Senators,
Congressman Fight to Recover "Useable" Water in Arid
West
WASHINGTON
,
D.C.
- Across the West,
"useable" water is one of the most valuable natural
resources, and also one of the scarcest. Each day, more than two
million gallons of useable groundwater are wasted, turned into
what is known as "produced water," after becoming
contaminated beyond use as it is brought to the surface during
oil and gas drilling or coal bed methane extraction. However,
United States Senator Ken Salazar has taken the lead in the
Senate on a bipartisan solution that could allow the recovery
and use of many gallons of "produced" water every day.
Yesterday, along with Senate
Energy Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), Senate Energy
Committee Ranking Member Pete Domenici (R-NM), and Senator Craig
Thomas (R-WY), Senator Salazar introduced the "More Water,
More Energy, Less Waste Act of 2007." The bill initiates a
feasibility study on recovering the "produced water"
and a grant program to test technologies that would convert it
to "useable" water. It is the Senate companion to H.R.
902 which passed unanimously in the U.S. House on
March 19, 2007
. H.R. 902 is sponsored by Rep.
Mark Udall (D-Eldorado Springs).
United States Senator Ken
Salazar (D-CO) – "In the water-short West,
increasing the amount of waters that can be used without
adversely affecting water quality or the environment can
increase water supplies for irrigation of crops, livestock
watering, wildlife habitat, and recreational opportunities.
Farmers, ranchers, communities and recreation users will benefit
from increased supplies of 'useable water'."
United States Senator Jeff
Bingaman (D-NM) – “Treating and using produced water
is one of many tools we need to meet the ever-increasing demands
on limited water resources in the West. This bill will help
determine how best to make use of that resource in an
environmentally sensitive manner, as well as help increase the
efficiency of oil and gas production by limiting the amount of
produced water disposed of as waste.”
United States Senator Pete
Domenici (R-NM) – “The nexus between energy and
water is critical to addressing our nation’s current and long
term energy and water security. I look forward to working on
this bill and further tackling the energy-water challenge during
this session,” said Domenici, who was an architect of the
Energy Policy Act of 2005 which authorized R&D and
commercial applications to address the management and efficient
use of water in the production of energy.
United States Senator Craig
Thomas (R-WY) – "This effort is a win-win
situation because it takes water from energy production and
makes it useful for folks who need it most. I was pleased to
include provisions aimed at improving the efficiency of water
use for energy production, in addition to the treatment of
water, in this bill."
Congressman Mark Udall (CO-2)
-- "I think the bill will change an energy-industry
problem into an opportunity, not just for oil and gas producers
but for everyone else who would benefit from increased supplies
of useable water. Developing beneficial uses for produced water
could reduce costs of oil and gas development, while also easing
demand for water by alleviating drought conditions in Colorado
and the west and providing water for agriculture, industry, and
other uses. Energy and water are two of our most important
resources, so it makes sense to pursue ways to produce more of
both. Last month, the House passed a similar bill that I
authored and I am pleased that Senator Salazar has taken the
lead in the Senate on this issue.”
The study provision of the
bill would direct the Commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation,
the Director of the U.S. Geological Survey, and the Director of
the Bureau of Land Management to evaluate the feasibility of
recovering and cleaning "produced water" for use in
irrigation and other purposes, all while protecting and
conserving the water quality and natural surroundings. It also
requires those agencies to study ways to increase the efficiency
of energy production by reducing the quantity of produced water
that must be treated or reinjected.
The grant provision of the
bill provides a maximum 50 percent federal match of up to $1
million to construct, but not operate, test project sites. In
order to test the recovery systems across a variety of
geological and climatic conditions, the grant portion of S. 1116
requires test projects be built in at least five locations:
- One
in each of the
Upper
Basin
states of the
Colorado River
:
Colorado
,
Utah
,
Wyoming
, and
New Mexico
; and
- One
in at least one of the
Lower
Basin
states of the
Colorado River
:
Arizona
,
Nevada
or
California
.
The quality and volume of the
recovered "produced water" will depend upon the
technology to be tested under S. 1116.
The full legislative text of
S. 1116, the "More Water, More Energy, Less Waste Act of
2007," can be viewed by
clicking here.
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