29 research outputs found
Water Use in the Eagle Ford Shale: An Economic and Policy Analysis of Water Supply and Demand
The Eagle Ford Shale is a massive geologic formation
located in South Texas
spanning 30
Texas counties
from
Brazos County in the north east to Webb County in the southwest
. With the advent of hydraulic fracturing (HF) and
horizontal drilling, over 200 operators have been able to tap into previously inaccessible shale reserves to p
roduce
abundant amounts of oil and gas.
The oil and gas
proliferation
in the Eagle Ford
has seen
exponential growth
, and
production is not anticipated to decline until 2025. In addition,
a typical
HF
well in the Eagle Ford
is estimated to
consume
about 13
acre
-
feet
of water for
a
standard
5000
foot
lateral
.
Approximately 90% of water for HF comes
from fresh groundwater aquifers.
This interaction
of HF and
water consumption
is of primary importance from a
poli
tical
and
economic perspective. This
s
erves as t
he focal point of our
report.
Using the tools of statistics, our research considered the groundwater
consumption
trends within
the
Eagle Ford
counties
using water consumption data
of
municipal, irrigation, mining
(oil and gas)
and other
categories over a
span of four years
. This
analysis showed
that
fresh groundwater
is being consumed
at about 2.5 times
the
groundwater recharge rates
.
Furthermore,
irrigation is using more water than all other water
-
consuming
categories
combined.
Thus, the water problem
reaches well beyond the use of fresh grou
ndwater for mining
.
With respect to likely requirements of water for HF,
we posited this question:
â
W
ill technology bail us out?â
Retrofitting learning curves to our data
for water uses and
the
length of
the well
la
teral
,
we find that after i
nitial
improvements in water us
age, the technology appears to have stabilized.
This, coupled with massi
ve irrigation
water consumption
suggests
that
technology will not be a major
source of water savings
in the long run.
Instead,
we must look to better public policies
.
From a policy perspective,
the status quo for
groundwater u
se
is governed
by the
Rule of Capture and the
oversight of groundwater conservation districts
(GCDs)
. T
here exists a real conflict as large
-
scale water users are
competing for a diminishing aquifer resource with no market signals of increasing scarcity. In addition,
groundwater wells drilled
in connection with oil and gas exploration are exempt from
GCD
per
mitting
requirements
and
receive a de facto âfree passâ to water for HF.
Likewise, limita
tions imposed on irrigation users
by the GCDs are rarely binding, so these users
usually
get a free pass as well.
Our analysis leads us to
three
basic
policy
recommend
ations
. The first
involves
mandatory reporting
of all
groundwater uses by all classes of water use
r
s.
Currently, government agencies and the public lack basic
information on
actual water
consumption;
t
his policy seeks to relax that knowledge gap and bring
transparency.
Second
, we propose incentivizing oil
and gas companies to substitute brackish
groundwater for fresh ground
water.
Our proposal
calls for
a severance tax reduction
for tho
se companies limiting
fresh
groundwater
use
for
HF in the
Eagle Ford.
In
addition to a temporary reduction in the
severance tax, these companies c
ould be recognized
by the
RRC and
possibly
the TCEQ for their
environmental stewardship
with a
â
Green Star
â
designation.
Our t
hird
,
most
heterodox
and long
-
term
recommendation
is to define
ground
water property rights on a per
-
acre ownership basis,
which would
attach
to the surface ownerâs
real property.
Under this system, the owner
s
of the water rights would
be able to
sell
their
water as they would any other resource, and the
market would adjust the price of water to an
economically efficient level.
Most importantly, it would remove the incentive to use all you can today
, leaving
more water for the future at a lower future price.Commissioner Christi Craddick,
Texas Railroad Commissio
Develop an Improved SDDOT Construction Cost Index
311219A highway construction cost index (HCCI) is an indicator of the purchasing power of a highway agency. Highway agencies can monitor their construction market conditions using HCCIs to make various financial planning decisions. The main goal of this study is to modernize the HCCI system of South Dakota DOT by developing an enhanced HCCI calculation and forecasting methodologies and a software program by incorporating recent guidance from the Federal Highway Administration and adopting advanced theories on HCCI calculation. To achieve the goal, the study a) reviewed the current HCCI calculation methodology used by the agency, b) interviewed potential HCCI users from South Dakota, c) developed a proven multidimensional HCCI calculation methodology using the concept of the dynamic item basket, and d) developed two methods to forecast HCCIs, and e) developed a software program to automate the HCCI calculation and forecasting processes. In addition to the overall HCCI, more than a dozen sub-HCCIs were developed to show more granular market conditions across the state of South Dakota. The sub-HCCIs showed that specific construction market conditions, such as rural and urban market conditions, do not necessarily follow the trend of the overall statewide market condition. For HCCI forecasting, a linear regression model provided a better result than the weighted time series method. The methodologies and the software program developed for this research are expected to aid SDDOT in improving its ability to monitor the construction market trend closely and more accurately. The availability of more granular market conditions from sub-HCCIs are expected to increase the use of HCCIs at SDDOT
Groundwater use in the Eagle Ford Shale: some policy recommendations
Advances in hydraulic fracturing (fracking) and horizontal drilling have allowed oil and gas companies to tap into Texasâ previously inaccessible shale reserves. Fracking in the state has grown at an exponential rate and is not expected to decline until 2025. Fracking requires the consumption of vast amounts of groundwater, a resource that is already strained. This study quantifies the water consumption associated with fracking in the Eagle Ford Shale, evaluates the current regulatory framework, and proposes 3 policy recommendations. The data show that fracking has become the primary consumer of groundwater in the most active counties within the Eagle Ford. Our study proposes 3 policy solutions to ensure that groundwater is consumed in an economically efficient manner in these areas. These solutions are a more thorough system for reporting consumption, tax incentives for oil and gas companies to use substitutes for fresh groundwater, and an alternative property rights system to the current rule of capture system.
Citation: Steadman M, Arnett B, Healy K, Jiang Z, David LeClere, Leslie McLaughlin, Roberts J. 2015. Groundwater use in the Eagle Ford Shale: some policy recommendations. Texas Water Journal. 6(1):67-78. Available from: https://doi.org/10.21423/twj.v6i1.7023
Mediation as a New Technique for Resolving Disputes in the Mental Health System
In the mental health service system, disputes take on various forms and exist in both clinical practice and management. Existing policy and administrative practice has favored a combination of medical and judicial/legal models to handle conflicts among consumers, mental health professionals, and others. The authors propose the addition of mediation as a third form of resolving issues, explicate some of the differences between mediation and current methods of resolving conflicts, and suggest benefits of using mediation