as Teak, Ebony and Halmilla are found in the park together with fruit trees like Palu, Weera and Dimbul, the choice morsel of Elephants.
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