Consultants report big discrepancy in fracking water-use data; RCGCD to refine models and sampling

Consultants from Advanced Groundwater Solutions told the Reeves County Groundwater Conservation District (RCGCD) on April 17 that different data sources produce widely divergent estimates of water used in hydraulic fracturing. The presenters said the FracFocus database shows fracking water use peaking at more than 40,000 acre‑feet in 2019, compared with the Texas Water Development Board's estimate of about 3,000 acre‑feet for oil and gas activities in the same period. The consultants cautioned that the databases differ in how they record volumes and whether the water reported is produced water or fresh groundwater.

James Beach, Jordan Vega and Isaac Johnson reviewed the county's water‑quality data distribution, noting the Pecos Valley Alluvium has the most wells with data and that the western county has few Rustler‑formation wells. They said RCGCD regularly gauges roughly 37 wells and is compiling historical water‑quality records to prioritize resampling. The team described plans to incorporate FracFocus data into the district model using source‑assumption scenarios, run sensitivity analyses, and recalibrate calibration metrics that have declined over the last decade.

Consultants asked the board whether it was reasonable to assume most frac water comes from local sources and whether some frac water represented water formerly used for irrigation. The consultants will provide a recommended list of constituents for sampling and cost estimates for sampling and laboratory work; the district must update desired future conditions for Reeves County by May 2026. The board took no formal action at the meeting.