Sri Lanka plans to store and use a billion cubic meters of rainwater each year to support irrigation and power generation.The rainwater would go into the sea if it is not used. Sri Lanka is building the new water management system in the country's dry zone.The area covers the northern and eastern parts of the country. It is home to about one-third of Sri Lanka's twenty million people. It is also mainly agricultural land.Climate change has severely hurt the area in the past 10 years. The region is also is suffering a severe water crisis.Experts say the project could use enough water to fill two of the country's largest reservoirs, Victoria and Randenigala.The government and donors are paying for the $675-million project. Work begins this month and should be completed by December 2024.The plan is one of the nation's largest water-related projects in the past years.It includes the construction of two new reservoirs and 260 kilometers of new canals linking existing reservoirs.