• Central Water Commission is a premier Technical Organization of India in the field of Water Resources and is presently functioning as an attached office of the Ministry of Jal Shakti, Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Government of India.
• The Commission is entrusted with the general responsibilities of initiating, coordinating and furthering in consultation of the State Governments concerned, schemes for control, conservation and utilization of water resources throughout the country, for the purpose of Flood Control, Irrigation, Navigation, Drinking Water Supply and Water Power Development.
•  It also undertakes the investigations, construction and execution of any such schemes as required.

Constitutional Provisions for Inter-State Water Disputes

• Article 262 of the Constitution provides for the adjudication of inter-state water disputes.
• Under this, Parliament may by law provide for the adjudication of any dispute or complaint with respect to the use, distribution and control of waters of any inter-state river and river valley.
• Parliament may also provide that neither the Supreme Court nor any other court is to exercise jurisdiction in respect of any such dispute or complaint.
• The Parliament has enacted the two laws

• The River Boards Act (1956) –The River Boards Act provides for the establishment of river boards by the Central government for the regulation and development of inter-state river and river valleys. A River Board is established on the request of state governments concerned to advise them.
• The Inter-State Water Disputes Act (1956)-The Inter-State Water Disputes Act empowers the Central government to set up an ad hoc tribunal for the adjudication of a dispute between two or more states in relation to the waters of an inter-state river or river valley.
• The decision of the tribunal is final and binding on the parties to the dispute.
• Neither the Supreme Court nor any other court is to have jurisdiction in respect of any water dispute which may be referred to such a tribunal under this Act.

About River Godavari:  

• It is the third largest river in India and largest of the peninsular rivers .
• Rises at an elevation of 1,067 m in the Western Ghats near Trimbak Hills in the Nashik district of Maharashtra  
• Drainage: Maharashtra (48.6%), Andhra Pradesh and Telangana (23.4%), Madhya Pradesh (10.0%), Chattisgarh (10.9%), Orissa (5.7%) and Karnataka (1.4%)
• Flows for about 1,465 km in a generally south east direction and falls into the Bay of Bengal.
• Its chief tributaries are Indhravathi, Pranhita, Manjira and Wardha.

About River Krishna: 

• The Krishna river originates in the Western Ghats near Mahabaleshwar hills in the state of Maharashtra. 
• Drainage: It runs from four states Maharashtra (303 km), North Karnataka (480 km) and the rest of its 1300 km journey in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh before it empties into the Bay of Bengal.
• Its tributaries are Ghatprabha, Malprabha, Tungabhadra, Bhima, Koyna.