River Nilwala is the third longest river in Sri Lanka. It starts from the hill country in Deniyaya and Rakwana. It runs through Deniyaya town, Morawaka, Akuressa and reaches the city of Matara where it joins the Indian Ocean at Thotamuna. This river irrigates a lot of landscape along its way from Deniyaya. Tea, rubber and paddy cultivation are the main crops which are irrigated by this river. Other than these crops many other crops such as cardamom, cinnamon and vegetable plantations are also being irrigated. North of Matara city and its suburbs often get flooded during the rainy season. To arrest this problem a scheme was initiated by the Ministry of Irrigation in 1979 with assistance from the Government of France. Now the first stage of the Project is completed . This flood protection scheme is successful and the areas which got flooded are now under paddy cultivation.
