SALEM: With the water level at Mettur Dam in Salem currently below the critical storage threshold, uncertainty has emerged over whether the customary June 12 water release for Kuruvai irrigation in the Cauvery delta will be followed this year, as reservoir conditions continue to be constrained by weak inflows and uneven rainfall across the Cauvery catchment regions.
A senior official of the Water Resources Department said that while June 12 has traditionally been treated as a customary planning benchmark for water release, it is not a fixed operational schedule, and the actual decision is taken only after the reservoir reaches a defined technical operating range, generally around 90 feet and preferably above 93 feet, along with sustained inflows.
The official further explained that the system remains completely dependent on rainfall activity in the coming weeks, particularly the southwest monsoon.
At present, the reservoir stands at 79.165 feet against 108.18ft last year this time, with a storage of 41,129 mcft and an inflow of 181 cusecs, which officials say is well below the operational requirement.
According to WRD assistant engineer P Selvaraj, the current situation is primarily due to persistently weak inflows resulting from inadequate rainfall in the northeast monsoon season and poor runoff from Cauvery catchment areas, coupled with minimal contribution from upstream Karnataka reservoirs, where storage levels remain low.
He pointed out that inflows have remained largely subdued since the beginning of the year, dropping to as low as around 27 cusecs in February and 38 cusecs in March, before rising marginally to around 195 cusecs in April, while December 2025 had recorded a comparatively higher inflow of about 1,824 cusecs.
This year’s situation stands in stark contrast to 2025, when the dam was opened on the scheduled June 12 date and subsequently reached its full reservoir level (FRL) seven times during the year.
