A new research paper on water use in hydraulic fracturing operations shows that a significant portion of this activity is happening in water stressed regions of the United States, most prominently Texas and Colorado, which are both in the midst of prolonged drought conditions.

The report concludes that industry efforts underway, such as expanded use of recycled water and non-freshwater resources, need to be scaled up along with better water management planning if shale energy production is to grow as projected.

Hydraulic Fracturing & Water Stress: Growing Competitive Pressures for Water is based on well drilling and water use data from FracFocus.org and water stress indicator maps developed by the World Resources Institute (WRI). The research shows that nearly 47 percent of the wells were developed in water basins with high or extremely high water stress. The research was based on FracFocus data collected on 25,450 wells in operation from January 2011 through September 2012.

Ceres president Mindy Lubber said the findings had highlighted emerging tensions in many U.S. regions between growing hydraulic fracturing activity and localized water supply needs.

FracFocus.org was launched in 2011 as a voluntary national hydraulic fracturing chemical registry. The database provides the location and date that each oil and gas well was developed and the chemical additives and total volume of water injected down each well. 

WRI’s water stress indicator maps are part of a recently launched Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas, which provides a comprehensive, high-resolution picture of water-related risks worldwide. The baseline water stress indicator maps show the level of competition for water in different U.S. regions by measuring total annual water withdrawals against the percentage of water that is available. Extremely high water stress means over 80 percent of available water is already being allocated for municipal, industrial and agricultural uses.

By linking the two datasets together through matching latitude and longitude coordinates, the report is providing valuable insights about the extent and distribution of well production activity in regions with water competition challenges.

“Given projected sharp increases in shale oil and gas production in the coming years, competition over water should be a growing concern to energy companies, policymakers and investors,” the report concludes, noting a projected doubling of oil and gas fracturing production in the coming years. “Shale energy development cannot grow without water, but in order to do so the industry’s water needs and impacts need to be better understood, measured and managed.”

The report says that the industry has made progress in boosting the use of recycled water and other alternative water sources for fracturing wells. Operators are starting to use non-freshwater alternatives such as wastewater, saline water, seawater and acid-mine drainage. However, overall water recycling and the use of non-freshwater sources needed to increase considerably to have a significant impact.

The report makes a number of key recommendations for companies and regulators, including:

• Comprehensive mandatory disclosure by companies of how much freshwater, non-freshwater and recycled water they are using region by region as well as how much water is returning to the surface and where it is ending up.
• Requirements for companies to set quantifiable water use targets, including recycling and non-freshwater use targets.
• Ensure that both companies and local regulators are conducting sufficient water management planning.
• Ensure that companies have a local stakeholder engagement process in place on water issues.

The report is part of a larger, more comprehensive study Ceres is undertaking to analyze water risks across the entire hydraulic fracturing lifecycle – from water sourcing to final treatment and disposal of wastewater – across different regional basins in North America. The research is aimed primarily at investors who have financial stakes in operators and support services in the regions.

Set up in 1989, the not-for-profit Ceres organization consists of a powerful coalition of investors, companies and public interest groups established to accelerate and expand the adoption of sustainable business practices and solutions. Ceres launched the Global Reporting Intiative, now the de-facto standard used by more than 1,800 companies for corporate reporting on environmental, social and economic performance. Ceres also directs the Investor Network on Climate Risk (INCR), a network of 100 institutional investors with collective assets totaling more than $11 trillion.