Facing Drought, Farmers Turn To Produced Water

Would you eat a salad that was grown using oilfield wastewater? Scientists are studying the possible consequences of doing just that.

“More farmers in drought-stricken California are using oilfield wastewater to irrigate, and a new panel has begun taking one of the state’s deepest looks yet at the safety of using the chemical-laced water on food crops. The regional water board will use the panel’s findings to guide its oversight of the recycling of oilfield wastewater,” the Associated Press reported.

“The state officials, academic experts and industry representatives on the panel are charged with studying the safety of irrigating food crops with oilfield wastewater that may contain chemicals and other material from hydraulic fracturing, other intensive drilling methods and oilfield maintenance,” the report said.

Experts say that so far, research has showed negligible amounts of chemicals in recycled oilfield wastewater, the report said. But more attention is pivoting to the issue as the practice becomes more widespread.

“In the fourth year of California’s drought, at least five oilfields in the state are passing along their leftover production fluid to water districts for irrigation, for recharging underground water supplies, and other uses,” the report said.

Chevron is among the companies supplying oilfield wastewater for irrigation. Almond, pistachio, and citrus farmers are already using this method.

Critics say questions remain about the safety of irrigating with recycled water.

The nonprofit Pacific Institute, which studies water issues, points to questions about this practice, according to the AP. It calls the effect on food “largely unstudied and unknown.”

“Researchers don’t know the long-term toxicity of up to 80 percent of the hundreds of materials used in oilfield production,” the report said, citing Pacific Institute researcher Matthew Heberger.

Policymakers have raised concerns about this issue. Last year, California Assemblyman Mike Gatto, D-Glendale, argued that crops irrigated with recycled fracking wastewater should be labelled as such, Capital Public Radio reported.

Using recycled oil and gas wastewater for irrigation is nothing new. "For decades Chevron has sent 30,000 acre feet per year of produced water from the Kern River oil field to the Cawelo Water District, which uses it to grow almonds and pistachios. One acre-foot is 325,850 gallons of water, or enough water to cover a football field 1 foot deep," The Bakersfield Californian reported.

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