ECONOMYNEXT – The National Water Supply and Drainage Board has said its water sources are running low, and they are looking to avert an acute problem by limiting supply to the island’s Western Province immediately.
“From tomorrow, we will have to limit water supply to places that have so far received 24-hour water supply,” NWSDB chairman Chandana Bandara told reporters.
“We anticipate problems arising in the next two weeks, especially with the upcoming holiday season, so we need to manage water supply.”
If the NWSDB continues supplying water at its current capacity, water at its Kalatuwawa Reservoir will be sufficient only for 20 days, he said.
“With the prevailing hot weather, the demand for water is going up. We have to limit water supply to avoid a worst case scenario.”
If it rains within the next 2-3 weeks, he said, the problem can be managed better.
“If it doesn’t rain and these drought conditions worsen, we can’t implement a plan then when the water has all gone.”
People living at higher elevations and those on upper floors are seeing a loss in water pressure even now, and this will get worse, he said.
The NWSDB took all this into consideration and decided to impose water cuts to ensure everyone gets water, he said.
Bowsers will be used to transport water to areas not getting water.
“Consumers will be inconvenienced but this water management has to be done in order to avert a crisis. We ask for your support in helping us manage the situation.”
As an essential service, NWSDB employees’ leaves have been cancelled he said.
The NWSDB supplies 2.5 million cubic metres of water daily, its director Lalith Wijesinghe said, with 50 percent of this, or 1.25 million cubic metres, coming from the Western Province where water levels are running low at both its sources, rivers and reservoirs.
About 700,000 cubic metres of water go to meet Colombo District’s water demand, 450,000 to Gampaha District; and 1850,000 to Kalutara District.
“As of today we are still distributing these quantities, but we have had to control it,” Wijesinghe said.
Colombo is supplied by the Ambatale, Labugama and Kalatuwawa water treatment plants.
The water levels of the Kelani River, which supplies the Ambatale plant, has dropped significantly raising the risk of a salinity problem, Wijesinghe said, in response to which a barrier has been implemented.
“We are facing an acute problem with the Labugama and Kalatuwawa water treatment plants, so we have problems with areas of Colombo supplied by these plants.”
Other regions of the island, especially those supplied by the Mahaweli region are ok for now, as water levels are at around 50-60 percent, Bandara said. (Colombo/Apr2/2026)