CWMA endorses CWRC’s direction to Karnataka to release 12,000 cusecs of water a day for 15 days to Tamil Nadu

Published 11 August 2026 · local

The Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA), which met in Delhi on Tuesday (August 11, 2026), affirmed and endorsed the decision by the Cauvery Water Regulation

The Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA), which met in Delhi on Tuesday (August 11, 2026), affirmed and endorsed the decision by the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC) to direct Karnataka to ensure the release of Cauvery water at the rate of 12,000 cusecs a day from Wednesday for the next 15 days to neighbouring Tamil Nadu. This means that Karnataka would have to provide about 15.55 thousand million cubic feet (tmc ft), considering that the flow of 11,574 cusecs in 24 hours equals one tmc ft. Responding to this, Karnataka Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar said a decision on the next course of action would be taken after carefully assessing the water availability in the State. He stressed the need to protect the interests of State’s farmers while also complying with the orders of the Authority and the CWRC. He is set to hold a meeting with legal experts and bureaucrats on Wednesday (August 12, 2026) on the possible legal options. CWMA chairperson Saumitra Kumar Haldar told The Hindu later that Karnataka “is in a comfortable position” to comply with its order. The CWMA arrived at the decision after considering the storage, inflows, and the meteorological outlook for the next seven days, he said. Karnataka’s argument Earlier, Karnataka appealed to the CWMA to defer any decision on further releases and take a considered decision based on actual hydrological realities at the end of the South-west monsoon season. If not, it pleaded, the CWMA should at least reduce the quantum of water release from 12,000 cusecs a day to 10,000 cusecs.

Karnataka told the CWMA that the Cauvery basin was “reeling under severe hydrological distress”. It pointed out that all four reservoirs in the Cauvery basin had received only 77.746 thousand million cubic feet (tmc ft) of cumulative inflows in this water year, which was “about 47% less” than the 30-year average. Also, the inflows to the reservoirs were rapidly declining, it said. Karnataka argued that it had already ensured flows of 86,942 cusecs at Biligundlu [the measuring point of Cauvery flow on the inter-State boundary] as against the prescribed quantum of 52,500 cusecs by the CWMA. It argued that the realisation by Tamil Nadu was bound to be much more as additional flows too were in transit It argued that there was no scope for further water release to the neighbouring State given its own “deficit monsoon, dwindling inflows and limited storage”. Also, there was a dire need to conserve water for drinking and essential uses besides taking care of farmers’ kharif crop. Karnataka contended that Tamil Nadu, in contrast, was “in an advantageous position” as it already had “sufficient storage” in its reservoirs, besides having the benefit of forthcoming north-east monsoon as well as any downstream flows. The State said that distress sharing must be equitable, while contending that a rigid, predetermined pro-rata formula based solely on inflows into Karnataka’s reservoirs could “disproportionately burden the State”. Karnataka further demanded that a broader system be put in place to assess distress based on the situation across the entire basin, rather than merely on inflows to its four reservoirs.