Karnataka dam water levels have declined across several major reservoirs as inflows weakened and water continued to be released to Tamil Nadu in response to its demand, according to a report by Prajavani. The Cauvery basin’s four reservoirs now hold 65.41 TMC feet of water, equivalent to 57% of their combined storage capacity.
The report said rainfall and reservoir inflows have fallen over the past two weeks. The four Cauvery basin reservoirs have a combined capacity of 114 TMC feet, compared with 110 TMC feet stored during the same period last year. They were nearly full at this point last year, according to the report.
The current inflow into the four reservoirs is about 8,000 cusecs, while approximately 18,500 cusecs is being released downstream. The inflow into the Krishnaraja Sagar Reservoir has increased because of releases from the Hemavati reservoir, even as inflows into Harangi, Hemavati and Kabini have declined.
The Harangi reservoir in Kodagu holds 6.66 TMC feet, or 78% of its capacity. Hemavati contains 20.22 TMC feet, with its storage level at 55%. Krishnaraja Sagar has 27.58 TMC feet, or 56% of capacity, while Kabini holds about 11 TMC feet and is also at 56%.
Across Karnataka’s 14 major reservoirs, the report said storage stands at about 70% of the total capacity. The reservoirs together contain 623.98 TMC feet against a total storage capacity of 895 TMC feet. At the same time last year, they held 836 TMC feet.
The storage position differs across river basins. The Almatti reservoir in Vijayapura district and the Ghataprabha reservoir in Belagavi district remain 100% full. Almatti is receiving 522 cusecs and releasing 716 cusecs. Ghataprabha has an inflow of 663 cusecs and an outflow of 180 cusecs.
In the Krishna basin, the Tungabhadra reservoir is 81% full, while Narayanapura is at 85%. The Malaprabha reservoir has storage at 58%. In the Malnad region, the Linganamakki reservoir is at 58%, with an inflow of 1,683 cusecs and an outflow of 6,058 cusecs. The Bhadra reservoir is at 87%, receiving 454 cusecs and releasing 744 cusecs.
The Supa reservoir in Uttara Kannada district is at 61% capacity, while the Varahi reservoir is at 57%. The report said four Malnad reservoirs together hold 260 TMC feet, while reservoirs in the Krishna basin hold 280 TMC feet.
The latest figures show that Karnataka’s reservoir position varies sharply between river basins, with the most significant decline reported in the Cauvery system as releases continue and fresh inflows weaken.
