KRS nearing a rare milestone to breach 100 feet mark for the second time in 35 years during May

The water level, which was 98 feet at 8 a.m. on Thursday, was expected to cross the 99 feet by late in the evening and attain the 100 feet mark on Friday. | Photo Credit: FILE PHOTO

The reservoir level at the Krishnaraja Sagar (KRS) is set to hit the 100 feet mark by Friday, thanks to early onset of southwest monsoon coupled with adequate storage in the reservoir due to good rains last year.

The water level, which was 98 feet at 8 a.m. on Thursday, was expected to cross the 99 feet by late in the evening and attain the 100 feet mark on Friday. In 2024, the reservoir attained the 100 feet mark on July 5th and on July 25th, in 2023.

Sources in the Cauvery Neeravari Nigam Ltd (CNNL) confirmed that data since 1990 pertaining to storage levels indicate that the KRS reservoir has reached the 100 feet mark in May only twice in the past 35 years — the previous instance being in May 2022, when unseasonal rains, combined with healthy storage from the preceding monsoon, created favorable inflow conditions that contributed to the rise.

Officials note that the current storage position and early onset of monsoon has created conditions conducive for reservoir to reach the 100 feet mark during May.

Though the monsoon has abated in Kodagu, places in and around Bhagamandala, which is the source of the river Cauvery, has been receiving incessant rains for the last five days. The region received 130.6 mm of rainfall during the 24-hour period ending 8.30 a.m. on Thursday. It was preceded by 103.50 mm of rainfall on Wednesday, 112 mm on May 27, and 225 mm on May 26.

 As a result, the inflow into the KRS continued to be high and was 22,788 cusecs on Thursday morning. The reservoir level has increased by 10 feet in four days from May 25 when the water level in the dam was 89.12 feet against the full level of 124.80 feet. Even in case there was a break in monsoon and rains abate, the high rate of inflow will sustain for a few more days. The storage was 21.28 tmc feet against the gross storage capacity of 49.45 tmc feet.

At Kabini reservoir, the rate of inflow was 18,513 cusecs and the water level was 2274.87 feet against the full level of 2,284 feet. The live storage in the reservoir was 14.20 tmc feet against the gross storage capacity of 19.52 tmc feet. The reservoir level at Hemavathi was 2,905.10 ft against the full level of 2,922 feet while at Harangi it was 2,843.19 feet against the maximum level of 2,859 feet.

The gross storage capacity across all the four dams in the Cauvery basin in Karnataka is 114.57 tmc feet against which the cumulative storage in the four reservoirs was 63.12 tmc feet on Thursday. This is in contrast to the cumulative storage of 32.99 tmc feet on the same day last year.

Published - May 29, 2025 07:26 pm IST