County Unveils Oil and Gas Ordinance Santa Fe County's draft oil and gas ordinance doesn't stop drilling cold, but it proposes hefty requirements before companies could sink a well and start pumping. Among other restrictions in the 126-page document released Tuesday, companies can only use fresh water for fracturing rock to draw out oil or gas. Brine and chemicals typically used in that process would be banned. The draft ordinance also requires companies to prove they have an assured 50-year water supply for any drilling project. Santa Fe County commissioners Tuesday approved publishing the ordinance, beginning a formal public-hearing process. The county will hold two public hearings on the ordinance before the County Development Review Committee and at least two more hearings before the county commissioners, according to Stephen Ulibarri, the county's public-information officer. The ordinance also would require companies to help pay the cost, estimated at $61 million, for upgrading roads, hiring more deputies and increasing fire protection, according to attorney Robert H. Freilich of Miller Barondess, who helped prepare the ordinance. Oil and gas development elsewhere in the West has increased the burden on local governments to provide fire and emergency services, he said....