Water resources development in the Cauvery river basin, India

Abstract

The first centrally planned initiative to secure water for irrigation and control flooding in the Cauvery river basin, India, dates to c. 200 CE when Karikal Cholan constructed the Grand Anicut. The irrigation infrastructure was extended by British military engineers in the nineteenth century when several large barrages and regulators were constructed. In the twentieth century, water demand increased in those parts of the Cauvery basin in the Princely State of Mysore (now in Karnataka) and the Madras Presidency (now in Tamil Nadu). Disagreement between the states over water use was partially resolved by the agreements of 1892 and 1924. Two impressive reservoirs, the Krishnarajasagar in Mysore and the Mettur in the Madras Presidency, were then constructed on the Cauvery river; other smaller reservoirs were built on its tributaries. By 1972 over 1·2 Mha were being irrigated from the Cauvery. Rapid expansion of the irrigable areas, however, renewed the dispute over the use of the Cauvery waters. In 1990, the Cauvery water disputes tribunal was constituted but, despite its rulings, disagreements re-emerge in dry years. The history of the development of water resources in the Cauvery river basin is described in this paper.