Did you know that fracking just a single oil and gas well can use between 16 to 24 million gallons of water?

Many wells are re-fracked as their production declines. The water that returns to the surface as produced water is contaminated. It is usually disposed of by injecting deep underground, but at a time when the Colorado River is dangerously low and our communities are imperiled by a historically severe drought, using fresh water to extinction for the production of fossil fuels doesn’t make sense.

Fossil fuel development and combustion are major contributors to this climate crisis. That is why our Alliance is supporting a vital piece of legislation to protect our water: HB 23–1242 (the “Water Conservation in Oil and Gas Operations” bill).

HB 23–1242 would require oil and gas operators to gradually increase the use of recycled water for fracking and any other uses as a requirement to secure a permit for a well. Additionally, operators would be required to report to state officials how much water they’ve used, how much they’ve recycled, and how much they’ve disposed of. It would also require operators to report the number of miles traveled by trucks transporting water for use in oil and gas operations. Finally, the bill would require the state to include this information in an annual report, and report incidents involving radioactive or PFAS chemicals (sometimes called “forever chemicals”) in produced water to the Department of Health.

Our Alliance is working hard to make sure that this critical piece of legislation passes — and we need your
help! Please take a moment now to tell our lawmakers that we need to protect our water from oil and gas pollution today!