Problem overview:

     Stakeholders participation: Government agents and farmers work cooperatively on managing water resources and farming produce especially during tough times when water resources is scarce.

     Meeting information requirements: In times of drought, an efficient water resource allocation scheme is required for fairness and coverage in allocating the resource to farmers. In some cases, techniques for resource allocation need not be sophisticated and costly. Traditional methods work well for the farmers in the dry zone area of Sri Lanka.

Background in summary:

     Water management meeting in rice farming communities: Under the Irrigation Ordinance of Sri Lanka, the Government Agent who is the Administrative Head of District Public Service is empowered to hold Kanna or Water Management Meetings prior to each season. Since Sri Lanka has two major rice farming seasons, namely Yala and Maha commencing with the Southwest Monsoon and Northeast Monsoon respectively, two such meetings are convened by the Government Agent every year.

     Farmers actively participate in decision making: The views of the farmers are expressed openly with regard to the type of crop to be grown during the season and the timing of the first release of water and the final release of water. Farmers take these decisions taking into account the extent of water in the main reservoir, and the probability of further rains as the season proceeds.

     Bethma - farming technique in times of drought: More innovative is the traditional system of water management and farming in the event of drought known as Bethma. Given the small quantity of water in the reservoir, if water is released to the fields in the tail end of the channels, there could be heavy losses due to evaporation and seepage. Hence the farming community decides to temporarily ignore the individual boundaries of the farms and jointly cultivate the extent close to the irrigation outlet. Each farmer will cultivate an extent in proportion to the extent owned by him or her.

     Tattumaru - another type of cooperative farming technique: Equally interesting is the system called Tattumaru adopted by farmers when the fragmentation of land makes it uneconomical to cultivate in small units. When a farmer has a very small unit, he opts to forego the cultivation of his unit giving the opportunity to another to cultivate a larger unit including his. This makes the operational unit more viable. Each farmer gets his turn, but not every season.

Peer Review Committee Good practice rating: (1 for the best, 5 for the lowest score)
Sustainability		Efficiency
1	Improvement in either the environment of economic condition with no harm to the other.	1	Cost efficient.
1	Sustainable over time (not one-off)	Process
Adaptability		1	Participation of the community
3	Location adaptability (can the project be done in other places?)	1	Participation of resource owners/users
3	Socio-cultural adaptability.	2	Partnerships between various actors (Governments, NGO, Academia, Private)
3	Level of development adaptability.	2	Degree of coordination and cooperation between government departments.
2	Style of government adaptability.	2	Ability to attract political interest/support
2	Degree of decentralization adaptability.	1	Procedures for feedback and review.
Comments on this example: This example shows participation of the community and agreement amongst them in managing and allocating their resources, in this case, water. For this traditional technique to work requires a high degree of coordination and cooperation among the villagers and a shared interest. Also, the size of land ownership should not vary much from one owner to another otherwise there will be significant benefit loss/gain that could stir up conflict among the villagers. Nowadays, the indigenous water management system is actually not being widely practiced because there are institutional authorities responsible for irrigating water. One important body is the Mahaweli Authority, established in 1979, has been responsible for water resources development and distribution in many major river basins and jurisdiction in Sri Lanka. Making the indigenous water management system obsolete. Sustainability of the project:   Adaptability of the project to other situations:       This type of water management practice is adaptable to other small farming villages in other countries also. Degree of adaptability depends on government policy for water irrigation. If the government does not interfere with the villages water management system, then it is likely for the system to work well. Process of decision making and implementation:   Cost efficiency: