Fracking sucking dry water supply from drought-stricken areas in US

© Collage: Voice of Russia

The most drought-ridden spots in the US are also scouted out for oil and gas ventures by the use of hydraulic fracturing-a practice that only makes the concern of water shortages worse, according to a recent report. Ceres investor network claims that three-quarters of the almost 40,000 oil and gas wells drilled in America since 2011 were in regions of the nation that had scarce amounts of water available. More than half of those brand new wells were found in places combating drought-like conditions.

According to the information Ceres presented, fracking in those particular wells consumed 97 billion gallons of water. “Hydraulic fracturing is increasing competitive pressures for water in some of the country’s most water-stressed and drought-ridden regions,” said Mindy Lubber, president of the Ceres green investors’ network.

Lubber highlighted that the fracking uptick nationwide in the US puts the sector on a “collision course” with others who use water. Hydraulic fracturing has been noted as a controversial procedure in which water, sand, and a number of other chemicals are injected into rocks. The hope is held that oil and gas will be released from underground. The fracking of one well can use up millions of gallons of freshwater.

The report also pointed out that rural regions in Texas are being slammed hard by the fracking frenzy going on, specifically in the Eagle Ford Shale. “Shale producers are having significant impacts at the county level, especially in smaller rural counties with limited water infrastructure capacity,” the report said, “With water use requirements for shale producers in the Eagle Ford already high and expected to double in the coming 10 years, these rural counties can expect severe water stress challenges in the years ahead.”

Aquifer levels that provide for local communicates near Eagle Ford have decreased by up to 300 feet over the past couple of years. A bunch of small towns in spots where heavy amounts of fracking happen in Texas are in need of water as some places will dry up very soon. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality said that 29 communities across the state could run out of water in 90 days, and that many reservoirs in west Texas are at around 25 percent capacity.

In December of last year, one media outlet discovered that fracking was consuming more water than it had previously been predicted. Around 43,770 acre-feet of water in 3,522 fracking wells in Eagle Ford was used—this was compared to San Antonio households which used 153,000.

“The oil and gas boom is requiring more water than we have,” Hugh Fitzsimons, a Dimmit County rancher and a director of the Wintergarden Groundwater Conservation District, told one media agency, “Period.”

Another study, which came out this week, discovered that the industry does not succeed in recycling fracking water in Texas. It was noted in the study that 92 percent of water used up in 2011 to frack Barnett Shale was “consumed” and not at all recycled. Researchers claimed that just around five percent of all water used for fracking ventures in that particular region has been reused in the “past few years”.

Other states did not do much better in the Ceres report. It was found that in Colorado 97 percent of wells were in regions where water was scarce. Meanwhile, the demand for fracking water is expected to soar to six billion gallons, which would be double the yearly use of Boulder City, by 2015.

For the state of California, which is under a drought emergency, it has 96 percent of new wells in locations where water scarcity is common. “It’s a wake-up call,” said Prof. James Famiglietti, a hydrologist at the University of California, Irvine, according to the Guardian. “We understand as a country that we need more energy but it is time to have a conversation about what impacts there are, and do our best to try to minimize any damage.”

Voice of Russia, RT