Cauvery Water Management Authority Orders Karnataka to Release Water to Tamil Nadu

In a significant decision, the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) has mandated that Karnataka release water from the Cauvery River to Tamil Nadu, dismissing the state's appeal that cited insufficient rainfall and low reservoir levels as reasons for non-compliance with a previous directive. The CWMA's ruling requires Karnataka to adhere to the recommendations set forth by the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC), which calls for the release of 3,500 cubic feet per second (cusecs) of water daily for a duration of 15 days. This translates to a total of 4 thousand million cubic feet (TMC) of water that must be delivered to Tamil Nadu, a move aimed at addressing the ongoing water scarcity issues faced by the neighboring state.

The decision was reached following an urgent meeting convened by the CWMA to review Karnataka's request against the CWRC's earlier recommendations. During the discussions, Karnataka officials presented their case, arguing that the current conditions in the Cauvery basin made it impossible to comply with the water release order. They highlighted that only 178 cusecs of water had flowed at the Biligundlu monitoring point this year, a stark contrast to the 30,748 cusecs recorded during the same timeframe last year. Furthermore, they reported that only 3.55 TMC of water had flowed in June and July of this year, compared to an impressive 116.92 TMC during the same months in 2022. The state emphasized that the reservoirs in the Cauvery basin currently hold just 36.69 TMC of water, significantly lower than the 99 TMC available at this time last year, which raises concerns about meeting future water needs.