Most of the major rivers in India are inter-State rivers and there have been some inter-State disputes on sharing of water. Efforts are being made to facilitate resolution of these disputes through negotiations amongst the basin States. Adjudication with the help of water disputes tribunals is also resorted to as and when warranted.

The mechanism for settlement of water disputes is available in the form of Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, 1956, which provides for settlement of disputes by negotiations failing which referring such disputes to a tribunal for adjudication.

The details of inter-State water disputes under Inter-State River Water Disputes Act (ISRWD), 1956 are as follows:

S.No.	River(s)	States concerned	Date of Reference to the Tribunal	Decision of the Tribunal
1.	Krishna	Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka	April 1969	May 1976
2.	Godavari	Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Orissa	April 1969	July 1980
3.	Narmada	Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra	October 1969	December 1979
4.	Cauvery	Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Union Territory of Pondicherry	June 1990	Report u/s 5(2) received. References made by party States and Central Government to the Tribunal under Section 5(3) Report under Section 5(3) awaited.
5.	Krishna	Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra	April 2004	Report u/s 5(2) pending

In addition to above, request from Government of Goa and Government of Orissa has been received under ISRWRD Act, 1956 for constitution of tribunal in respect of Mahadayi / Mandovi River and Vamsadhara River respectively. These requests are under consideration of the Central Government.