magazine

Trivia Time
Water Usage for
Fracking
The 2013 Western Organization of
Resource Councils’ report, “Gone for
Good: Fracking and Water Loss in the
West,” found that fracking is using seven
billion gallons of water per year in four
western states: Wyoming, Colorado,
Montana and North Dakota.
As North Dakota’s Bakken shale
fields have grown, the fight over who
has the right to tap into the multi-million-dollar
market to supply water to the
energy sector has arisen. It has been reported
that “the state draws water from
the Missouri River and aquifers for its
hydraulic fracturing, the key that has
unlocked America’s abundant shale deposits.
The process is water-intensive and
requires more than two million gallons
of water per well, equal to baths for some
40,000 people.”
A co-op backed by the government
to ensure fresh water in an area where
its drinkability is compromised. “The
co-op has decided to sell 20 percent
of its water to frackers to help keep
prices low and pay back state loans.
That has not gone down well with the
Independent Water Providers, a loose
confederation of ranchers, farmers
and small businesses that, for years,
has supplied fracking water . . . The
Independent Water Providers have
fought back, arguing that the co-op
should not be selling fracking water
at all. The state Legislature stepped in
with a law last month designed to quell
the tension and nurture competition,
but industry observers expect the acrimony
to continue.”
Source: www.sourcewatch.org/index.
php/North_Dakota_and_fracking#Refining_and_transport
68 The Official Publication of the North Dakota Association of Oil & Gas Producing Counties