The
Mahaweli River (, literally "Great Sandy River"; [
mahawali gangai]), is a long river, ranking as the longest
river in Sri Lanka. Its
drainage basin is the largest in the country, and covers almost one-fifth of the total area of the island. The river reaches the
Bay of Bengal on the southwestern side of
Trincomalee Bay. The bay includes the first of a number
submarine canyons, making Trincomalee one of the finest deep-sea
harbors in the world. The river and its tributaries are
dammed at several locations to allow
irrigation in the dry zone, with almost of land irrigated. Production of
hydroelectricity from six dams of the Mahaweli system supplies more than 40% of Sri Lanka's electricity needs. One of the many sources of the river is the
Kotmale Oya.