Along an arid stretch of Texas, workers They dug about 210 meters deep last year in search of fresh water. They were looking for millions of liters.
BP was using the water to frack for fossil fuels. The water would be mixed with sand and toxic chemicals and pumped back underground — forcing oil and gas out of the bedrock.
Today, The search for oil and gas has become the latest threat to the U.S.’s endangered aquifers, a critical resource that is being drained by industrial agriculture and cities in search of drinking water.
The amount of water consumed by the oil industry, a New York Times investigation found, has skyrocketed to record levels. Fracking wells have multiplied their water use sevenfold since 2011as operators adopt new techniques to drill vertically and then horizontally for thousands of meters.
Collectively, oil and gas operators reported using about 5.7 trillion liters of water since 2011, much of it from aquifers, The Times found. Fracking a single well can use around 150 million liters of water or more.
These projects, called “mega fracks,” have become the norm. They barely existed a decade ago. They now account for nearly two of every three fracking wells in Texas, the Times analysis found.
Fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, has transformed the global energy landscape, making the United States the world’s largest oil and gas producer, surpassing Saudi Arabia. Supporters say it has strengthened US national security and created valuable jobs.
But the process of cracking bedrock by injecting chemical water into the ground can cause spills and leaks and affect the geology, sometimes causing earthquakes.
The water use problem is acute in Texas, where the state’s groundwater supply is expected to decline by a third by 2070. Scientists have predicted that Texas will face higher temperatures and more frequent droughts, along with a decline in groundwater recharge.
Since 2011, BP has drilled at least 137 groundwater wells in Texas and reported using 34 billion liters of water nationally over the past decade. EOG, one of the largest fracking companies in the country, consumed more than 276 billion liters of water at the same time. Apache Corporation, Southwestern Energy, Chevron and other operators have also stepped up their use of water.
Oil companies do not need permits to drill their own groundwater wells. As drought has gripped the region, many communities have placed water restrictions on residents, even as fracking continues.
In New Mexico, a coalition of tribes and activists is suing the state, alleging that fracking companies are consuming valuable water resources.
Apache said 80 percent of the water it used for fracking was not fresh or was recycled from previous fracking. BP said it was “carrying out several pilot projects to recycle water.” Chevron said it was seeking to use water responsibly, using brackish or recycled water for fracking. Southwestern had no comment.
In New Mexico, Mario Atencio’s family received a letter in 2013 from an oil company promising riches in exchange for a lease to drill near his home. Enduring Resources, the Denver, Colorado oil and gas company that acquired the contract, began drilling.
“They came in and put in water pipes,” Atencio said. “Huge reservoirs full of water. We thought, ‘Is this our water? ‘How much water are they taking out?’”
Atencio, leader of the local Navajo Nation Chapter, is now part of the coalition that sued New Mexico in May, alleging that the state had failed to protect its residents from the harms of fracking.
The complaint focuses on the pressure that oil and gas development places on fresh water in New Mexico, one of the most water-scarce states in the US.
“We are facing some of the worst years of drought in the last 1,200 years,” said Julia Bernal, of the Pueblo Action Alliance, an indigenous organization that is a party to the lawsuit. “There are many families living in the region who do not have access to running water.”
By: HIROKO TABUCHI and BLACKI MIGLIOZZI
The New York Times
BBC-NEWS-SRC: http://www.nytsyn.com/subscribed/stories/6929379, IMPORTING DATE: 2023-10-09 19:10:07
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