. Tropical Agriculturist: An International Agriculture Journal of Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka, Department of Agriculture, 2015.

The Dry zone covers about 70% of the total land extent in Sri Lanka. It is the major agricultural region of the country since the earliest historical times of the island; the dry zone of Sri Lanka consist of thousands of man-made small and large tanks without which human existence in the Dry zone would be difficult as described by Abeyratne (1956) and levers (1899). Village tank settlements have always been the back-bone of our Hydraulic Civilization since ancient times. It is also perceived as one of the most appropriate adaptation strategy for climate variability and change in the Dry zone. The annual average rainfall of the Dry zone is less than 1,750 mm with a distinct dry period from May to September coupled with high daily evaporation rates of between 5 to 8 mm due to warm and desiccating winds. Thus, very often annual rainfall represents only a fraction of the water requirements for double-cropped rice and therefore, heavily dependent on supplementary irrigation from aforesaid tanks and reservoirs.