{"id":26470,"date":"2013-04-15T09:15:54","date_gmt":"2013-04-15T14:15:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/?p=26470"},"modified":"2013-04-15T16:13:14","modified_gmt":"2013-04-15T21:13:14","slug":"report-shows-texas-counties-where-fracking-and-water-needs-collide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/2013\/04\/15\/report-shows-texas-counties-where-fracking-and-water-needs-collide\/","title":{"rendered":"Report Shows Texas Counties Where Fracking and Water Needs Collide"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Mike Cardew\/Akron Beacon Journal\/MCT<\/p>

Tom Bragg, left, of Sunpro Inc., works on finishing filling his truck with water as Gary Wortman takes off the filler hose from his truck after filling up with water at a Chesapeake Energy Corporation fresh water collection station at a sand and gravel pit, May 31, 2012, in Carroll County, Ohio.<\/p><\/div>\n

The Texas legislature is currently considering plans to fund water projects<\/a> for the state. Meanwhile, the oil and gas industry is using billions of gallons of freshwater for fracking, which is getting the attention<\/a> of lawmakers.<\/p>\n

Virginia Palacios, a research associate at the Environmental Defense Fund<\/a>, has a new analysis<\/a>\u00a0showing that\u00a0many of the Texas counties currently facing water shortages are also slated to have oil and gas development in the coming years.<\/p>\n

Palacios collected data from UT’s\u00a0Bureau of Economic Geology<\/a> on mining water use and oil and gas water use. She compared that data with projections on county water use<\/a> by sector by the Texas Water Development Board<\/a> to determine whether each county\u2019s water supply could fulfill demand. She found that in 12 Texas counties, freshwater use by the\u00a0oil and gas industry “made up at least 25 percent of overall county-wide demand in 2011.”<\/p>\n

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Environmental Defense Fund<\/p>

A researcher at the Environmental Defense Fund determined which counties should be highest priority with water conservation in oil production.<\/p><\/div>\n

Palacios called the oil and gas industry a \u201cprime candidate for reducing its reliance on freshwater\u201d and said using brackish water could be a good alternative\u2014if some precautions are taken.<\/p>\n

Among her findings:<\/p>\n