Abstract:
A proper management system for groundwater resources in the wet zone of Sri Lanka
is crucially needed to avoid further exploitation of the resource leading to deterioration of
groundwater quality. This research study mainly targets on the assessment of groundwater
in the wet zone of Sri Lanka by means of collecting and analysing available groundwater pumping
and aquifer characteristic data towards the identification of best management practices. The pumping
test data are collected from well locations in Kalutara district and transmissivity values are estimated
using both Theis and Cooper Jacob methods. The estimated transmissivity values are used to identify
the spatial variation of transmissivity. It is recognized that there is no particular pattern identifiable in
the spatial distribution of estimated transmissivity values, however, with the limited data set
available. The observation is in line with the fact that there exists significant groundwater anisotropy
and heterogeneity even within the same locality or within a single distinct aquifer system. The
transmissivity values are further analysed using statistical testing and Krasny's classification system,
transforming the data set into log distribution and assigning an index value to identify best
management practices for selecting suitable locations for both local water supply schemes and
landfills. The places with positive anomalies are very suitable for locating local water supply schemes,
and the places with negative anomalies are best to have toxic waste disposal sites or landfills.
Citation:
Mayooran, S., Manarathna, S.P., Gogulan, N., & Rajapakse, R.L.H.L.(2011). An aquifer characteristic analysis for identifying ground water resource development alternatives in the wet zone of Sri Lanka. In N. Ratnayake (Ed.), Proceedings of the Civil Engineering Research for Industry Symposium 2011 (pp. 101-106). Department of Civil Engineering, University of Moratuwa.