Hesaraghatta Lake, built across the Arkavathi River, has a catchment of 602 sq km with more than 200 lakes. Commissioned in 1895 to provide drinking water to Bengaluru, Hesaraghatta Lake dried up 27 years later in 1922. It has since remained an unreliable water source for the city.

In recent decades, the degradation of the Hesaraghatta Lake catchment has intensified. Encroachment of lakebeds and drainage, obstructions to drainage like check dams, over-exploitation of groundwater, siltation, massive commercial plantations on lakebeds by the forest department, and disjointed rapid urbanisation are all the major factors contributing to hydrological degradation of the catchment.  

This page provides data and information about the catchment.