Sharing Water

At a Glance

  • Without water, a mine cannot operate. As such, considerable investment in water infrastructure is required to ensure a reliable water supply for mining operations—and, to a lesser but still significant degree, oil and gas projects.

  • There is considerable scope for synergies between the water infrastructure needs of mines and onshore oil and gas projects, and the water supply needs of surrounding communities.

  • Shared use of water infrastructure can both minimize the water footprint of extractive operations and leverage a project’s demand for water to benefit the broader community.

     

Case Studies

Key Resources

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The Water Footprint of Heavy Oil Extraction in Colombia: A Case Study

This case study of Colombia measures the total blue, green, and gray water footprint attributed to heavy crude production occurring in three ...

Water Risks in the Mining Sector, Western Australia

This resource examines Western Australia's water regulatory framework in the mining sector. It analyzes institutions, processes, ...

Topic Briefing

The shared use of water infrastructure has the benefit of both minimizing the water footprint of extractive operations and leveraging an extractive project’s demand for water. Encouraging investment in reliable and efficient water infrastructure can, in turn, increase the availability of potable water to communities near the project.

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Water is of critical importance in mining and in many forms of oil and gas extraction.

In the case of mining, large volumes of water are required at each phase of the mining process to suppress dust, process and mine ore, cool and wash mining equipment, manage waste tailings, and for consumption by mining communities. Without water, a mine cannot operate.

Similarly, water is of critical importance in oil and gas extraction, and is used at all stages of development, extraction, and processing. The development of unconventional oil and gas resources such as tar sands and shale gas are particularly water-intensive. Yet, companies increasingly find themselves operating in water-stressed environments where there is a shortage of freshwater, or the water available for operations is limited by regulation. As such, considerable investment in water infrastructure is required to ensure a reliable water supply for operations. In this context, there is scope for synergies between the water infrastructure needs of mines and onshore oil and gas projects, and the water supply needs of surrounding communities.