Water storage across country’s 74 major reservoirs has reached 1,182,385 acre-feet, equivalent to 35% of their combined gross capacity, according to the latest reservoir data.The 74 reservoirs have a combined gross capacity of 3,114,407 acre-feet, while effective storage stands at 1,039,767 acre-feet.

The data shows significant differences in water levels among the 13 range districts. Kurunegala records the highest present storage percentage at 74.7%, followed by Puttalam at 64.0%, Kandy at 60.9%, Galle at 60.4% and Monaragala at 58.4%.At the other end, Ampara has the lowest present storage percentage at 22.0%, followed by Batticaloa at 25.8% and Trincomalee at 27.0%.Ampara has the largest combined reservoir capacity among the listed ranges, with nine tanks having a total gross capacity of 1,052,221 acre-feet. However, only 243,393 acre-feet is currently stored, representing 22% of capacity.

Anuradhapura, which has 10 major reservoirs, has 275,358 acre-feet of water in storage, or 45.1% of its total capacity of 558,572 acre-feet.Meanwhile, only one reservoir, Ambewela in the Badulla range, is currently recorded as spilling. Its water depth is 18.08 feet, exceeding its full supply depth of 18.00 feet, with 10.0 mm of preceding rainfall recorded.Senanayaka Samudra in Ampara remains the largest reservoir in the dataset, with a gross capacity of 770,012 acre-feet. Its present storage is recorded at 18% of capacity.The latest figures indicate that while several reservoirs retain relatively high storage levels, some of the country’s major water bodies, particularly in Ampara, Batticaloa and Trincomalee, remain at comparatively low levels.