COIMBATORE: Within days after filling up for the third time last week in 2024, the storage level in the Stanley Reservoir in Mettur has begun to slip due to a drastic drop in its inflow.
As of Monday morning, the dam's storage dropped to 117.87 feet from 118.52 feet on Sunday morning. Inflow also began to drop, coming down to 828 cusecs on Monday morning from 1,791 cusecs on 1 January. The inflow dropped due to a lack of rain in Cauvery catchment areas.
However, water released from the reservoir has been increased to 12,300 cusecs for Delta irrigation. As water discharged from the dam is higher than inflow, the water level in the reservoir is likely to go down further in the coming days.
The storage in the reservoir reached its full reservoir level of 120 feet on December 31. It was the third time for the dam to fill up after July 30 and then on August 12, last year.
In fact, the opening of the dam for delta irrigation missed its customary date of June 12 due to poor storage position and its sluices were opened on July 28, 2024.