Coastal erosion in South Western part of Sri Lanka from December 2006 to June 2007

Abstract

Coastal region is a very valuable area for developing countries like Sri Lanka, since a good protected coastal region will facilitate the tourism as well as fishing Industry. But the coastal erosion, especially in South Western parts of Sri Lanka has significantly destroyed the coastal land. Therefore, effective management of the coastal area has become a necessity. Present study is focussed on the variation of coastal profile at ten selected locations from Moratuwa to Balapitya and the monthly changes of beach width, profile and the grain size distribution of sediment at the mean sea level. The study was conducted from December 2006 to June 2007. Results showed that during North East monsoon, the beach face became wider and gentler whereas, during South West monsoon the beach face became narrower and steeper. Further, the mean grain size showed higher values during North East monsoon period than South Western monsoon. This variation of beach width, beach profile and the sediment grain size was strongly correlated with the rainfall changes and it was concluded that the coastal erosion in this area is directly controlled by monsoon changes.