--> Water: A Natural Resource Critical for Development of Unconventional Resource Plays, Gary M. Hanson, #90093 (2009)

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Water:  A Natural Resource Critical

for Development of Unconventional Resource Plays

 

 

Gary M. Hanson

 

Red River Watershed Management Institute, Louisiana State University in Shreveport,

One University Place, Shreveport, Louisiana  71115

   

 

EXTENDED ABSTRACT

 

The rapid development of unconventional resource plays throughout numerous geographical areas of the United States have one thing in common, they all are associated with the use of large amounts of water.  All of the plays either need large amounts of water for development or large amounts of water are withdrawn in order to facilitate development.  Unconventional natural gas resources include tight gas sands, coal-bed methane, and shale gas.  The Barnett Shale play in north-central Texas has been undergoing development for over ten years.  Over ten thousand wells have been drilled and development is expected to continue for decades.  Operators in the Marcellus Shale play (New York and Pennsylvania) are being confronted with severe restrictions on available water for fracing and the lack of facilities to treat or dispose of contaminated flow-back water.  The sources for the New York City reservoir system are three large watersheds that are underlain by the Marcellus Shale.  In addition, many of the communities in the path of this development have never experienced natural gas drilling and development activities.  Residents are concerned that their water resources will be negatively impacted by contamination and overdrafting.  Their lack of industry knowledge and the newness to the area of many of the operators are presenting significant challenges to natural gas development. 

 

The Haynesville Shale play is developing at a rapid pace in northwest Louisiana and northeast Texas.  Although drilling and development of the Haynesville Shale have only been underway for less than two years, significant water use issues have surfaced.  Drilling activity has primarily been focused in the outlying areas around the city of Shreveport (COS), however, wells have been permitted and drilling has started inside the city.  Petroleum drilling and development in northwest Louisiana began in the early 1900s and thus the public is more aware of these types of activities.  The gas industry, however, did encounter a public that was aware of existing groundwater problems.  In response to planned expansion of high density residential development into the parish outside of Shreveport, a joint Caddo Parish / Louisiana State University in Shreveport groundwater monitoring well project had been undertaken.  Also, the Water Resources Committee of Northwest Louisiana (WRCNL) was established several years prior to address potential regional water resource problems.  The only available groundwater source for the residents of Caddo and Desoto parishes is the Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer.  In this region, it is a poor aquifer with domestic wells yielding only 25 to 45 gallons per minute.  The aquifer has been a traditional source for drilling supply wells, but the emergence of the massive frac jobs that are needed to stimulate wells completed in the tight Cotton Valley sandstones and Haynesville Shale, require up to 5,000,000 gallons of water for each well.  Most of the large natural gas operators in the play are headquartered outside the region and were initially unaware of Louisiana state regulations governing the use of groundwater.  Large numbers of groundwater wells were drilled, some near residences and parish water supply wells to not only supply water for drilling operations, but also to provide water to frac the wells.  As it became evident that the Haynesville Shale activity may be responsible for rapid declines in some water wells, a highly publicized campaign to place blame on the Haynesville Shale operators, emerged.  Although difficult to document, especially in a short time frame, the perceived aquifer degradation and the vocal, persistent public outcry, prompted the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources to step in and take action.  The Commissioner of the Department of Conservation (DOC) issued memos to insure groundwater regulations were being followed and requesting the operators to refrain from using the Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer for frac supply water.  He also requested, where possible, that operators utilize water from the non-potable Red River Alluvial Aquifer or surface water sources to frac wells.  The industry responded to these memos by curtailing the drilling of Carrizo-Wilcox wells and initiating the search for alternative sources.  As a classic case of unintended consequences, ponds and streams began to dry up throughout northwest Louisiana.  A “water wars” mentality, as illustrated by the headlines in The Times, Shreveport, emerged as water transfer companies and local entrepreneurs scrambled to lease available surface water sources (Fig. 1).  

 

The WRCNL, composed of six parish administrators, public works directors, COS, local mayors, the Sabine River Authority (SRA), and chaired by the director of the LSUS Red River Watershed Management Institute (RRWMI), worked with operators, Louisiana Oil and Gas Association (LOGA), DOC, and the local press to inform the public and help coordinate the transition from the Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer to more sustainable alternative water sources.  In order to help facilitate this transition to alternative sources, the COS laid a water pipeline to a major access point and installed a manifold in order to sell water to multiple operators (Fig. 2).  COS has also has made available graywater from one of the COS sewer treatment plants.  The (SRA) has a temporary permit policy in place to sell raw water from the Sabine River and Toledo Bend Reservoir to operators (Fig. 3).  Water District 1 in Desoto Parish has installed ten fire hydrants across the parish and is selling treated surface water from Toledo Bend Reservoir to operators.  As one of the founding members of the WRCNL, the Red River Watershed Management Institute, working with the Red River Waterway Commission, sponsored a series of meetings at LSUS that included the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, gas operators, water transfer specialists, parish levee districts and LOGA to work out procedures for operators to acquire permits to withdraw water from the Red River.  Within two months of the first meeting, Chesapeake Energy was successful in acquiring the first water use permit.

 

Unlike the SRA, shale operators are not purchasing water from the Red River, but are instead paying landowners for access to the river so water transfer companies can pump water via temporary pipelines to the well sites.  Although the costs to purchase surface water or the fees to access surface waterbodies, varies greatly, the result has been the formation of a true “water market” in northwest Louisiana.  In the category of lessons learned it is vital in any unconventional resource play for operators to:  (1) become familiar with state or local water issues and usage regulations prior to the start of operations, (2) initiate contacts with local, county/parish, state agencies to develop rapport and mutual understanding of proposed operations, and (3) not underestimate the concerns (perceived or real) of local citizens when it comes to the use of “their” water.  Concerns about water issues continue to permeate all discussions (whether water related or not) with local government and citizens in the Haynesville Shale play.  Exploration and production management must realize that water issues have to be addressed as a priority early on in any unconventional resource play.

 

 

 

Hanson, G. M., 2009, Water:  A natural resource critical for development of unconventional resource plays:  Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies Transactions, v. 59, p. 325-328.

 

 

fig01 Figure 1.  Headline from The Times, Shreveport, Louisiana.  As Haynesville Shale operators shift from groundwater to surface water, water transport companies compete to acquire rights to scarce private ponds.
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Figure 2.  City of Shreveport water disbursement manifold.

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AAPG Search and Discover Article #90093 © 2009 GCAGS 59th Annual Meeting, Shreveport, Louisiana