Notwithstanding the plummeting water levels in major reservoirs in the Cauvery basin in the State, the current storage is sufficient to meet the drinking water requirements through June, according to sources in the Cauvery Neeravari Nigam Ltd (CNNL).
The water level at the Krishnaraja Sagar (KRS) across the river Cauvery was 84.22 feet against the Full Reservoir Level (FRL) of 124.80 feet on Sunday, May 21, 2023. The water level in the reservoir on the same day last year was 103.80 feet. The gross storage capacity of the reservoir is 49.45 tmc ft against which the available quantum was 12.77 tmc ft on Sunday while 23.14 tmc ft of water was available on the same day last year.
No fear of drinking water scarcity
Though it may appear to be alarming that the water level is dipping fast and could herald a crisis, authorities have dispelled fears of drinking water scarcity in any of the towns and cities including Bengaluru and Mysuru which depend on KRS and Kabini to meet their requirement. Bengaluru alone requires about 1.25 tmc ft to 1.5 tmc ft of water per month while Mysuru and other towns require nearly 1 tmc ft.
But with the Southwest Monsoon just a fortnight away and the inflow to the dam beginning to accrue soon after, the concerns over low storage is non-issue though levels have been particularly low this year, said CNNL sources.
Assuming the worst case scenario of not a single drop of rain lashing the catchment areas all through June, then the existing quantum can be managed for drinking water purpose, the sources added.
Authorities confident of meeting requirement
Besides, Hemavathi reservoir in Gorur in Hassan district has sufficient storage to last through any crisis. The water level at the Hemavathi on Sunday was 2,895 ft against the maximum level of 2,922 ft and the gross storage capacity of the dam is 37.10 ft. But the available storage was 17.46 tmc ft, sufficient to act as a buffer.
Water discharged from Hemavathi flows into the KRS, making the authorities confident of meeting the drinking water requirements of urban settlements in the Cauvery basin.
The water level at Kabini in HD Kote was 2,251.84 ft against the maximum level of 2,284 ft and live storage was 4.59 tmc ft. The Harangi dam in Kushalnagar has 1.89 tmc ft of water and the water level was 2,819.73 ft against the FRL of 2,859 ft.
The onset of Southwest Monsoon is less than two weeks away and the Indian Meteorological Department has forecast normal rains with 96% of the Long Period Average. Hence, the authorities are confident that source will not be affected and hiccups, if any, could be due to distribution issues.
