Parched Tarrant County cities moving to control water usage by drillers

By Susan Schrock and Bill Hanna

sschrock@star-telegram.com, billhanna@star-telegram.com

While most Tarrant County cities imposed watering restrictions on residents Monday because of the intense drought, Grand Prairie, Arlington and other cities are taking steps to control a new major user of the precious resource: natural gas drillers.

Grand Prairie is not selling water to drillers for the hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, of gas wells. The typical Barnett Shale gas well uses 3 million to 5 million gallons of water during the fracking process.

Arlington, while not turning off the tap, is considering making water purchases much more expensive for the industry than for the average resident or commercial user. The city also cited Chesapeake Energy this month when it learned that the company trucked water from Arlington to a drilling site in Grand Prairie.

Fort Worth, Arlington, Euless and Dallas/Fort Worth Airport, in an attempt to stretch water resources as far as possible while allowing gas drilling to continue, are encouraging drillers to tap into a new 11.5-mile pipeline that would allow them to buy reclaimed water for industrial purposes at a cheaper rate than treated drinking water.

City officials are taking these steps as the region's lakes continue to dry out and residents are asked to curtail water usage or face stiff fines.

Despite the millions of gallons of water drillers need for each gas well, the industry points out that it isn't the area's largest commercial water customer by far.

In Fort Worth, for example, drillers used 463.6 million gallons of water last year, or 1 percent of overall use. By comparison, MillerCoors Fort Worth Brewery used 943.6 million gallons, or 1.7 percent. In Arlington, drillers used 3.65 percent, or 395.4 million gallons, of the 18.6 billion sold in 2010 to the city's customers, industrial and residential.

"I know when people hear that number it sounds like a big number," said Ed Ireland, executive director of the Barnett Shale Energy Education Council. "But when you look at the total used by gas drilling companies, it is not on the upper end."

Up to 60 percent of the area's total water usage goes to lawns and landscaping during the spring, summer and fall, city officials said.

"Each of us is contributing to significant water consumption, not just one industry," said Julie Hunt, Arlington's water utilities director.

Stressed system

Grand Prairie, which is not a customer of the Tarrant Regional Water District, is under Stage 2 water restrictions. The city has restricted nonessential water use, such as filling up swimming pools, and limited outdoor watering for residents and businesses to twice weekly.

Until conditions improve, drillers have not been allowed to buy municipal water for fracking wells and are required to request a permit or variance to buy water while the city works to keep its water usage below 45 million gallons a day. There is a concern that fracking usage could cause a drop in water pressure and the reserves needed for fire protection, Grand Prairie Public Works Director Ron McCuller said.

"We're asking them to delay, and we're restricting it as long as the water system is stressed," McCuller said.

Instead of delaying fracking during the drought, companies can truck in water from other sources. But this month, Arlington cited Chesapeake Energy for trucking water it bought at one of its south Arlington well sites to a Grand Prairie well site, which is against city ordinance. Arlington is recommending the maximum $2,000 fine for the violation.

The water, which Chesapeake had paid for, was pulled from a frack pond filled at the site.

"Chesapeake regrets its misunderstanding about water use from this pond. The water taken from this pond was metered and paid for and no disrespect was intended by transporting it outside the Arlington city limits," said Brian Murnahan, Chesapeake communications manager, adding that the company will pay the fine.

Suffering equally

As water has become scarce, some residents have questioned why Tarrant County cities don't stop gas drilling activities, which removes water permanently from the drinking water supply.

"Most other water can be recycled," said Libby Willis, president of the Fort Worth League of Neighborhoods. "Regardless of what they are saying about what the total consumption is, the impact is larger because we are losing so much of it forever."

The state water code says that industrial customers must suffer equally during a shortage. But that doesn't mean everyone must pay the same rate. In most cases, the gas industry pays higher rates compared with the average residential or commercial customer.

In Fort Worth, drillers pay $6.02 per 1,000 gallons for use in the city or $7.53 per 1,000 gallons for use outside the city, while residents typically pay about $3.58 per 1,000 gallons. Grand Prairie charges customers who take water from fire hydrants $5.81 per 1,000 gallons, nearly double what the average homeowner pays.

Next month, the Arlington City Council will consider raising gas drillers' water rates even higher. Drillers and other commercial customers who take water through a temporary construction meter are charged $4.75 per 1,000 gallons. But that could increase to $6 per 1,000 gallons for those who take more than 100,000 gallons a month.

"Most cities do charge a higher water rate, double or more, for gas drilling operations," said Ireland of the Barnett Shale council. "They are certainly paying their share or more."

Resident Kimberly Frankland told council members that she supports higher fees for the industry.

"Arlington is getting shortchanged," Frankland said. "We need to charge more for frack water because once drillers use the water for fracking, it is forever removed from the natural water cycle."

Although some water used in drilling and production is recycled, most of the water is disposed of deep within the earth and out of the drinking supply, Ireland said.

Alternative source

Fort Worth is trying to shift much of the drilling activity to its 11.5-mile reclaimed water line that runs from Fort Worth to DFW Airport and connects to Euless and Arlington. The water, which is treated but not clean enough to drink, can be used for outdoor watering or for fracking wells.

Users pay significantly less than normal irrigation water rates.

Chesapeake is prepared to start using the water to frack a well this week, according to Mary Gugliuzza, spokeswoman for the Fort Worth Water Department. Arlington does not yet have gas company customers for its portion of the reclaimed water line.

Susan Schrock, 8179-709-7578; Bill Hanna, 817-390-7698

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