The Sardar Sarovar dam on the Narmada reached 138.32 metres on September 23, about 36 centimetres short of its full reservoir level of 138.68 metres, DeshGujarat reported. Sandesh put the level at 138.35 metres in a later reading. Both outlets report the reservoir at 98.77% of its 9,460 million cubic metre capacity.
Where the water is going
The dam is still taking in water from rain in its catchment upstream in Madhya Pradesh. The two reports give different inflow readings, from about 41,000 to over 70,000 cusecs, which suggests the figure moved through the day. Outflow is modest by comparison: roughly 12,000 to 13,000 cusecs.
Nearly all of that release is passing through the Canal Head Power House into the Narmada main canal. Only a few hundred cusecs are going into the river itself, and Sandesh reports the riverbed power house turbines are shut. In other years a full dam has meant open radial gates and flood warnings for villages in Narmada, Vadodara and Bharuch districts. This year the authorities are holding the water and sending it into the canal network.
The rest of Gujarat’s reservoirs
Across Gujarat’s 207 public reservoirs, storage stood at 81.78% of capacity, according to both reports. That average hides wide gaps. South Gujarat leads at 84.86%, with Damanganga near 98%. Thirty-two dams are full and 47 are on high alert.
Saurashtra and Kutch sit at the other end. As we reported when the monsoon withdrew, those regions ended the season short of normal rain, and their local reservoirs did not fill the way the south’s did. Kutch had its driest monsoon in the state until rain finally arrived in mid-September.
What it means for Saurashtra and Kutch
A full Sardar Sarovar is the backstop for exactly those regions. The Narmada main canal runs north and west from Kevadia, and its branches carry water to Kutch and, through the SAUNI pipeline scheme, into Saurashtra’s dams. Cities such as Rajkot, Jamnagar and Bhavnagar already rely on Narmada water to top up local supply in dry years.
For farmers the question is the rabi season. Wheat, cumin, gram and mustard sowing starts in October and November. A reservoir that ends the monsoon near full gives the state room to release water for winter irrigation and still keep drinking-water reserves through next summer. A dam that ends at 70% forces a choice between the two.
For cities, a full Narmada lowers the risk of summer water cuts in 2027, even in districts where local lakes and dams sit low. Delivery still depends on the canals and pipelines reaching tail-end villages.
Background
Sardar Sarovar’s full height of 138.68 metres became usable after gates were installed in 2017. The reservoir first reached that level in September 2019 and has filled again in several years since, including 2024, when the state marked the occasion in early October. Each time, the late-monsoon catchment rain in Madhya Pradesh has decided the outcome more than rain in Gujarat itself.
What to watch
If inflows continue, the dam should touch 138.68 metres within days, and officials may then have to open gates, which would raise river levels downstream in Bharuch. The larger decision comes after that: how much water the Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam allots to Saurashtra and Kutch for the rabi season, and when canal releases start.
Sources: DeshGujarat, Sandesh, All India Radio (2024 filling)
This report was compiled and written with AI assistance from publicly reported sources, and reviewed for accuracy.