2013:India won Kishenganga arbitration; Cauvery award notified

In 2013, Indian hydrologists had to don the mantle of diplomats and lawyers when New Delhi fought hard and won an international arbitration against Pakistan over the Kishenganga hydro project in Jammu and Kashmir.
Besides, the high point of the year gone by remained the notification of the final award of the Cauvery inter-state water dispute tribunal after a Supreme Court rap.
Despite sharp differences among ministries, the Ministry of Water Resources managed to get the nod of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs for continuation of the Accelerated Irrigation Benefits Programme (AIBP) with a total outlay of Rs 55,200 crore. It is expected that states would create an additional irrigation potential of 8.7 million hectare.

In a major relief for India, the Hague-based International Court of Arbitration rejected Pakistan's objections by upholding New Delhi's right to divert water from the Kishenganga river for power generation in Jammu and Kashmir.
In its final award on the India-Pakistan arbitration case, the court also decided that India shall release a minimum flow of nine cumecs (cubic meters per second) into the Kishenganga/Neelum river below the Kishenganga hydro-electric project (KHEP) at "all times".
The issue of minimum flow was left unresolved by the partial award issued on February 18, 2013.
The court, in its final award pronounced on December 20, also decided that both India and Pakistan may seek "reconsideration" of its decision through the Permanent Indus Commission and the mechanisms of the Indus Waters Treaty "after a period of seven years from the first diversion of water from the Kishenganga river".