Study: NM Oil and Gas Boom Threatens Water Resources; Industry Calls the Report ‘Ironic’

A new report from the liberal Washington, D.C.–based Center for American Progress (CAP) says New Mexico’s oil and gas boom is severely threatening the state’s already limited freshwater supply. The report blames the “narrow margin of water availability” on the industry’s extraction methods, and claims additional federal regulations and monitoring are needed. However, the oil and gas industry says it’s been working on ways to reduce its operations’  impact on the state’s water supply for years, without the need for further federal regulation — and the CAP report claiming water is scarce is not news to people who live in the Land of Enchantment. The CAP report, “Oil and Gas Development Is Creating a Problem for the Arid West,” says that in New Mexico, 387 of 402 oil and gas leases — more than 95 percent — are located in “extremely high” water-stress areas. The Permian Basin, which runs through southeastern New Mexico, is one of the largest energy-producing regions in the world. Leasing activity has been at an all-time high, and up to 2.6 million gallons of water are used to extract oil from a single well in this region, according to the report...MORE