The effect of the prevailing drought across north Karnataka has been so severe this time that the Almatti dam, one of the biggest water storage facilities in the State, has turned bone dry. According to irrigation department sources, the region is in for the worst drought in the last four decades, with Bijapur, Bagalkot and Belgaum districts, through which the Krishna river flows, recording scanty rainfall. A drying Almatti will also halt the production of 290 MW power at its power project. With water receding to its dead-storage level, the Water Resources department has no choice but to scrub water from the bottom.
Since its construction in 2005, the Almatti mitigated the water crisis in the dry belts of north Karnataka and produced much-needed electricity. The height of the Almatti dam is 519.6 metres and about 123 tmc feet of water is collected in it every year. About 17.62 tmc feet of water at the bottom of the dam is referred to as dead storage and is used only in an emergency.
So far, the dead storage has never been used even though the region around the dam has faced water crises on many occasions in the last seven years. This is the first time that water from the dam’s bottom is being lifted, say sources. Due to scanty rainfall in the catchment areas, the dam started drying up in December 2011. Usually, the water from the overflowing Ghataprabha and Krishna rivers in Belgaum flow into Almatti dam. The Hippargi dam gets water from the Almatti overflow. This natural flow has been severely affected this year.
During the corresponding period last year, the level of the dam was 516.6 mts and the reservoir had about 76 tmc feet of water with the region getting good rainfall in the early monsoon. The dam has hardly 17 tmc feet water at its dead storage today.