Fluctuation of the water level of the Victoria reservoir and its influence on water level of dug wells in Wewegama village

Water level of dug wells can fluctuate because of changes in water level of a reservoir specially which are located drown stream and close to the reservoir. Main aim of the study was to identify the relationship between the water level fluctuation of a reservoir and how it will effect on water levels of dug wells closer to the reservoir. To achieve this task Wewegama village which is situated closer to the Victoria reservoir was selected. The measurement of water levels of reservoir and dug wells were taken at each weekend for six months from May to October in 2016. Water levels of reservoir were collected data from Mahaweli Authority of Sri Lanka while water levels at ten dug wells were measured during fieldwork. Depths to water levels of ten dug wells were plotted weekly to study the water level distribution in the study area. Using GPS coordinates of ten dug well locations, distances to dug wells from the reservoir are calculated. Water level at dug wells were plotted against the distance to the reservoir to understand the relationship between distance to the reservoir and the depth to water table. According to these graph there is a positive correlation can observe between distance to ten dug wells and the depths to water levels. Also it was noted that with the variation of reservoir water level, water levels of dug wells also varies accordingly. Well no 2, well no 8 and well no 10 have recorded the maximum depth to water level throughout the study period. Bothe well no 8 and well no 10 are located far away from the reservoir. However, well no 2 has recorded higher depth to water table because it is located little higher elevation compared to other wells. According to the results of this study it can be conclude that there is a direct relationship between distance to the dug wells from the Victoria reservoir to dug wells and depth to their water table.