Cauvery Water Management Authority

The Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) is a statutory mechanism established to implement the adjudicated sharing of Cauvery river waters among Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and the Union Territory of Puducherry. Its mandate is to secure compliance with the final decision of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal, as modified by the Supreme Court, through monitoring, regulation and directions concerning water storage and releases.

Statutory foundation

The Central Government framed the Cauvery Water Management Scheme, 2018 under Section 6A of the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, 1956. The Scheme establishes the CWMA as the principal implementation body and the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee as its assisting mechanism.

• Article 262 empowers Parliament to provide for adjudication of disputes concerning inter-State river waters.
• The Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, 1956 provides the statutory framework for adjudication and implementation of tribunal decisions.
• The CWMA implements the operative decision; it does not adjudicate the Cauvery dispute afresh.

Core mandate

The Authority must secure compliance with, and implementation of, the Tribunal's final decision as modified by the Supreme Court.

• It regulates the storage, apportionment and release of Cauvery waters in accordance with the operative decision.
• It monitors reservoir levels, inflows, outflows, withdrawals and releases across the Cauvery basin.
• It determines and directs releases having regard to prescribed allocations, reservoir position, inflows and water availability.
• It oversees the operation of specified reservoirs to the extent necessary for implementing the water-sharing arrangement.
• It addresses situations of water deficiency or distress in accordance with the principles contained in the operative decision and the Scheme.

Compliance and implementation machinery

The CWMA works through basin data, reservoir monitoring and directions to the party States and Union Territory. The Cauvery Water Regulation Committee assists it in field-level regulation and verification.

• The party governments must provide the data required for assessing water availability and compliance.
• The Authority may issue directions on releases and regulation within the scope of the Scheme.
• Its decisions on matters within its purview are binding on the party States and Union Territory.
• Where implementation is obstructed, the Authority may seek the assistance of the Central Government under the Scheme.

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