Sustainability of Industrial Water Use

Sustainability has proven to be a difficult concept to define, and surprisingly, there have been several attempts in the past to define it. The concept of sustainability is critically examined in the context of water resources management. Studies carried out on the impact of climate change on water availability in the Indian context are briefly reviewed, and measures to deal with adverse environmental impacts are outlined. Examination of (a) sustainability of the source of water and (b) sustainability of the quantity of water supply to industry is necessary not only for the development of hydro-infrastructure but also for the purpose of environmental impact assessment (EIA). Examples are given on the analysis of sustainable water availability. Sustainability of water extraction from the Rihand reservoir for consumptive use in industries (both existing and proposed) and irrigation downstream is examined by analyzing multi-project demands of water placed on this reservoir. The Rihand dam impounds 10,608 million Cubic Meters (MCM) of water having 469.45 km 2 water spread over an area of 347 km 2 . In the year 1984, the dead storage level of the reservoir was raised from original 236.22 m {= 775 feet (ft)} to 252.98 m (= 830 ft) for providing cooling water to the thermal power plants. As a result, the live storage capacity of the reservoir reduced from 1628.38 MCM {= 1.32 Million Acre Feet (MAF)} to 5,736.33 MCM (= 4.65 MAF). Subsequently, a proposal was mooted to restore minimum drawdown level (MDDL) to its original value, i.e., 236.22 m (= 775 ft) to supply water for irrigation downstream. This proposal was not favored by the power plant owners as this involved heavy capital investment for creating new intake structures. This study shows that dependable inflows to the reservoir are sufficient to meet the demand of the existing and proposed industries. However, the consumptive utilization of water in the catchment upstream of the Rihand dam would negatively impact inflow to the reservoir in future. Therefore, the long-term sustainability of the Rihand reservoir as a source of water for industries needs a re-examination, considering structural health of the Rihand dam, increasing water utilization in the catchment, increasing demand of the reservoir water, decreasing live storage capacity due to sedimentation in the reservoir, encroachment on the periphery, and decreasing quality of water in the rese6.1 Definition of Sustainability