Deficient Monsoon Hits Karnataka Reservoir Storage

Mangaluru: Karnataka's major reservoirs are holding substantially less water than they did at the same time last year, underscoring the impact of a weak southwest monsoon despite recent inflows into the state's river basins.

According to the Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre (KSNDMC), the combined storage in the state's 14 major reservoirs stood at 405.18 tmc ft on Thursday against 693.48 tmc ft on July 23 last year a decline of nearly 42 per cent. The reservoirs are currently filled to only 45 per cent of their total gross storage capacity of 895.65 tmc ft.

The impact is most visible in the Hydel reservoirs, where storage remains far below last year's levels despite recent inflows. Linganamakki is storing 37.05 tmc ft, compared with 107.50 tmc ft on the corresponding day last year. Supa has 44.93 tmc ft, down from 83.23 tmc ft, while Varahi contains 9.03 tmc ft against 20.05 tmc ft a year ago.

The Cauvery basin also remains under pressure. Storage at KRS has fallen to 17.21 tmc ft from 47.90 tmc ft last year, while Hemavathi and Kabini are also well below last year's levels. Harangi is the only reservoir in the basin whose storage is close to last year's figure.

The Krishna basin, however, offers a relatively better picture, aided by recent inflows after the recent rain in the Western Ghats and Maharashtra. Almatti dam holds 103.77 tmc ft against 98.73 tmc ft on the same day in 2025. However, Tungabhadra has only 28.00 tmc ft, compared with 78.60 tmc ft a year ago. Ghataprabha stands at 25.94 tmc ft against 46.25 tmc ft, Malaprabha at 13.75 tmc ft against 29.43 tmc ft, and Narayanapura at 24.00 tmc ft, down from 31.78 tmc ft last year.

In central Karnataka, Bhadra is storing 34.96 tmc ft, considerably lower than 63.59 tmc ft recorded on the same day last year. Vani Vilas Sagar has 23.44 tmc ft, against 23.36 tmc ft a year ago.