New Mexico Details Innovative Fracking Wastewater Solution At UN Climate Conference
One of the country’s thirstiest regions is pursuing an innovative solution to industrial water scarcity that could tackle a pressing wastewater treatment issue at the same time.
“New Mexico … used the COP28 talks in Dubai to announce a plan to divert wastewater from the oil and gas industry to water-intensive clean energy projects such as electric vehicle and solar manufacturing,” Reuters reported. “New Mexico is the second-biggest oil and gas producing state, behind Texas, and it brings enormous amounts of water to the surface, most of which is put back underground, as it produces oil and gas.”
The solution could be critical for drinking water systems in a region that is increasingly running out of available supply. And it might lead to groundbreaking progress on produced water recycling, developing a positive answer to the question of what to do with the vast amounts of fracking wastewater that results from oil and gas operations.
Utilizing the 28th edition of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) to announce the plan, New Mexico officials described it as a mutual public-private victory.
“The initiative … would set water purification standards and purchase treated water that originates from oil fields as well as the state’s vast natural underground reservoirs of brine,” according to the Associated Press. “The idea is to create a government-guaranteed market for the commodity — treated water — and attract private enterprise to build desalinization and treatment facilities, securing new sources of water for industrial applications.”
If the governor’s plan becomes an effective reality, it could very well establish a new model for other states that find themselves inundated with produced water and challenged on how to treat or store it. This could be particularly welcomed where so-called “fracking” operations proliferate, like in Texas and Pennsylvania.
New Mexico’s governor is now hoping to secure $500 million in state funding to underwrite treated water acquisitions. And while the plan still requires legislative approval, there is hope that the financial windfall from oil and gas operations will help propel this innovative solution to their own wastewater problem.
“New Mexico state government is navigating an unprecedented financial windfall from record setting oil production centered in the Permian Basin that extends across southeastern New Mexico and portions of western Texas,” per AP. “The state currently anticipates a $3.5 billion general fund surplus for the coming fiscal year.”
Drinking water systems and oil and gas operations alike will be keeping an eye on New Mexico’s plan as it moves forward, doubtlessly hoping that a new solution for produced water recycling emerges.
To read more about how fracking operations deal with their wastewater, visit Water Online’s Produced Water Solutions Center.