Starting Feb. 1, drilling operators in Texas will have to report many of the chemicals they use in hydraulic fracturing. Environmentalists and landowners are looking forward to learning what acids, hydroxides and other materials have gone into a given well.
But a less-publicized part of the regulation is what some water experts are most interested in: the mandatory disclosure of the amount of water needed to "frack" each well. Experts call this an invaluable tool as they evaluate how fracking affects water supplies in the drought-prone state.
Hydraulic fracturing involves shooting water, sand and additives deep into the earth to retrieve oil or gas. Under the new rule, Texans will be able to check a website, fracfocus.org, to view the chemical and water disclosures.
"It's a huge step forward from where we were," Amy Hardberger, an Environmental Defense Fund lawyer, said of the water-reporting rule.
Most fracked wells use 1 million to 5 million gallons of water over three to five days, said Justin Furnace, the president of the Texas Independent Producers & Royalty Owners Association.
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