SEDIMENT
MANAGEMENT
Key project features
Name: Nathpa Jhakri
Country: India
Category: reduce sediment production
(watershed management); upstream
sediment trapping; bypass channel/
tunnel; empty flushing; adaptive
strategies
Reservoir volume (original): 343 Mm3
Installed capacity: 1,500 MW
Date of commissioning: 2003
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Association
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Sutton, London
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T: +44 20 8652 5290
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E: iha@hydropower.org
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CASE STUDY
NATHPA JHAKRI, INDIA
Nathpa Jhakri hydropower plant suffered its first sediment
problems a year after commissioning, in 2004. The high soil
erosion during the snowmelt in the Himalayas results in
large sediment loads, in particular quartz particles that can
severely damage the plant’s technical equipment.
Protecting the hydraulic machinery from abrasion and
preserving the reservoir storage in the future called for
effective sediment management strategies.
At 1,500 MW capacity, Nathpa Jhakri is the 486 m3/s, to the desilting complex which
largest hydropower project on the Sutlej comprises four chambers each of
River in the state of Himachal Pradesh in dimensions 525 m long, 16.31 m wide and
northern India. The Sutlej River rises in the 27.5 m deep. Then, the headrace tunnel of
Tibetan Plateau at an elevation of about 27.4 km long conveys the water to the
4,570 masl, meeting the Chenab River to underground power station, where six 250
form the Panjnad River before the MW Francis turbines generate about 6,778
confluence with the Indus River. GWh annually. The water from the turbines
is released back to the Sutlej River through
The project is owned by the SJVN Ltd, a joint
the 982 m-long tailrace tunnel. The scheme
venture between the government of India
is shown in figure 1.
and the government of Himachal Pradesh.
The government of India envisages a total of The 2.5 km-long reservoir is located in a very
around 30 projects on the Sutlej River. narrow valley, and has a total live capacity of
343 Mm3 and a live storage capacity of 303
The USD 2 billion Nathpa Jhakri project
Mm3. In addition, the flood control pool
includes a 62.5 m-high concrete gravity
capacity is 5,660 m3. The maximum
dam, a large underground desilting complex
operating level is 1,495.5 masl and the
and a hydropower plant with an installed
minimum drawdown level is 1,474 masl. The
capacity of 1,500 MW. The water flow is
reservoir is normally operated at full regime
diverted through the intake structure,
to benefit from the 493 m design head.
composed of four intakes and a capacity of
August 2017
CASE STUDY: NATHPA JHAKRI
Nathpa Jhakri dam and instake structure on the left bank
Hydrology and sediment
The Sutlej River basin represents a major
part of the Indus River basin. It is
considered a perennial river because the
upper catchment contains a large
glacierised area. The catchment has a
high soil erosion rate as a result of its
fragile geology and a steep topography,
as shown in figure 2. At the location of
the Nathpa Jhakri project, more than 40
per cent of the suspended sediment
load has been observed as
corresponding to fine fraction sediment,
while only about 20 per cent
corresponds to coarse fraction sediment,
rising to 33 per cent during floods.
Often, landslides heavily increase the
sediment concentration in the river flow.
The total catchment tributary to the
Nathpa Jhakri dam is 49,820 km2, of
which 74 per cent is unregulated area.
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The river flow is comprised of glacier
melt, snowmelt (estimated to be about
50 per cent of the runoff) and rainfall,
and is subject to a high hydrological
seasonal variability. The mean annual
flow varies from 700 to 2,500 m3/s
during snowmelt and the monsoon
season, and drops to 100-150 m3/s
during the winter months, with the
mean annual inflow from inter-basin
transfers accounting for 40 per cent.
During the winter season, all the water
inflow is required for power generation.
The average total annual runoff of the
Sutlej River is about 16,000 Mm3.
Sediment problems
The Sutlej River is known for its high
sediment loads, and the current mean
annual suspended sediment load is on
the order of 700,000 tons per year.
However, the design sediment load was
estimated at about 430,000 tons per
year due to a lack of historical records
and monitoring in the catchment.
In 2005, a flash flood caused by an
artificial lake breach increased silt load
to over 25,000 ppm because of
destabilisation of river banks. Twenty
days after the flood the silt load was
5,000 ppm, which is the limit for power
generation. As a result, the power plant
had to be shut down for several weeks.
After the first year of operation, all of
the technical equipment (runners, guide
vanes, plates and sealing rings) were
severely damaged despite their plasma
coating, due to the high sediment load
that passed through the turbines. Some
of this damage is shown in figure 3. In
the monsoon season in 2004, the
average monthly sediment load was
CASE STUDY: NATHPA JHAKRI
213,000 tons. The quartz content in the
silt is on average 38 per cent according
to historical data, but later observations
have reported over 50 per cent quartz
content. In 2005, the annual silt load
that passed through the turbines was
850,000 tons, although the design
sediment load was estimated at around
half of that, at 430,000 tons per year.
Sediment management strategies
In the second year of operation, all units
were refurbished with HVOF-type
Tungsten carbide coating and the
performance of the components
improved by up to 90 per cent. In
addition, the upper limit of 5,000 ppm
at the intake was decreased to 3,500
ppm. For coarser particles above 0.2
mm, the upper limit was established at
600 ppm at the intake. Despite the
HVOF coating, the limit for total silt load
passing through the turbines was set to
700,000 tons. The limit for uncoated
runners was 400,000 tons.
The underground desilting complex,
shown in figure 3, was part of the
original Nathpa Jhakri project. It was
designed to remove particles above 0.2
mm and up to 60 mm. Hydraulic model
studies showed that the overall
trapping efficiency of the prototype
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was about 40 per cent. The inside of the reach. These measures would reduce
desilting chamber number IV is shown the number of flushing operations
in figure 4. needed. Catchment treatment includes
reforestation by the regional forestry
In order to minimise silt entry into the
department, maintaining walls to
intakes and maintain the live storage
prevent bank erosion and checking
capacity, flushing operations were
dams on tributaries with the help of
adopted at the dam. Sediment is
government regional entities of the
flushed effectively every year through
Himachal Pradesh region.
the low-level gates at the dam. The
hydraulic model estimates that 2.5 Mm3
of sediment can be flushed out in one
day with a discharge of 1,500 m3/s.
The dams envisaged upstream of
Nathpa Jhakri will trap sediment,
therefore reducing the sediment inflow
into Nathpa Jhakri. For example, the
Khab dam will be 275 m high with a
gross storage of 625 million m3 that will
be able to store silt particles for about
28 years for a storage of 340 Mm3. Khab
is mainly built for power generation,
control flooding and to reduce silt
damage and increase the lifespan of
projects downstream.
Watershed management to reduce
bank erosion and the creation of a new
diversion tunnel are also envisaged. The
diversion tunnel could divert up to 1000
Mm3 of excess water from about 750
metres upstream to the downstream
Graphs and figures >
CASE STUDY: NATHPA JHAKRI

Graphs and figures

Figure 1 - Nathpa Jhakri hydroelectric project layout

Figure 2 - Nathpa Jhakri surroundings with fragile geology

Graphs and figures cont. >

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CASE STUDY: NATHPA JHAKRI

Figure 3 - turbine damage at Nathpa Jhakri

Figure 4- Nathpa Jhakri desilting complex

Graphs and figures cont. >

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CASE STUDY: NATHPA JHAKRI

Figure 5 - inside the desilting chamber number IV

This is part of a series of sediment management case studies collated by International

Hydropower Association with support from the South Asia Water Initiative (SAWI), trust funds
to the World Bank. www.hydropower.org/sediment-management

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