Northern Water is cracking down on oil and gas companies using its water for hydraulic fracturing. The agency says its water cannot be used for fracking operations outside of the district boundaries.
Brian Werner, with Northern Water says they have no knowledge of this happening but, "With all the trucks out there hauling water in Weld County and elsewhere that it is apt to."
The rule comes as cities and towns in Colorado continue to lease water to the oil and gas industry for the controversial extraction method.
Geologists say the Niobrara shale formation fueling the oil boom in northern Colorado could provide more than a billion barrels of oil. While it’s not clear how much water the oil and gas industry consumes, estimates say fracking a single well can take anywhere from one to six million gallons of water.
