New Delhi, May 26: The 51st meeting of the Cauvery Water Management Authority took place on Tuesday in New Delhi, chaired by S.K. Halder. The Principal Secretary of the Tamil Nadu Water Resources Department, Dr. Satyabrata Sahu (IAS), participated via video conferencing from the Secretariat in Chennai.
During the meeting, the Tamil Nadu representative reported that as of May 25, the water storage level at the Mettur Dam stands at 40.742 TMC. Currently, 1,003 cubic feet of water per second is being released from the dam to meet the needs for drinking water, industrial use, and environmental flow.
The representative also noted that from June 1, 2025, to May 24, Tamil Nadu received 329.166 TMC of water at the Billigundulu point, compared to the allocated 176.685 TMC for the current irrigation year (2025-26), which includes surplus flow.
In response to a concern raised by the Karnataka representative regarding the need to account for surplus water released by Karnataka, Tamil Nadu strongly opposed this claim. The Tamil Nadu representative stated that Karnataka cannot assert ownership over water that it failed to store in its reservoirs and had to release downstream.
Citing a report from the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the Tamil Nadu representative mentioned that the southwest monsoon is expected to commence in Kerala on May 26, 2026. Given the general monsoon forecast and the availability of water in Karnataka’s reservoirs, he urged the authority to ensure the release of 9.91 TMC of water to Tamil Nadu in June, in accordance with the Supreme Court‘s orders.
The meeting included extensive discussions on water distribution between the two states involved in the Cauvery water dispute, the current storage situation, and the upcoming monsoon. The authority is now in the process of making further decisions on this matter.
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