Environment · 22 Aug 2026

Cauvery Water Management Authority allocation

Consider the following statements regarding the Cauvery water-sharing framework:

  1. Under the fixed court-ordered allocation, Karnataka's share (284.75 TMC) is larger than Tamil Nadu's share (177.25 TMC).
  2. The Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) has a statutory, pre-agreed formula for proportionate cuts to both states' shares during a deficient monsoon.
  3. Karnataka is the upper riparian state, physically controlling key reservoirs such as the Krishna Raja Sagar (KRS) and Kabini.
A1 only
B2 only
C1 and 3 only
D1, 2 and 3
This question is based on: The Cauvery Dispute Was Built to Share Abundance. This Year It Has to Govern Scarcity.
Take this in full test mode → Instructions for 22 Aug 2026
About this question

Why in news

A 2026 monsoon deficit has pushed Karnataka toward rotational rationing and shrunk Tamil Nadu's Samba paddy acreage, exposing that the CWMA framework was designed to allocate abundance, not to govern scarcity, amid a live dispute over release rates (Karnataka seeking 10,000 cusecs versus Tamil Nadu's demand for 12,000 cusecs).

Why for UPSC

Prelims regularly tests precise allocation figures and riparian control facts in interstate river disputes - the ability to distinguish an established fixed rule from a genuine institutional gap (the missing distress-year formula) is a classic depth-of-understanding test.

Prelims summary

The Cauvery allocation is fixed at 284.75 TMC for Karnataka and 177.25 TMC for Tamil Nadu; Karnataka, as upper riparian, controls KRS and Kabini; but the CWMA/CWRC framework has no statutory distress-year formula, leaving deficit-year cuts to case-by-case negotiation.

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