NEW DELHI: As the southwest monsoon is approaching its end, water levels in reservoirs are a cause of concern. The overall storage position is less than the corresponding period of last year as well as the average storage of the last ten years during the corresponding period.
The water levels in the country's 150 reservoirs are 22% less than last year 2022 and around 10% less than the storage average of the last ten years. However, at the end of July, the average reservoir levels were better than in August owing to good rainfall in July. However, the Indian Meteorological Department forecasted normal to below normal rainfall in September is a cause of concern.
Prevailing El Nino conditions caused a deficit of monsoon, especially in river basins is the reason behind the low reservoir level. El Nino weather conditions are identified as weaker monsoons in India caused by the warming of the equatorial Pacific Ocean.
At the end of August, India had a -10% deficit monsoon since June 1. As per month, the deficit was -9% in June, followed by July with a surplus of +13%, and in August, it was historically lowest, with a deficit of -36%.
The water reservoirs act as special buffers between large rivers and urban water supply involving industrial users.
"In the wake of normal to below normal rainfall in September, the government should be cautious in using reservoir waters," says Himanshu Thakkar of South Asia Network on Dams, River, and People.
The deficit of southwest monsoon and record-breaking temperatures in the past few months become the cause of concern in upcoming months especially rabi crops. It will cause soil moisture loss increase the farmers' burden and impact people's drinking water.
As per data from the Central Water Commission, the live storage available in 150 reservoirs is 77 % of the live storage of the corresponding period of last year and 91% of storage of the average of the last ten years.
The live storage available in these reservoirs is 113.417 Billion Cubic Meters (BCM) by the end of August. However, the previous year the live storage available in these reservoirs for the corresponding period was 146.828 BCM.
The average of the last 10 years of live storage was 125.117 BCM which is quite high.
All regions of the country including Eastern, Western, Southern, Northern, and Central zones have lower levels of the reservoir than the previous year. (see table)
States having less storage than last year for the corresponding period are Punjab, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Tripura, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, AP&TG (Two combined projects in both states), Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
Region Wise Storage Position
Regions | Designed Capacity | Last year 2022 | Current year 2023 |
North (HP, Punjab, Rajasthan) | 19.66 | 16.38 | 16.24 |
Eastern (Jharkhand, Orissa, WB, Tripura) | 20.09 | 12.72 | 9.84 |
Western (Gujarat, Maharashtra) | 36.41 | 32.77 | 26.32 |
Central (UP, Uttarakhand, MP, Chhattisgarh) | 48.23 | 37.19 | 35.14 |
Southern (AP, Telangana, Kerala, karnataka, TN) | 53.07 | 47.76 | 25.88 |
Source: Central Water Commission 31 August 2023