The Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) on Thursday directed Karnataka to release Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu, rejecting the state’s plea that poor rainfall and depleted reservoir levels had made
it impossible to comply with an earlier order.
The Authority instructed Karnataka to implement the recommendation of the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC) and release 3,500 cusecs of water per day to Tamil Nadu for 15 days. Under the direction, Karnataka has been asked to release a total of 4 TMC of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu.
The decision came after an emergency meeting convened by the CWMA to consider Karnataka’s appeal against the CWRC’s recommendation.
Karnataka Cites Drought, Low Reservoir Levels
During the meeting, Karnataka argued that it was not in a position to release the water due to inadequate rainfall across the Cauvery basin and significantly lower storage levels in its reservoirs.
State officials told the Authority that only 178 cusecs of water had flowed at Biligundlu so far this year, compared to 30,748 cusecs during the corresponding period last year.
According to Karnataka, only 3.55 TMC of water flowed during June and July this year, against 116.92 TMC during the same period in 2025.
The state also pointed out that Cauvery basin reservoirs in Karnataka currently hold 36.69 TMC of water, sharply lower than the 99 TMC recorded during the same period last year.
Officials further submitted that while around 40 TMC of water would normally have flowed downstream by this stage of the monsoon, only about 3.5 TMC has flowed this year due to what they described as severe drought-like conditions.
Urging the Authority to take the situation into account, Karnataka said reservoir storage was already under pressure and would be required to meet drinking water and other essential needs in the coming months.
The state also argued that ensuring a flow of 3,500 cusecs at Biligundlu would require releasing an even larger quantity of water from upstream reservoirs, making compliance more difficult under current conditions.
Tamil Nadu Seeks More Water
Tamil Nadu, however, opposed Karnataka’s position and argued that the CWRC’s recommendation represented only the minimum quantity that should be released.
State officials urged the Authority to direct Karnataka to release a larger volume of water, contending that the state’s reservoirs had received around 36 TMC of inflows and therefore had sufficient water to comply.
Tamil Nadu also maintained that, under normal conditions, around 40 TMC of water should have been released downstream by this point in the water year.
The state further alleged that Karnataka had failed to properly implement the distress-sharing formula prescribed for years of deficient rainfall.
According to Tamil Nadu’s submissions, only 3.5 TMC of water has flowed at Biligundlu over the past two months, resulting in a shortfall of 9.46 TMC under the distress-sharing mechanism.
