Cauvery water authority asks states to use reservoirs judiciously, defers release decision

The Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) on Tuesday directed all basin States to use water available in reservoirs judiciously, prioritising drinking water needs, amid depleted reservoir levels and poor rainfall in Karnataka. The authority decided to review the water situation at its next meeting, following expectations of improved rainfall in the coming weeks.

The direction came at the 52nd meeting of the authority, held against the backdrop of renewed political debate over the proposed Mekedatu balancing reservoir project. On June 19, the Tamil Nadu Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution moved by Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay opposing Karnataka’s plan to construct a balancing reservoir across the Cauvery at Mekedatu.

Representatives of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, and Puducherry participated in Tuesday’s meeting and reviewed reservoir storage, inflows, outflows, and rainfall across the basin.

Taking note of lower reservoir levels and reduced inflows in parts of the basin, the authority refrained from issuing any fresh directions on water releases. Instead, it opted to reassess the situation after monitoring the progress of the southwest monsoon.

During the meeting, Tamil Nadu pressed for the release of 9 tmcft of Cauvery water from Karnataka and sought directions to Karnataka to furnish details of minor irrigation tank-filling schemes and lift irrigation projects drawing water directly from rivers and canals. Tamil Nadu also reiterated its demand that water drawn from the Cauvery basin for Bengaluru’s drinking water requirements outside the basin be treated as Karnataka’s utilisation and duly accounted for while calculating the basin yield. The State further sought the evolution of a distress-sharing formula to govern water releases during years of poor rainfall.

Karnataka, in its submissions, said delayed monsoon and poor inflows had resulted in lower storage levels in reservoirs and consequently reduced releases. The State also pointed to similar conditions in northern Karnataka and neighbouring Maharashtra, attributing the situation largely to the effects of El Niño.

The CWMA reviewed the status of reservoirs as well as rainfall, inflow, and outflow data presented by the basin States before concluding that the available water resources should be managed carefully until inflows improve. With expectations of good rainfall in the coming days, the authority decided to review the situation again at its next meeting before taking any further call on water releases.

The meeting assumes significance as both Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have begun staking claims over water availability early in the monsoon season, with Tamil Nadu seeking adherence to the monthly release schedule and Karnataka citing poor inflows and lower reservoir storage.