Field Sampling session for Identification of source and transport of agro-contaminants in water ways connected to the Gregory lake in Nuwara Eliya.

A research study is being implemented by the Sri Lanka Atomic Energy Board (SLAEB) in collaboration with Natural Recourses Management Centre (NRMC) of the Department of Agriculture under the activities of International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) Regional Technical Cooperation project of RAS 5084 with the above title.

Agriculture is the main source of pollution in rivers and streams and this has a direct negative impact on human health. When pollutants from multiple sources to an agro-ecosystem occur, traditional techniques cannot help in evaluating the relative contribution of the different sources. Complementarily to conventional monitoring and mass balance approaches, stable isotopes of major biogenic elements (H,C,N,O and S) have the potential to characterize and quantify sources and transport of solutes through soil and water bodies in agro-ecosystems.

Overall objective of this study is to trace and monitor sources and movement of macronutrients and micro-contaminants from soil to surface water bodies under different land uses and urban areas surrounding to the Gregory lake in Nuwara Eliya using combined stable isotope and conventional techniques.

 A field sampling programme to collect samples from the water ways coming from natural forests, tea plantations, vegetable lands, urban areas and  from Gregory lake was conducted on 24th June 2020  with the participation of project team members of  SLAEB and NRMC.