The backwaters of Kerala are ecologically significant wetlands that not only support a phenomenal variety of living beings but also provide the human population with a physical environment that is enriching. According to the dictionary the word ‘backwater’ is – ‘water held back by a dam or other obstruction’.
This would mean then that the storm water from rivers held back by strips of land form the backwaters of Kerala. Located on the south-west coast of India, the state of Kerala has 41 west flowing rivers, originating as brooks and creeks in the hilly highlands of the east. The rivulets flow fast, then slow down and ultimately flush into the Lakshadweep, (Arabian) sea through openings (river mouths) of the land-strips. Before discharging into the sea they, however, form long and large irregular stretches of lakes, lagoons and canals parallel to the almost entire 590 km long coastline of the state.
Geologically speaking, the backwaters were the first to evolve, followed by the formation of a sand barrier which separated them from the sea. Since these water bodies have the levels of their beds at depths lower than the mean sea level, storm water stagnates at least for a while as backwaters. But through the river-mouths the landward flow of seawater also takes place during high tide, holding back storm water from discharging into the sea. Though not always, during summer when the seaward flow from the river diminishes, a barrier beach develops across the mouth and the backwaters remain completely cut off from the sea till the advent of the next monsoon rains. Kerala receives both south-west (June-Aug) and north-east (Sept-Nov) monsoon rains, averaging at 3000 mm a year.
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