Water Consumption Related to Unconventional Drilling in West Virginia and Pennsylvania

Kayla McConahy* and Shawn Grushecky, Division of Forestry and Natural Resources, Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26506

Field (Broad Category): Environmental Science & Sustainability-Energy Management (Agricultural & Environmental Sciences) 

Student’s Major: Energy Land Management 

The objective of this project was to investigate and compare total water consumption and water consumption per lateral foot of well depth in unconventional drilling operations in West Virginia and Pennsylvania. Both states’ Department of Environmental Protection require operators to permit wells before drilling. By analyzing permits, data on the number and location of wells, well production, can be determined for each state. Coupled with this data is information from FracFocus, a database managed by the Ground Water Protection Council and Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission, which provides public access to information on hydraulic fracturing and chemical usage in the oil and natural gas industry. Data extracted from FracFocus and both states’ Departments of Environmental Protection were compiled to create a database of information on water use per well, total vertical length, total depth drilled, lateral length, and water usage per foot for the period of 2011 to 2017. Spatial patterns of water use were analyzed within and among the states studied. The available data provided approximately 440 Pennsylvania wells and 1,000 West Virginia wells for analysis. Results indicate higher water consumption per lateral foot for Pennsylvania than West Virginia, with variance among the states for individual years. 

Funding: National Science Foundation EPSCOR project 

Program/mechanism supporting research/creative efforts: WVU Work Study (not associated with RAP)