The Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) endorsed a Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC) order directing Karnataka to release 3,500 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu for 15 days (29 July-12 August 2026), nearly 4.5 TMC ft.

The decision came amid deficient southwest monsoon rainfall: net inflows into Karnataka reservoirs were ~60% below the 30-year average, and river flow at Biligundulu showed a 90% deficit.

Combined storage in Karnataka's four major reservoirs stood at 64.15 TMC ft against a capacity of 114.57 TMC ft; Karnataka considers the order burdensome given drought-like conditions and is examining an appeal before the CWMA.

The CWRC, headquartered in New Delhi under CWMA, monitors 8 major reservoirs across the basin states and bases its decisions on hydro-meteorological data rather than fixed allocations during distress years.