N. Mexico mulls wastewater reuse options
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – With drought a constant consideration for New Mexico, state and federal officials are warning that decisions about water are growing more complicated and opportunities to tap untraditional sources should be considered.
The state, with the help of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, has drafted a document that outlines areas where regulations can be streamlined to encourage the treatment and reuse of wastewater that comes from oil and natural gas operations.
The white paper released late last week says oil and gas production in New Mexico generated nearly 38 billion gallons of wastewater in 2017. As oil production continues to boom in the Permian Basin’s well fields along the TexasNew Mexico border, officials say so will the amount of wastewater – known in the industry as produced water.
“Our effort to clarify the state and federal regulatory landscape dealing with produced water will facilitate greater produced water reuse and recycling and in turn help relieve the growing demand on the state’s water resources,” state energy secretary Ken McQueen said in a statement.
Aside from highlighting New Mexico’s rise in 2018 as one of the largest oilproducing states in the U.S., the document outlines the arid state’s challenges with drought.
Receiving an average of slightly less than 15 inches of rainfall a year, New Mexico is already the fifth-driest state in the nation, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
That aridity was exacerbated this year as runoff along the Rio Grande and Pecos rivers marked some of the lowest levels in decades. Water managers were forced to broker deals to keep the Rio Grande flowing through the state’s most populous city.
“While conservation plays an important role in managing the state’s limited water resources, it is not enough,” the authors of the white paper wrote.
In New Mexico and other parts of the West, some stakeholders are asking whether production water from the oil and gas industry should continue to be treated as wastewater. Critics have voiced concerns about the lack of knowledge about the potential toxicity of the water.
The water usually contains chemicals, metals and other dissolved solids. Most of it is disposed of by injecting it deep underground, where it can no longer be accessed or used. In some cases, it can be reused in the oilfield for other drilling processes.