Water level at Krishnaraja Sagar breaches 100-ft mark

Gross storage is only 45% of the actual capacity of the reservoir

The water level at the Krishnaraja Sagar (KRS) across the Cauvery crossed 100-feet mark on Tuesday evening.

The water level at 6 p.m. was 100.05 feet as against the full reservoir level (FRL) of 124.8 feet. The rate of inflow into the reservoir, located in Srirangapatna taluk of Mandya district, was at 12,581 cusecs, according to the Mandya district administration.

However, the reservoir level is low when compared to that on the same day last year when it was 107.3 feet. Though the onset of the south-west monsoon was timely and the catchment region of the Cauvery received copious rain till the third week of June, the rain abated later on and the inflow into the dam depleted. It was only last week that the monsoon gathered vigour, augmenting the inflow into the reservoir. But the rainfall has been moderate since then and the inflow is also ebbing.

The gross storage in the reservoir was 22.44 thousand million cubic feet (tmcft) on Tuesday as against 28.81 tmcft on the same day last year. The gross capacity of the reservoir is 49.45 tmcft and hence the current storage is only 45% of its actual capacity.

The water level at the Kabini reservoir in H.D. Kote taluk of Mysuru district was hovering around 2,280 feet as against the FRL of 2,284 feet. The water level on the same day last year was 2,275.44 feet. The rate of inflow on Tuesday morning was at 9,262 cusecs and the rate of outflow was pegged at 9,550 cusecs.