The UMCSAWM project to date has come a long way in the journey to Education for Sustainable Development of Water Resources. Initiated by a presentation of the postgraduate degree program to the South Asia Foundation (Sri Lanka Chapter) in 2003 and after numerous evaluations and justifications, the project was approved and commissioned in 2010 with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the South Asia Foundation (SAF) and the University of Moratuwa. The presentation to SAF Sri Lanka chair Late Honourable Lakshman Kadirgamar who was Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister convinced, the value of the proposal for regional cooperation. The proposal prepared and presented by the former director Prof. Sohan Wijesekera was ably guided by the then Vice Chancellor Professor Dayantha Wijayasekera and then Dean Professor Malik Ranasinghe.
The proposal which had the blessings of the SAF Sri Lanka and the University of Moratuwa was not only accepted by the South Asia Foundation for Funding Support of US$ 100,000 per annum for five intakes but also was gifted with a US$ 500,000 personal funding support by the Late Shri Madanjeet Singh. At that point in time, Late Shri Madanjeet Singh was the chair of the South Asia Foundation.
The UMCSAWM is indebted to the two visionary leaders, Late Honorable Lakshman Kadirgamar and Late Shri Madanjeet Singh for their recognition of the value of sustainable water resources management education as a vital link to achieving regional cooperation.
