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Seasonal and tidal influence for water quality changes in coastal Bolgoda Lake
system, Sri Lanka

Article  in  Journal of Coastal Conservation · December 2018

DOI: 10.1007/s11852-018-0628-7

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Journal of Coastal Conservation
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11852-018-0628-7

Seasonal and tidal influence for water quality changes in coastal

Bolgoda Lake system, Sri Lanka
Amila Sandaruwan Ratnayake 1,2 & Nalin Prasanna Ratnayake 3 & Yoshikazu Sampei 1,4 & A. V. P. Vijitha 3 &
Sanjeewani Disna Jayamali 3

Received: 9 March 2017 / Revised: 7 May 2018 / Accepted: 28 May 2018

# Springer Science+Business Media B.V., part of Springer Nature 2018

Abstract
The variation in physicochemical properties is a notable feature to identify hydrodynamic and biogeochemical processes in
coastal aquatic systems. In this study, the spatial and temporal changes of water quality parameters were measured with respect to
spring and neap tides, covering both single and different monsoon periods. Bulk organic geochemical proxies such as total
organic carbon to total nitrogen (C/N ratio) and total organic carbon to total sulfur (C/S ratio) were also considered to evaluate
organic sources and depositional environments, respectively. The conductivity was decreased with distance from the sea-mouth
to stream during the neap tide under the influence of weak precipitation. No significant variation in conductivity can be observed
during the spring tide under the influence of strong precipitation. In addition, the conductivity values in North Bolgoda Lake
show homogeneous distribution during spring and neap tides within single monsoon period. Therefore, the reduction of fresh-
water supply (precipitation) had played a significant role in developing salinity stratification along this coastal water body. The
seasonal stratification can control organic matter preservation, as oxygen dissolution is decreased with increasing salinity. In
contrast, tidal variation and precipitation had no direct connection to change salinity in surrounding groundwater aquifers.
Organic geochemical proxies indicate possible oligotrophic to mesotrophic levels of productivity in Bolgoda Lake system.
The prominent fluvial process during rainy periods and seawater invasion during dry periods can diminish the accumulation
of nutrients and anthropogenic deteriorations in Bolgoda Lake system under sea-mouth open nature.

Keywords Coastal aquatic system . Water quality . Tidal changes . Organic carbon . Perturbation evolutionary diagram . Sri Lanka

Introduction freshwater and saltwater fluxes depends on precipitation, tidal

influence, biological activity and anthropogenic influence. In
The biogeochemical processes in the coastal interface at estua- addition, physicochemical parameters can be productively used
rine system are more diverse and complex than other aquatic to identify terrestrial and marine hydrodynamic and biogeo-
systems, may be due to great physicochemical variations. For chemical processes. Therefore, the monitoring of water quality
example, the physical and chemical interaction between parameters has become an important role in the scientific re-
search of coastal areas with respect to seasonal and tidal chang-
es. Numerous studies have been made in tropical coastal water
* Amila Sandaruwan Ratnayake
amilageopera@gmail.com bodies to evaluate preliminary biogeochemical processes using
water quality parameters (Twilley et al. 1992; Ratnayake et al.
1
2005, 2013, 2017a; Ralison et al. 2008; Satpathy et al. 2010).
Department of Geoscience, Faculty of Science and Engineering,
However, the spatial and temporal variations of physicochem-
Shimane University, Nishikawatsu-cho 1060, Matsue 690-8504,
Japan ical parameters with respect to monsoon seasonality and tidal
2 influence have poorly known in Sri Lanka.
Present address: Faculty of Science and Technology, Uva Wellassa
University, Passara Road, Badulla 90000, Sri Lanka The continental margin consists of about 12% area of the
3 world ocean, but plays an important role in global biogeo-
Department of Earth Resources Engineering, Faculty of Engineering,
University of Moratuwa, Moratuwa, Sri Lanka chemical cycles (Twilley et al. 1992; Smith and Hollibaugh
4 1993; Dean and Gorham 1998; Lallier-Verges et al. 1998; Liu
Research Center for Coastal Lagoon Environments, Shimane
University, Nishikawatsu-cho 1060, Matsue 690-8504, Japan et al. 2010). Biogeochemical model and proxy studies

suggested that modern coastal, estuarine and lagoonal brack-
ish water zones generally accounted for about 80% of total
organic carbon deposition in the ocean (Milliman 1993; Smith
and Hollibaugh 1993; Ver et al. 1999). The estimation of
aquatic productivity in the coastal zone is also remarkably
high (190 ± 50 g C m−2 yr.−1) compared to the open ocean
(130 ± 35 g C m−2 yr.−1) (Smith and Hollibaugh 1993). As a
result of variable terrestrial and marine nutrient supply, many
brackish water bodies have undergone significant biological
and chemical changes. Therefore, physicochemical gradients
perhaps indicate a possible link to nutrient availability and
aquatic productivity (McGowan et al. 2005, 2008, 2011;
Satpathy et al. 2010; Dubois et al. 2018). The authors have
selected Bolgoda Lake system as a one of the representative
coastal aquatic system in tropical Sri Lanka (Fig. 1). In this
study, the fundamental water quality measurements such as
conductivity, oxidation reduction potential, pH and dissolved
oxygen of coastal aquatic system are particular interest for in-
vestigating the preliminary coastal processes. Consequently,
the present study is mainly focused to (i) determine evidence
and controlling factors of saltwater intrusion (marine fluxes)
and (ii) identify linkage of physicochemical parameters to the
organic carbon burial in Bolgoda Lake system. The under-
standing of seasonal physicochemical variations, such as re-
corded in coastal environments, is important for management
of coastal zone and evaluation of present and future socioeco-
nomic impacts.
Geology and physical settings of the area
Sri Lankan jurisdiction consists of a wide range of sedimen-
tary rocks from the Jurassic to Recent in age (Cooray 1984;
Ratnayake et al. 2014; Ratnayake and Sampei 2015b). Among
these sedimentary units, the Quaternary sediments can be rec-
ognized as the most prominent coastal sedimentary features in
landmass of Sri Lanka. Bolgoda Lake can be identified as one
of the largest Quaternary sedimentary basins in the southwest
coast of Sri Lanka (Fig. 1). Bolgoda watershed is located
between the southern border of the Kalu-ganga Basin and
the northern border of the Kelani-ganga Basin in the wet zone
of Sri Lanka. The watershed consists of two shallow brackish
water bodies named as North Bolgoda Lake and South
Bolgoda Lake (Fig. 1). The entire watershed of Bolgoda
Lake system is rich in biodiversity especially mangrove
swamps. The average annual rainfall of Bolgoda Lake water-
shed is about 2500 mm and is mainly fed by the southwest
monsoon. However, the study area consists of several
monsoon/inter-monsoon periods, including the southwest
monsoon (from May to September: wet season), northeast
monsoon (from December to February: dry season), first
inter-monsoon (from March to April) and second inter-
monsoon (from October to November).
A. Ratnayake et al.
In this study, Bolgoda Lake system is separated into three
morphological zones of (i) Panadura Estuary, (ii) North
Bolgoda Lake, and (iii) Weras Stream, in the purpose of com-
paring water quality parameters (Fig. 1b). North Bolgoda
Lake opens to the Indian Ocean at Panadura known as the
Panadura Estuary (Fig. 1b), whereas seawater pushes towards
to North Bolgoda Lake during high tides. Bolgoda Lake is
always connected to the Indian Ocean in present situation
via the Panadura harbor. Weras Stream mainly carries fresh-
water to North Bolgoda Lake from its own catchment while it
is connected with domestic canal systems at it’s extremely
north end (Fig. 1).
Bolgoda Lake locates at a critical and sensitive geographical
region. Previous investigations demonstrated that study area
has direct teleconnection to regional and global climatic chang-
es such as Northern Hemisphere summer monsoon (southwest
monsoon) and Holocene sea-level changes (Gayantha et al.
2017; Ratnayake et al. 2017b). In addition, paleoclimatic stud-
ies in Bolgoda Lake suggested that the middle to late Holocene
was characterized by gradual climatic fluctuations from warm/
wet to cold/dry phases (Ratnayake et al. 2017b). In contrast,
early to middle Holocene was identified as the period of initial
seawater invasion to Bolgoda Lake system. The middle
Holocene highstands extended from the period of ca. 7.0 cal
ky B.P. to ca. 2.5 cal ky B.P. (Ratnayake et al. 2017b). The
middle Holocene highstands led to developing sandy barriers/
headlands and beach rocks along the coast (Katupotha 1988;
Ratnayake 2016). Consequently, present geomorphological
state of Bolgoda Lake system was developed after the middle
Holocene highstands (Ratnayake et al. 2017b).
Materials and methods
Water quality parameters of conductivity, pH, temperature,
dissolved oxygen and oxidation reduction potential in the lake
water at 58 locations were measured using water quality pro-
filer (ACETON-3000PONSEL). Measurements were taken
along the river, started from Panadura Estuary with stations
of an approximately equal distance of 50 m (Fig. 1b: BL01 to
BL58). Vertical water quality profiles of these stations were
obtained from the surface to bottom levels at approximately
1 m depth intervals (water depth: ca. 1 m - 4 m). The initial
observations were made on different tidal and monsoonal pe-
riods. It was a target to study the rate and extent of the saltwa-
ter intrusion, and water quality changes. A spring tide repre-
sents on 21st of November 2007, and a neap tide represents on
1st of February 2008. Sri Lanka has a semidiurnal and micro-
tidal regime (the maximum tidal range = 0.5 m) along the
entire coast. The tidal patterns around Sri Lanka can be con-
trolled by two oceanic tides (i.e., the Arabian Sea oceanic
current along the west coast and the Bay of Bengal oceanic
current along the east coast) (Pattiaratchi and Wijeratne 2009).
Seasonal and tidal influence for water quality changes in coastal Bolgoda Lake system, Sri Lanka

Fig. 1 a Location of Bolgoda Lake, b sampling sites in different monsoon cycles and c sampling locations of surface sediments/core samples and water
quality sites in North Bolgoda Lake

In addition, the maximum tidal range is small compared to the
normal range of significant wave height along the west coast
of Sri Lanka.
Water quality parameters were also measured in monitoring
wells (Figure 1b: BW01 to BW18) located around Bolgoda
Lake on same sampling periods (spring tide on 7th of
November 2007 and neap tide on 15th of February 2008).
All the well measurements were limited to the surface, middle
(average water depth = 1.3 m ± 0.5) and bottom (average wa-
ter depth = 2.5 m ± 0.9) levels. In addition, a field survey was
carried out to recognize the merits or demerits associated with
the surrounding community.
The vertical and lateral changes of water quality parameters
were also measured in North Bolgoda Lake on 9th of
September 2010 for additional 20 locations using a water
checker U-10 (Horiba Ltd) (Fig. 1c: L1 to L20). In addition,
two field visits were again carried out to measure water quality
parameters at similar locations in North Bolgoda Lake at the
end of southwest monsoon period in September, 2016 (Fig.
1c: L1 to L20). Moreover, these two field visits represent
 A. Ratnayake et al.

nearby neap (on 23rd of September 2016) and spring (on 30th
of September 2016) tides within single monsoon cycle.
Surface samples (L1 to L29) were collected using an
Ekman-Barge type grab sampler (Fig. 1c). Three core samples
(Core 1 to Core 3) were collected from Bolgoda Lake using a
gravity corer (Fig. 1c). Short mangrove mud core samples
(VSC 1 to VSC 4) were also collected from the embankments
of freshwater inflow streams entering the lake (Fig. 1c).
Ratnayake et al. (2017b) discussed spatial and temporal vari-
ations of total organic carbon, total nitrogen and total sulfur
percentages in 294 surface and core sediment samples. The
literature data was used to construct proposed lake perturba-
tion diagram using bulk elemental ratios.

Results and discussion

Water quality changes in Bolgoda Lake system

Figure 2 shows the variation of water quality parameters along

Bolgoda Lake system on two different tidal dates. Water qual-
ity parameters in surface water level are shown the similar
trend with bottom water level on each tidal date (Fig. 2). For
example, conductivity values were decreased with distance
from the Indian Ocean in both surface and bottom levels dur-
ing the neap tide (Fig. 2a). The conductivity is a useful proxy
to understand salinity or total salt content of water (e.g.,
Morrison et al. 2001; Jayawardana et al. 2012). Therefore,
salinity was decreased with increasing distance from the
Panadura Estuary during the neap tide (Fig. 1). In addition,
vertical profiles show the enhancement of conductivity with
increasing depths in a similar period (Fig. 2a). The presence of
such halocline is due to the stratification of low denser fresh-
water on the top of denser seawater and/or in the sinking of
heavier brackish water under low precipitation (Souza et al.
2003). These facts cause to increase conductivity with depth
as observed in Bolgoda Lake system (Fig. 2a). Salinity values
are considerably low and almost constant during the spring
tide (on 21st of November) in surface and bottom water levels,
suggesting that well-mixed water column. A certain deviation
can be observed in surface and bottom water levels at loca-
tions from 49 to 55 (Fig. 2a), may be due to an external cir-
cumstance such as artificial discharge of wastewater from
sawmills at the end of the saltwater intrusion.
In summary, the salinity of water was comparatively high Fig. 2 Variations of selected water quality parameters in both surface and
bottom levels of Bolgoda Lake system during different monsoon periods.
in surface and bottom water levels during the neap tide (on 1st
The neap and spring tides represent on 1st of February 2008 (dry
of February 2008) than in spring tide (on 21st of November season) and on 21st of November 2007 (wet season), respectively.
2007). It preliminary suggests that saltwater intrusion was (Where, ORP, Oxidation reduction potential)
enhanced at Panadura Estuary during the neap tide (Fig. 2a).
However, seawater intrusion should generally be higher dur-
ing the spring tide than neap tide due to relatively high sea- maximum tidal range = 0.5 m), as discussed below. Rainfall
level. Consequently, saltwater intrusion can be influenced by patterns show increased values during November measure-
other environmental factors in this micro-tidal region (the ments (ca. 220 mm/month), and recorded lower values during
Seasonal and tidal influence for water quality changes in coastal Bolgoda Lake system, Sri Lanka

February measurements (ca. 40 mm/month) based on neigh-

boring Piliyandala and Boralesgamuda meteorological data by
Department of Meteorology, Sri Lanka. Therefore, authors
postulated that controlling factors of saltwater intrusions in
Bolgoda Lake system can be mainly controlled by precipita-
tion. A similar seasonal trend has been clearly found in man-
grove estuarine environments of low latitude South Asia (e.g.,
Prabu et al. 2008; Rao et al. 2011). In contrast, the evaporation
has probably less influence to discharge saltwater through
Panadura Estuary, as the aridity index (the ratio of mean an-
nual precipitation to potential evapotranspiration) is almost
certainly low in the wet zone of Sri Lanka.
The conductivity values in North Bolgoda Lake range from
2191 to 2292 μS/cm on 9th of September 2010 (Fig. 3a). In
addition, it shows approximately homogeneous distribution
(Fig. 3a), and this field excursion was performed few days after
the heavy rainfall. These values are somewhat closed to the
observed spring tide data on 21st of November 2007. Salinity
gradient of Bolgoda Lake system was thus significantly con-
trolled by freshwater supplies from the watershed. The dis-
charge of river water increases during the southwest monsoon.
Therefore, surface water become less saline as observed during
the field season in September 2010. Similarly, conductivity
values in North Bolgoda Lake show the homogeneous distri-
bution in the nearby spring and neap tides at the end of south-
west monsoon period (Fig. 3a). Consequently, the compiling of
conductivity results suggested, (i) the deviations of conductiv-
ity in Bolgoda Lake system are mainly controlled by precipita-
tion of the watershed and (ii) North Bolgoda Lake (Zone 2) is a
well-mixing zone of marine and freshwater fluxes.
Oxidation reduction potential (ORP) indicate oxic/anoxic
conditions. ORP values were higher close to the Panadura
Estuary, and decreased slightly with distance from the Indian
Ocean during both tidal periods (Fig. 2b). In addition, ORP
values were more positive during the neap tide than spring tide.
Furthermore, ORP values became more negative at bottom
level water during the spring tide, after BL 31 sampling point
in North Bolgoda Lake (Fig. 2b). Similarly, the low positive
ORP values of surface water (range from 13 mV to 118 mV)
show relatively poor oxygenation conditions in North Bolgoda
Lake during the field season in September 2010. Consequently,
results suggest the development of stagnant/reducing bottom
condition in North Bolgoda Lake (Fig. 1b).
Fig. 3 Variations of selected water quality parameters in both surface and
The pH values are almost constant and slightly acidic (range
bottom levels in North Bolgoda Lake within single monsoon cycle.
from 5.6 to 6.1, average ± standard deviation = 5.9 ± 0.1) during (Where, DO, Dissolved Oxygen)
the neap tide, and relatively high values can be observed at bottom
level sites (Fig. 2c). Therefore, fluctuations in pH values during
the neap tide (on 1st of February 2008) can be attributed to factors standard deviation = 7.7 ± 0.3) (Fig. 2c). Similarly, alkaline pH
like bicarbonate degradation, primary productivity, decomposi- condition can be observed in North Bolgoda Lake during the field
tion of organic materials and/or anthropogenic activities rather season in September 2010 (range from 7.9 to 8.3, average ± stan-
than seawater influx (Prabu et al. 2008). However, pH values dard deviation = 8.0 ± 0.2) and during the field season in
are slightly alkaline along Bogoda Lake system during the spring September 2016 (range from 6.7 to 7.8, average ± standard devi-
tide on 21st of November 2007 (range from 6.3 to 8.6, average ± ation = 7.4 ± 0.2 in the neap tide and range from 6.5 to 7.8,
 A. Ratnayake et al.

average ± standard deviation = 7.5 ± 0.2 in the spring tide) (Fig.

3c). In addition, pH values favorably meet the United States
Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) recommended value
(6.5–9.0) for aquatic life during rainy seasons.
The dissolved oxygen level of Bolgoda Lake was increased
towards Weras Stream from sea-mouth during the neap tide (on
1st of February 2008: not illustrated). This satisfies with reduc-
tion of conductivity along the river, as oxygen dissolution gen-
erally increases with decreasing salinity (Fig. 4). The average
dissolved oxygen values in Bolgoda Lake is 7.4 ± 1.0 mg/l
during the field season in September 2010 (Fig. 3b). In addition,
the average dissolved oxygen values of spring and neap tides
are 5.6 ± 0.4 mg/l and 5.4 ± 0.6 mg/l, respectively during the
field season in September 2016 (Fig. 3b). Therefore, the dis-
solved oxygen level of Bolgoda Lake system stands above the
healthy range (5.5 mg/l) for aquatic life, according to the
USEPA criteria. In contrast, temperature values were increased
along the river from sea-mouth, and higher values can be ob-
served in North Bolgoda Lake and Weras Stream (Fig. 2d).
However, this trend can probably indicate the timing of field
measurements. In contrast, temperature is generally decreased
with depths in both tidal periods within a narrow range suggest-
ing that weak thermal stratification (Fig. 2d). In summary, the
analyzed fundamental physicochemical parameters of Bolgoda
Lake system show wide spatial and temporal variations due to
the sporadic mixing of freshwater and marine influx.

Tidal influence for groundwater quality

and ecological changes

The authors also considered water quality properties in surround-

ing wells located around Bolgoda Lake (Fig. 5). Conductivity

Fig. 5 Variations of selected water quality parameters in both surface and

bottom levels of groundwater wells during the neap and spring tides

values show similar variation in studied wells during sampling

periods of neap and spring tides (Figs. 5a and 6). In addition,
these conductivity values show much lower magnitude than in
Fig. 4 Relationship between Dissolved Oxygen (DO) and conductivity Bolgoda Lake system. It suggests that tidal variations and pre-
during the neap tide (1st February, 2008) in Bolgoda Lake system cipitation have a minor influence to control salinity in
Seasonal and tidal influence for water quality changes in coastal Bolgoda Lake system, Sri Lanka
Fig. 6 Relationship between neap and spring tides conductivity values of
surrounding groundwater wells
surrounding wells. Therefore, other factors such as groundwater
over pumping and sand mining from river beds can control saline
intrusion in these coastal aquifers. The opposite trends have been
found for ORP and pH during above sampling periods (Fig. 5b,
c). However, these variations have no direct relationship with
compared to water quality changes in Bolgoda Lake system.
Consequently, it further confirmed that tidal variations have mi-
nor influence for groundwater quality changes in the studied area.
Water quality changes can also influence the distribution of
aquatic plants in Bolgoda Lake system. Most of the water
Fig. 7 Model depicting the relationship between sources of organic matter and deposition environment, and the successive stages in the evolution of
environmental perturbation of Bolgoda Lake system
hyacinths had died in February with saltwater intrusion, which
had a huge bloom all over the river in November. In addition,
saltwater intrusion along Bolgoda Lake has shown a direct
impact on the lives associated with the lake, such as life cycle
of the natural prawns, water hyacinths, and availability of
different varieties of fishes. Amount of salts is an important
factor for the growth of the natural prawns according to the
details collected from the people living around Bolgoda Lake.
Fishermen who engage mainly prawns industry expect saline
water. Because of the availability of the prawns are high at the
periods where the salt content is high due to a reduction of
precipitation and tidal variation.
Organic geochemical proxies
The compiling of water quality parameters identifies three
zones of (i) marine-flux dominant Panadura Estuary, (ii)
brackish North Bolgoda Lake and (iii) freshwater dominant
Weras Stream. In this study, an attempt has been given to
evaluate current organic carbon/nutrient burial and its linkage
to physical processes of seawater invasion and river discharge
(i.e., precipitation). Therefore, this study focused on an inves-
tigation of bulk organic geochemical proxies in modern and
ancient (the middle to late Holocene) sediments. Total organic
carbon: total nitrogen (C/N) and total organic carbon: total
sulfur (C/S) ratios are broadly established geochemical prox-
ies to identify changes in aquatic productivity/delivery of or-
ganic matter and depositional environment of the bottom sed-
iments, respectively (Berner and Raiswell 1984; Berner 1989;

Meyers 1997; Sampei et al. 1997; Sampei and Matsumoto
2001; Ratnayake and Sampei 2015a).
The perturbation diagram (Fig. 7) with data from
Ratnayake et al. (2017b) indicates that North Bolgoda Lake
consists of oligotrophic to mesotrophic levels of productivity.
The mesotrophic aquatic systems are normally characterized
by an intermediate productivity, deposition of mixed sources
of algae (marine) and terrestrial organic matters under anoxic
to oxic conditions (C/N ratio = 10.4–52.6 and C/S ratio = 0.6–
42.7 in Fig. 7). Based on this diagram, the surface sediments
in North Bolgoda Lake are suggested to be oxic to oxygen-
poor marine/brackish mesotrophic environment, and the man-
grove core sediments along the stream are indicated non-
marine freshwater mesotrophic environments. In addition,
the decrease in ORP values in North Bolgoda Lake suggests
favorable condition for the preservation of organic matter
(Fig. 2b). In contrast, precipitation is directly associated with
enhancement of dissolved oxygen values in the lake water as
discussed under the water quality changes. Consequently,
Bolgoda Lake system acts as a biodiversity-rich and stable
ecosystem due to its prominent seawater invasion (during
dry periods) and fluvial process (during wet periods) under
sea-mouth open nature (Fig. 1). However, the adjacent
Lunawa Estuary shows completely different phenomena un-
der sea-mouth closure nature (Fig. 1). Lunawa Estuary can be
recognized as a eutrophic water body with the presence of a
strong halocline, stagnation and high primary productivity
with increased nutrient supply (Ratnayake et al. 2005).
To date, sewage discharge and land degradation can be
identified as possible anthropogenic factors that affecting the
nutrient budget of Bolgoda Lake system. The modern surface
sediments of North Bolgoda Lake were illustrated close to the
eutrophic lake (i.e., deposition of algae dominant organic mat-
ter under anoxic condition) on the perturbation diagram (Fig.
7). In such situation, the continuity of anthropogenic activities
can cause to (i) enhance transformation of CO2 from the at-
mosphere to lake water and (ii) noxious blooms phenomenon
under semi-closed/closed nature (e.g., Ver et al. 1999;
Rabouille et al. 2001; Kemp et al. 2005).
Conclusions
In different monsoon cycles, high salinity was observed along
Bolgoda Lake system during the neap tide under weak precip-
itation. However, low salinity was observed during the spring
tide with relatively strong precipitation. In single monsoon
cycle, North Bolgoda Lake indicates the homogeneous distri-
bution of physicochemical parameters during both nearby
neap and spring tides. Therefore, salinity is mostly controlled
by the seasonal variability of precipitation and partially evap-
oration rather than sea-level variations associated with tidal
changes. Similarly, high ORP values were observed during
A. Ratnayake et al.
the neap tide, and decreased with the distance from the
Indian Ocean. The cross plot of dissolved oxygen and con-
ductivity shows good negative correlation. Therefore, it sug-
gests oxygen dissolution increase with decreasing salinity.
Neap conductivity (Y) of the surrounding wells have an
excellent correlation with spring conductivity (X) by (Y =
0.99X + 14.7, r = 0.96). Consequently, tidal variations and
precipitation have no direct influence to change the salinity
of groundwater aquifers. The intrusion of saltwater removes
water hyacinth in Bolgoda Lake, and also it promotes prawns
farming according to observation and collected data from sur-
rounding community.
Bolgoda Lake shows possible oligotrophic to mesotrophic
levels of productivity based on perturbation evolutionary dia-
gram. However, Bolgoda Lake acts as a healthy aquatic sys-
tem due to prominent fluvial processes and seawater invasion
during the wet and dry seasons, respectively. River runoff (i.e.,
precipitation) and sea-mouth open nature can be recognized as
the essential natural factors for surviving this coastal aquatic
system as a biodiversity-rich system. The enhancement of
terrestrial nutrient supply under the influence of anthropogen-
ic activities and semi-closed or closed nature would have a
chance to convert this healthy aquatic system towards a eutro-
phic state in future.
Acknowledgments We would like to thank Lanka Hydraulic Institute for
providing tidal data, Meteorological Department for providing rainfall
data, Ceylon Fisheries Harbor for providing their boat facilities. In addi-
tion, we wish to express our thanks to R. Amarasinghe, S. Gunathilaka, S.
Silva, H.M.J.T. Wijayawardhana, R.M.C.M. Rajakaruna, J.P.R. Indika
and U.D.P. Rambukwella of the oceanography laboratory of the
Department of Earth Resources Engineering for assisting and coordinat-
ing the field works. We are grateful to Editor in Chief Dr. David Richard
Green and two anonymous referees for their constructive comments and
suggestions on a previous version of this manuscript. This study was
partially supported by a MEXT (Japanese Ministry of Education and
Culture) scholarship.
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