With the current water year 2023-24 coming to an end this month, the overall realisation by the State in the year may end up next to the lowest figure of 69 tmc ft (thousand million cubic feet) during 2016-17 since 1974, the year in which the 1924 inter-State (Karnataka and Tamil Nadu) agreement was said to have lapsed.
For the purpose of calculation, the reference point is Biligundulu on the inter-State border where the Central Water Commission (CWC) has a facility to measure the flows.
As on April 30, the cumulative receipt since June 1, 2023 was about 78.8 tmc ft. This was marginally higher than around 75.6 tmc ft, which was recorded during 2003-04. The current water year will, in all probability, mark the third occasion of Tamil Nadu’s annual quota of the Cauvery water not exceeding the 100-tmc ft mark. This can change only when the Cauvery catchment in Kerala and Karnataka experience heavy rainfall immediately before the onset of Southwest monsoon in the last week of this month.
