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The Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) on Thursday, July 30, upheld the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee's (CWRC) direction asking Karnataka to release 3,500 cusecs of Cauvery water per day to Tamil Nadu for 15 days, rejecting the state's request to defer the order.
The decision was taken at the 54th meeting of the CWMA, the statutory body responsible for overseeing the implementation of the Supreme Court's final verdict on the Cauvery water-sharing dispute.
Karnataka had challenged the CWRC's July 28 order directing it to begin releasing water from July 29.
The state argued that it was facing severe water distress due to deficient southwest monsoon rainfall and poor inflows into its reservoirs.
It urged the Authority to keep the order in abeyance for another fortnight and review the water situation after reassessing the hydrological conditions.
According to Karnataka, cumulative inflows into the four reservoirs in the Cauvery basin were 65.65% below the 30-year average.
It attributed the shortfall to the prevailing El Niño conditions and argued that releasing water at this stage could affect both irrigation and drinking water requirements.
The state also contended that Tamil Nadu benefits from two monsoon seasons. While Karnataka's southwest monsoon contributes to downstream releases, Tamil Nadu also receives rainfall during the northeast monsoon, which has historically improved its reservoir storage during distress years.
Karnataka further submitted that Tamil Nadu continued to have storage from the water already released by the state.
It also argued that releasing 3,500 cusecs at the inter-state Biligundlu gauging station would require a higher discharge from its reservoirs because of transmission losses along the dry riverbed.
According to the state, it may have to release nearly 7,000 cusecs from its reservoirs to ensure that 3,500 cusecs reaches the border. Karnataka argued that this could affect its requirement of maintaining at least 40 tmcft of water reserved for drinking purposes.
Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu sought a higher quantum of water, informing the Authority that against the scheduled release of 37.4068 tmcft between June 1 and July 28 in the current water year, Karnataka had released only 3.5730 tmcft, leaving a deficit of 33.8338 tmcft.
The state urged the CWMA to direct Karnataka to release 9.45 tmcft over the next 15 days, at the rate of 7,000 cusecs per day, under the distress-sharing formula.
After considering submissions from both states, the CWMA upheld the CWRC's order. The Authority noted that inflows into Karnataka's reservoirs had improved and observed that the Kabini reservoir was nearing full capacity.
It also said Karnataka's reservoirs were expected to receive at least 15 tmcft of inflows over the next 15 days, adding that releasing 4.5 tmcft to Tamil Nadu during this period would not affect Karnataka's drinking water requirements.
Following the decision, Karnataka Chief Minister D K Shivakumar convened an all-party meeting in Bengaluru on August 2 to discuss the order and decide on the state's next course of action.
