Drainage and exclusion of salt-water in low-lying coastal areas — a case study from the Southern Province of Sri Lanka

Storm-water drainage and salt-water exchange are two important phenomena which should be incorporated in an environmental management programme of an estuarine ecosystem. This paper presents the results of an investigation to study, within an integrated management framework, the problems associated with salt-water exclusion and drainage in the Southern Province of Sri Lanka. This paper recognizes the relevance of identifying the relationship between the impact of development activities and other parameters which influence salt-water intrusion. The need to adopt coastal engineering techniques to keep the outfalls open free from sand bar formation while maintaining a stable coastline on either side is discussed. This paper identifies the importance of adopting well-formulated estuarine management strategies, which give priority to the continual existence of the natural estuarine environment and consider both the resources of the ecosystem as well as the demand for its exploitation.