Krishna Basin water related issues

The broad conclusions and water related issues in the Krishna Basin include:

1) The basin is 80 percent closed due to irrigation development, and streamflow to the ocean from 1995-2005 was only 20 percent of pre-irrigation discharge (1900-1960). Total reservoir capacity is approximately equal to annual average runoff, and total demand  exceeds sanctioned allocations by nearly double. Basin closure is happening in  tributaries as well as at the outlet to the ocean, resulting in interstate conflicts over
scarce water resources.

2) Groundwater irrigated area exceeds surface water irrigated area in the basin. Rapid groundwater irrigation development will likely decrease surface water availability by drawing down regional aquifers and enhancing infiltration along streams. Current water allocation policy considers groundwater and surface water  separately, which could lead to over-estimation of surface flow volumes and over-allocations of surface water.

3) A majority of the basin area has very low runoff coefficients (<10%). The Western Ghats dominate runoff in the basin due to high precipitation and high runoff coefficients, so upstream development on tributaries
draining the Ghats has particular significance for downstream areas.