BENGALURU: There is pressure from farmers to release Cauvery water for irrigation, and Chief Minister DK Shivakumar has confirmed that legislators from Mandya and Srirangapatna, along with the district in-charge minister, had met him on the issue. However, he refrained from making any commitment, saying the government would announce its decision after holding a meeting. Karnataka will weigh irrigation demands against adequate drinking water reserves amid an uncertain monsoon.
Water resource experts warn that Karnataka is heading towards one of its most challenging monsoon years, and that deficit rainfall could force the government to place drinking water needs above irrigation. The warning comes after Irrigation Minister Ramalinga Reddy declared that the state was in no position to release water for irrigation, and reservoir levels would be reviewed only if rainfall improves over the next two weeks.
The government’s stand remains cautious after the India Meteorological Department forecast below-normal rainfall, raising fears that Karnataka’s four major Cauvery reservoirs -- Krishna Raja Sagar, Kabini, Hemavathi and Harangi -- may not receive the inflows needed to comfortably meet both irrigation and drinking water demands.
Experts told TNIE, on condition of anonymity, that the state cannot afford to repeat mistakes of previous drought years by releasing water without making adequate provision for drinking. The next monsoon is in June 2027, they reminded.
“Karnataka is not merely deciding whether to irrigate crops, but whether it can guarantee drinking water for millions of people six months from now,” a senior water expert said.
KRS currently stores about 40tmcft of water. Bengaluru, Mysuru, Mandya, Maddur, Channapatna and other Cauvery-dependent cities and towns together consume 5-6tmcft of water every month. Factoring in nearly 10 per cent evaporation losses, experts estimate that the available storage would barely last six months if monsoon inflows remain poor.
Experts point out that Tamil Nadu’s Mettur reservoir presently holds water almost equivalent to the combined storage available in Karnataka’s four Cauvery reservoirs. While the North-East monsoon from October to December does not yield much water to Karnataka, it favours Tamil Nadu, so Karnataka needs to insure itself against a dry spell.
They describe Ramalinga Reddy’s remarks as an acknowledgement of constraints, and caution that if the government yields to pressure to release water for irrigation and the monsoon weakens further, Karnataka could be in an acute drinking water crisis.
The CWMA meeting on July 15 could become the first major test of Karnataka’s strategy in a deficit monsoon. State officials are likely to argue that reservoir operations this year must be dictated by available inflows and drinking water security rather than routine releases, even as pressure mounts from farmers and downstream Tamil Nadu for irrigation.