Industry is underestimating and underreporting water used for fracking

Insert feigned shock face.

Industry is not being straight up with us about the amount of water they are using. The Observer did an analysis focusing on the Eagle Ford Shale but we know their findings hold true for other shale plays.

Observer Analysis Finds Fracking Water Use Underestimated in Eagle Ford Shale
by Forrest Wilder Published on Monday, June 24, 2013, at 8:55 CST

Ron Green, a research scientist with the nonprofit Southwest Research Institute, had previously estimated that fracking in the arid southern Eagle Ford Shale could amount to as much as one-third of the annual aquifer recharge.

After reviewing the Observer‘s analysis, he said fracking’s contribution may be equivalent to 100 percent of the annual recharge to that segment of the aquifer. In other words, for every drop of water that replenishes that part of the aquifer, frackers are pulling another drop out.

Extrapolating across the entire Eagle Ford Shale, Green said that fracking’s water consumption could far outstrip previous estimates. “It could be upward of 40,000 or 45,000 acre-feet [per year] without much exaggeration,” he said. Compare that to the “official” estimates that the shale, at its peak sometime in the next decade, will use only 30,000 or so.

Getting the numbers right is critical. It’s remarkable that journalists and independent scientists are having to do the work that the state government should be doing. It’s almost as if they don’t want to know.

Just FYI: 1 acre foot = 325,829 gallons

But remember: that water is a permanent withdrawal from our active hydrologic cycle and overall water budget. Some of you know what happens when there are only withdrawals from your checking account and no deposite.

This is why our state needs to calculate the water used for fracking differently. Water used for fracking cannot be compared to other uses. 

About Sharon Wilson

Sharon Wilson is considered a leading citizen expert on the impacts of shale oil and gas extraction. She is the go-to person whether it’s top EPA officials from D.C., national and international news networks, or residents facing the shock of eminent domain and the devastating environmental effects of natural gas development in their backyards.

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