Since tsunami, Digaredda canal has been blocked and neglected from irrigation. There are 150 acres of paddy (rice) fields and 20 acres of home gardens in the area, but only 70 acres are functioning. Currently the sea water is entering the sluice gates and as a result, the farmers are losing an estimated Rs 2 million per season on lost production. The project will directly benefit more than 200 families in 5 DN divisions: Ahangandgoda, Digaredda, Anghagoma Central, Goviapana and Talduva. As one of the leading agencies in Galle district Caritas SED Galle took the priority to re- irrigate the canal. Caritas SED Galle is working with technical support from the Department of Irrigation, Department of Agriculture, Divisional Secretariat-Habaraduwa and Pradeshiya Sabhawa.

Families engaged in fishing activities were among the worst hit by the tsunami apart from losing their homes and all sources of income, for a period time after the tsunami, fishing all but halted in the country. Before the tsunami, 4,800 individuals were engaged in fish vendor activities and, after the tidal wave hit, only 1,226 continued to sell. Moreover, 1,277 persons were engaged in fishing-related activities such as dry fishpreparation and repairing nets before the tsunami and only 349 remained as of April 2005. Caritas SED Galle has been working to revive and mobilize or establish fishing, diving and fish vendor groups/cooperatives. Groups formed to date are most interested in generating savings to replace equipment, rebuild their homes, pay off debt and invest in infrastructure repair. A few groups have started internal lending. Apart from increasing their economic resources, capacities of the groups are developed through organizational, awareness and technical trainings such as reinforcing leadership and financial skills; increasing awareness of fishing resource management; community advocacy techniques aimed to empower fishermen to defend their rights in regards to issues such as control of access to fishing resources and licenses; and repair of outboard and inboard motors, FRP boats, and canoes.

One such a group, the Godawaya Fishery Cooperative, is located in Godawaya GS division in Hambantota district which was badly damaged from the December 2004 tsunami. In Godawaya village, 163 fishing families are tsunami affected, having lost fishing equipment including boats, engines, and nets. This cooperative has been officially registered since January 1990. The project provided assistance to fishermen through distributions of critically needed fishing supplies. At the same time, fishermen receiving these supplies are required to repay 30% of the total cost of items received to the fisheries cooperative in order to retain ownership of these livelihood goods. While the cooperative has over 200 members, only 69 of the fishermen lost their boats and equipment. Caritas SED Galle organized restoration of assets such as fishing nets, canoes, boats, and engines for 67 fishermen. The cooperative as a whole will benefit from this project since fishermen will repay a percentage of the cost of their equipment to the cooperative for the ownership of the boats. These contributions will in turn, become a revolving fund with to the benefit of all of the members in the cooperative.

In July 2006, Caritas SED Galle formed a partnership with Malteser International for a large water supply, sanitation, and solid waste in Liyanagoda and Katukurunda in Habaraduwa Division. Agreements were signed with the Habaraduwa AGA, Pradeshiya Sabha, and National Water Supply and Drainage Board (NWS&DB) on 10th August. The project is the result of several months of evaluations and needs assessments in Habaraduwa Division aimed at improving the water and sanitation situation in these coastal areas.

Communities in coastal areas have been in need for improved water supply and sanitation even prior to the tsunami. In Harbaraduwa, there are approximately 6,860 families living in the 26 tsunami-affected GNs. Of these, approximately 20% are connected to piped water systems supplied by the NWS&DB while the remaining 80% of the people depend on informal solutions such as dug wells, tube wells, and water bowsering. Drinking water supply is sometimes at great distances from peoples homes. Groundwater supply is often very poor because of the high groundwater table in coastal areas.

Water supply is linked to sanitation problems. The majority of families use pour-flush latrines, with the pit outside the latrine house. The waste goes directly into the ground. As the groundwater level in the target area is very high, the groundwater is slowly being contaminated by the toilets.

Currently, in Liyanagoda, most beneficiaries collect their domestic water from a common well located at the foot of the hills. Almost every house has a hand-dug well but these are only useful for washing purposes due to either high salinity or poor water quality. During the rainy season, many of these wells are flooded by rainwater due to poor drainage and approximately 20 families living in the hilly area to the north, have to walk down to the common well to collect their drinking water.

In Katukurunda, the water supply situation is worse. The residents lack wells for drinking water and have to walk long distances to collect water. There are approximately 11 wells which are being used by the local residents, but only three are for communal use and with a clean water supply.

The one-year project with Malteser will develop a locally managed water supply system in Liyanagoda and Katurukunda for all of the 600 families. A local community based organization will be created among the residents to manage the system. In addition, the project aims to build new toilets and improve existing toilets for at least 60% of these families. Implementation of the sanitation and water supply systems will begin in October 2006 with completion due by June 2007.