A team of scientists presented a technical paper explaining the design of the thermal sensor (TIRS) that will be flown on the Landsat Data Continuity mission at the 2010 IGARSS meeting in Honolulu, Hawaii. The paper also highlights the water consumption monitoring capability of the sensor.
Further Information:
+ Reuter et al., “The Thermal Infrared Sensor on the Landsat Data Continuity Mission”[pdf]

Above the Earth, Below the Surface: Landsat’s Role in Monitoring Water Quality
Safeguarding freshwater resources is crucial, and while scientists use a variety of ground-based techniques to gauge water quality, the Landsat program has provided water quality data from orbit for decades.