Water Resource Assessment in the New Mexico Permian Basin
Advancements in directional drilling and well completion technologies have resulted in an exponential growth in the use of hydraulic fracturing for oil and gas extraction. Within the New Mexico Permian Basin, water demand to complete each hydraulically fractured well is estimated to average 7.3 acre-feet (2.4 million gallons), resulting in an increase to the regional water demand of over 5000 acre-feet per year. This rising demand is creating concern for the regions ability to meet the demand in a manner that fulfills BLM's role of protecting human health and the environment while sustainably meeting the needs of various of water users in the region. This report documents a study that establishes a water-level and chemistry baseline and develops a modeling tool to aid the BLM in understanding the regional water supply dynamics under different management, policy, and growth scenarios and to pre-emptively identify risks to water sustainability.