Cauvery

Sacred Hindu river of southern India, rising in the Western Ghats and flowing 765 km/475 mi southeast through Karnataka and Tamil Nadu to meet the Bay of Bengal in a wide delta. It has been a major source of hydroelectric power since 1902 when India's first hydropower plant was built on the river. In the 1920s the river was dammed at Mettur, forming a 2,600 million cu m/91,873 million cu ft reservoir, used for irrigation and power generation.