Water Quality and Quantity Impacts of Hydraulic Fracturing

Kuwayama, Yusuke; Olmstead, Sheila M.; Krupnick, Alan

doi:10.1007/s40518-014-0023-4

Cited by 31 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 45 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…This discussion is based on the results from Scenario 3, Table 6. Range of water demand for HF in the different areas in the shale formations in the United States [19].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Water intensity for HF varies on several factors such as depth, type of shale resources, and thickness of each formation. In shale basins in the United States, HF has required between 1 × 10 9 and 28 × 10 9 gallons of water per Quads (gal/Quads) in gas areas, and between 1.5 × 10 9 and 21.7 × 10 9 gal/Quads in tight oil areas [19]. In the Eagle Ford Shale formation in Texas, which extends to Mexico, the average water consumption in the oil and gas shale areas, based on the wells estimated ultimate recovery, is 2.6 × 10 9 and 1.5 × 10 9 gal/Quads [20].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Multilayer geospatial analysis of water availability for shale resources development in Mexico

Galdeano

Cook

Webber

2017

Environ. Res. Lett.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Mexico's government enacted an energy reform in 2013 that aims to foster competitiveness and private investment throughout the energy sector value chain. As part of this reform, it is expected that extraction of oil and gas via hydraulic fracturing will increase in five shale basins (e.g. Burgos, Sabinas, Tampico, Tuxpan, and Veracruz). Because hydraulic fracturing is a waterintensive activity, it is relevant to assess the potential water availability for this activity in Mexico. This research aims to quantify the water availability for hydraulic fracturing in Mexico and identify its spatial distribution along the five shale basins. The methodology consisted of a multilayer geospatial analysis that overlays the water availability in the watersheds and aquifers with the different types of shale resources areas (e.g. oil and associated gas, wet gas and condensate, and dry gas) in the five shale basins. The aquifers and watersheds in Mexico are classified in four zones depending on average annual water availability. Three scenarios were examined based on different impact level on watersheds and aquifers from hydraulic fracturing. For the most conservative scenario analyzed, the results showed that the water available could be used to extract between 8.15 and 70.42 Quadrillion British thermal units (Quads) of energy in the typical 20-30 year lifetime of the hydraulic fracturing wells that could be supplied with the annual water availability overlaying the shale areas, with an average across estimates of around 18.05 Quads. However, geographic variation in water availability could represent a challenge for extracting the shale reserves. Most of the water available is located closer to the Gulf of Mexico, but the areas with the larger recoverable shale reserves coincide with less water availability in Northern Mexico. New water management techniques (such as recycling and re-use), more efficient fracturing methods, shifts in usage patterns, or other water sources need to be identified to allocate water for hydraulic fracturing without affecting current users (e.g. municipal, irrigation, industrial, and environmental flows).

show abstract

“…This discussion is based on the results from Scenario 3, Table 6. Range of water demand for HF in the different areas in the shale formations in the United States [19].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multilayer geospatial analysis of water availability for shale resources development in Mexico

Galdeano

Cook

Webber

2017

Environ. Res. Lett.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Author(s) agree that this article remain permanently open access under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 International License national economies and the social well-being of mankind in many countries (Haggerty et al, 2014;Weber, 2012); oil infrastructure construction which usually include clearing of land, development of roads and the digging of terraces (Brittingham et al, 2014), have often been linked to environmental destruction and degradation. Studies in Tanzania have also shown that the presence of offshore hydrocarbons (Kuwayama et al, 2015) in marine parks of Mafia Island and Mnazi Bay have been linked to notable environmental risks (Souther et al, 2014). Generally, oil and gas production activities have often been associated with negative ecological impacts; including loss of biological diversity (Pelletier and Coltman, 2018) and limited ecological functioning (Copeland et al, 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Communities perceptions regarding the impact of Hoima-Tanga crude oil pipeline on the loss of biodiversity in Swagaswaga Game Reserve, Tanzania

Nyakeko¹,

Nyahongo²,

̧skaft³

2020

Int. J. Biodivers. Conserv.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This study was conducted to evaluate perceptions of communities surrounding the Swagaswaga Game Reserve regarding the impact of the proposed Hoima-Tanga crude oil pipeline on biodiversity loss. The pipeline will transect the game reserve and some of the neighbouring villages. The study involved 156 randomly selected respondents from four purposefully selected villages located at 0 to 10 km and 11 to 20 km from the game reserve. The respondents comprised 55 females and 101 males, aged between 20 and 70 years. Semi-structured questionnaire was used. Only 57% of the respondents were aware of the proposed project, and the majority of these respondents reside in villages located closer to the game reserve. Their major concern was loss of biodiversity, which was more frequently expressed by those living close to the game reserve (58.3%) than by those living further away (5%). Respondents also expressed concerns about the lack of clarity regarding land compensation. The latter was expressed significantly more frequently by respondents residing close to the game reserve. This study demonstrates the lack of community awareness about the project. The study concluded that, comprehensive community engagement in project planning coupled with technical capacity building will be a key to guaranteeing community involvement in conservation activities.

show abstract

“…While many of the water quality implications have been explored (e.g., [5], [6], [7], [8]), a better understanding of the potential stress that fracking may cause to water resources at the local or regional scale is still needed [9]. For example, most previous studies that analyze the costs associated with unconventional fuel production do not address the costs (real or hidden) of accounting for the water availability required to perform fracking operations (e.g., [10], [11], [12]). Although some studies have related water-stressed regions with fracking activities [6], [13], [14], [15], only a few studies [16], [17], [18], attempted to quantify the potential impact of water used for fracking on the local and regional water resources.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impacts of hydraulic fracturing on surface and groundwater water resources: A case study from Louisiana, USA.

Unruh

Habib

Borrok

2020

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: Unconventional oil and gas reservoirs, frequently referred to as shale plays , have been gaining more attention in recent years. Hydraulic fracturing is performed to extract fossil fuels from unconventional reservoirs. Besides possible environmental implications, a better understanding of the potential stress that fracking may cause to water resources at the local or regional scale is still needed. The goal of this study is to assess the impact of current and projected future water demands for fracking on water resources in two main shale plays in Louisiana, USA. Methods: The analysis is performed in Louisiana’s two main shale plays, the Haynesville Shale and the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale, using the Water Supply Stress Index (WaSSI) framework. WaSSI is used to evaluate the stress at a fine watershed scale (HUC12) for annual-average conditions. The study analyzes different scenarios of historical and two future projected fracking conditions that simulate different extraction rates. In each fracking scenario, stresses on both surface and groundwater are evaluated separately. The study is based on a multitude of water supply and withdrawals datasets assembled and disaggregated to the watershed scale. Results: Under existing conditions, the impact of fracking water demands on surface water resources is within the low stress category in most watersheds in both shale plays. This impact remains low under more aggressive future fracking scenarios. In contrast, groundwater resources appear to be highly vulnerable under both the historical and projected fracking scenarios, especially in the Haynesville Shale where 20 out of the 94 watersheds become medium or highly stressed. If groundwater resources remained as a main source for fracking water, the number of stressed watersheds increased to 39 and 86 under the two projected future fracking scenarios. The least exploited Tuscaloosa Marine Shale remains mostly under low stress, except in the most aggressive future fracking scenario. Conclusions: Surface water resources in Louisiana’s shale plays seem abundant enough for fracking activities to rely on this source instead of groundwater whenever possible. Groundwater resources in Louisiana are clearly vulnerable to fracking activities, especially for the Haynesville shale play, under current and future projected fracking conditions.

show abstract

Water Quality and Quantity Impacts of Hydraulic Fracturing

Cited by 31 publications

References 45 publications

Multilayer geospatial analysis of water availability for shale resources development in Mexico

Multilayer geospatial analysis of water availability for shale resources development in Mexico

Communities perceptions regarding the impact of Hoima-Tanga crude oil pipeline on the loss of biodiversity in Swagaswaga Game Reserve, Tanzania

Impacts of hydraulic fracturing on surface and groundwater water resources: A case study from Louisiana, USA.

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About