The Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) has endorsed the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee’s (CWRC) decision directing Karnataka to release 12,000 cusecs of water per day to Tamil Nadu for the next 15 days. This decision was made during a meeting in Delhi on Tuesday, August 11, 2026. The CWMA’s decision means Karnataka will have to provide approximately 15.55 thousand million cubic feet (tmc ft) of water to its neighboring state.
Karnataka Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar responded to the decision by stating that the state would carefully assess its water availability before deciding on the next course of action. He emphasized the need to protect the interests of the state’s farmers while complying with the orders of the Authority and the CWRC. A meeting with legal experts and bureaucrats is scheduled for Wednesday, August 12, 2026, to discuss possible legal options.
The CWMA arrived at its decision after considering the storage, inflows, and meteorological outlook for the next seven days. CWMA chairperson Saumitra Kumar Haldar stated that Karnataka is in a comfortable position to comply with the order. Earlier, Karnataka had appealed to the CWMA to defer any decision on further releases, citing severe hydrological distress in the Cauvery basin.
Karnataka argued that it had already ensured flows of 86,942 cusecs at Biligundlu, exceeding the prescribed quantum of 52,500 cusecs by the CWMA. The state contended that there was no scope for further water release to Tamil Nadu, given its own deficit monsoon, dwindling inflows, and limited storage. Karnataka also argued that Tamil Nadu was in an advantageous position, with sufficient storage in its reservoirs and the benefit of forthcoming north-east monsoon.
Tamil Nadu, on the other hand, appealed to the CWMA to direct Karnataka to ensure releases of 37 tmc ft at Biligundlu by August end, taking cognizance of the backlog and the quantum due on a pro-rata basis from August 13 to 31. The state argued that maintaining the entire one year’s drinking water requirement for Bengaluru as a contingency plan was not justified and should not be used to deny its legitimate share.
The CWMA chairperson stated that as against the long-term average of 83 tmc ft in the four reservoirs of Karnataka in the Cauvery basin, the current storage is 77 tmc ft. He observed that Karnataka’s reservoirs would be receiving 2 to 2.5 tmc ft a day at least for the next one week, allowing the state to spare one tmc ft a day to Tamil Nadu.
