This story was originally published on Inside Climate News. It is reproduced as part of a collaboration with Climate Desk. New Mexico will spend $500 million to purchase water from controversial sources. This includes treated oilfield waste water. The state is hoping to boost its water portfolio. The purchases are part of a long-running deal that has been tapping into untapped water resources.
As part of the Climate Desk collaboration, this article, which was first published by Inside Climate News, is reproduced around.
In order to strengthen the state’s water portfolio, New Mexico will invest$ 500 million in buying water from contentious sources, including treated oilfield wastewater. The purchases are the most recent in a longer line of transactions dipping into undeveloped waters to replenish dwindling supplies as climate change and decades of overeating cause the Southwest to become more dry.
Two sources would supply the water: saline saltwater from underground aquifers and produced water from oil and gas well wastewater. Both sources, but especially the latter, are quickly suitable for the majority of capitalistic purposes. Despite the skepticism of environmentalists and water experts, local and state governments are increasingly investing in new water sources to maintain economic and population growth as conventional water supplies like rivers and groundwater aquifers are depleted in the Southwest.
” Every drop counts in arid states like ours. That fact is brought into sharper relief every day by a warming climate, according to Gov. Tuesday’s Michelle Lujan Grisham in a press release. This is innovation in action: To improve our climate resilience and safeguard our valuable freshwater resources, we are leveraging the private sector.
Water that has been “produced” originates from the sector that produces the most carbon emissions and may contain hazardous chemicals.
The plan, according to critics, is a handout for the fossil fuel industry because it will only encourage more oil and gas drilling in New Mexico, where the country’s water is produced, which will increase greenhouse gas emissions and more warm the climate and clean out the area.
According to Melissa Troutman, a climate and energy advocate with WildEarth Guardians, an environmental nonprofit advocating for reforms of New Mexico’s oil and gas regulations,” she is then going to spend$ 500 million on the industrial wastewater to treat the water scarcity issue that is caused by their climate emissions.”
In New Mexico, clean water is getting harder to come by. For the first time in four decades, the Rio Grande dried up in Albuquerque in August 2022, and tensions between the United States and Mexico over water availability are rising. New Mexico, one of the states engaged in contentious, continued negotiations over how to protect the system that provides fresh water to 40 million people in the area and supports the region’s essential agricultural production, even receives its water from the Colorado River, which is dwindling. Additionally, virtually every aquifer in the state has already allocated all of its water.
In order to diversify their water portfolios, cities and states have turned to desalination, complicated water transfer agreements, recycling wastewater for consumption, and other methods. Southwestern states are now looking for fresh water supplies. However, there is still a lot of skepticism regarding the use of saline and produced water. Oil and gas drilling produces water that can contain a number of dangerous chemicals in addition to coming from the sector that produces the majority of greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change.
Critics claim that treating produced water to standards appropriate for commercial use could be expensive and that the money would be better used to address the state’s water shortage. Environmentalists in Texas, a neighbor to New Mexico, who proposed related legislation earlier this year, share this opinion. Bruce Thomson, a civil engineering professor emeritus at the University of New Mexico who formerly oversaw the Water Resources Program that, said,” I’m very skeptical.”
He claimed that little is known about the hydrology of the deep underground aquifers that hold the water, and that the majority of basins cannot be recharged, meaning that when they are gone, they will never be recovered. Additionally, he pointed out that the water’s chemistry makes it challenging to desalinate and can actually contain toxic waste that is left behind.
In landlocked, parched lands like New Mexico, it is difficult to put the leftover brine from desalination projects back into the sea, in contrast to ocean water, which can do the same.
This is …throwing money at a modern, so-called “fix” to an issue that necessitates careful thought.
Owing to its toxicity and extraordinary salinity—typically three to four times that of ocean water—all of the issues with salty water are considerably worse and more complex for produced water, according to Thomson. Additionally, he claimed that there is no true way to stop the region’s rising aridity and that it will eventually be necessary for New Mexico and the Southwest to maximize its limited water supply. There is no fresh water, he declared.
States like New Mexico will still look for fresh supplies, despite this.
The New Mexico Environment Department will start accepting proposals from businesses interested in providing saline or produced water starting next year. Advanced market commitments will be included in the contracts, enabling businesses to look to the private sector for funding, like the construction of treatment facilities, with the assurance that the state will purchase the water.
Although it has the potential to be used for various purposes” as treatment and demand allow,” the state stated that water will primarily be utilized for commercial purposes, such as the development of hydrogen, solar and wind farms, and the production of goods like microchips.
The salty water could later be used for public consumption, according to Lujan Grisham, who made the announcement at COP28 in Dubai, while the produced water, which is much more harmful, would be saved for the development of clean energy.
But, those industries can be water-intensive. For instance, the production of hydrogen fuel necessitates treating water to higher standards than is appropriate for human consumption.
More high-quality freshwater may be prevented from being tapped for uses that do not require it by using water that is not commonly used for irrigation or drinking to support these industries. However, as water supplies run low, water experts have asserted that as long as the water complies with drinking standards, maybe water that is better suited for commercial use may be needed for residential use.
Troutman remarked,” This is just another instance of putting money into a modern, so-called fix to an issue that requires thorough planning and addressing systemic issues.” As part of the Climate Desk collaboration, this article, which was first published by Inside Climate News, is reproduced below. To strengthen the state’s water portfolio, New Mexico will spend$ 500 million buying water from contentious sources, such as treated oilfield wastewater. The purchases are the most recent in a long line of undeveloped deals.
This story was originally published on Inside Climate News. It is reproduced as part of a collaboration with Climate Desk. New Mexico will spend $500 million to purchase water from controversial sources. This includes treated oilfield waste water. The state is hoping to boost its water portfolio. The purchases are part of a long-running deal that has been tapping into untapped water resources.
A rig and tanks used for extracting and storing oil located in Loving, New Mexico. Jim West und Zuma sind befreundet. The New Mexico government is setting aside five hundred million dollars in order to buy water from questionable places, such as treated wastewater from oilfields, in an attempt to strengthen their water resources. The most recent transactions are the continuation of a many-year endeavor to replenish decreasing supplies as global warming and heavy utilization lead to the desertification of the Southwestern U.S. The water will be derived from two different types of sources: saline water that is located deep underground and brine from oil and gas extraction sites. Neither of the two sources is suitable to be used for most purposes right away, but the second one especially. As traditional sources of water like streams and underground aquifers are getting used up in the western region, various local and state governments are placing more emphasis on getting new water sources to facilitate developing population and economy, whilst environmentalists and water specialists are not overall in agreement with this. “In dry regions such as ours, every drop of water has value.” The temperature is increasing, making the issue of climate change more apparent than ever, according to the Governor. In a statement on Tuesday, Michelle Lujan Grisham announced.
