Applications to the state to use deep aquifer water for hydraulic fracturing are surging in Colorado. Before 2011 there were no applications for oil and gas use.
Since 2011 though, property owners have applied to use 35,600 acre-feet of aquifer water for oil and gas development, according to the Colorado Division of Water Resources.
That’s enough water for about 70,000 households annually.
“Drilling a deep water well into one of these aquifers can cost tens of thousands of dollars," said Steve Lynn, a reporter for BizWest who wrote about the trend. "In Northern Colorado, the resource is scarce so they’re trying to get water from anywhere they can at this point.”
Aquifer water can be diverted and sold by property owners if they can show it would not affect stream and river flows.
“On one hand this water is a really useful resource to feed oil and gas development in the area and to reduce our dependence on foreign oil and produce more energy locally,” Lynn said.
“But on the other hand this is water that could be used for future generations when our population grows and we need additional water for residential or commercial development or both.”
The majority of the applications are in Weld County, the center of the recent oil boom in Northern Colorado.
You can read more of Steve Lynn's report at BizWest.
