Here is what the poster says:
Abstract
Hydraulic fracking is a common method used to obtain natural gas as well as oil from the ground. The process begins with drilling the ground, which is then followed by thousands of gallons of fluid being pumped into the ground to break the shale rock and release natural gas. The job requires thousands of gallons of water, and chemicals are added to the water, often making it unusable for other purposes. The amount of water being used for fracking in California has been recently brought to attention because the state is currently facing a drought.
Currently California is experiencing the worst drought since the 1920’s. In the time frame of 2013-2014 California rainfall has been 50% below the average with 2013 being the driest year. The lack of rain is attributed to the Pacific Decadal Oscillation which occurs every 20-30 years and causes the Pacific Ocean to cool, leading to less rain because storms are diverted to the north. As a result of the drought, food prices are expected to rise and farmers are pumping 75% of their water need from reserved aquifers.
Hypothesis
Redirecting the water used for hydraulic fracking in California to agriculture will help to curb the water shortages that the agriculture industry is currently facing.
Results
There are currently 19 reported gas wells and 829 reported oil wells in California, many of which are located in the Central Valley, a agriculturally rich area. Most recently, Kern County, located in the Central Valley in California, has had a lot of activity going on. Other regions include Piceance, Uinta, Green River, San Juan, Cleveland, and Tonkawa. On average, each frack job requires about 134,000 gallons of water, and can be fracked from 10 to 18 times. In one year, about 4.4 x 106 gallons of water is used. To put into perspective, a typical California household consumes over 360 gallons of water per day. The amount of water used in one frack job could supply one household with enough water for over a year. The sum of water used is relatively low compared to other states fracking. Due to California’s unique geography, it is possible to frack vertically, rather than horizontally, which requires less water. The majority of these wells are located in areas that are considered high or extremely high water stress. This means that up to 80% of the region’s water supply is already being used. This increases goudwater depletion and augments competition between water consuming industries. Furthermore, the water may not be reused since it contains over 600 toxic chemicals including methanol, hydrochloric acid, lead, and uranium which have been known to pose health risks towards humans such as cancer, headaches, dizziness, and nausea when leaked into the groundwater.
California grows 50% of the nation’s produce, and food prices have risen; in February prices rose 0.4%, the biggest increase since 2011. Prices rose 0.4% in March and April as well, with fruits and vegetables rising 0.7% in April. Other goods, such as meat and dairy, also experienced an increase in price.
The drought in California has caused water prices to rise from $135 per acre foot to now $1350 per acre foot, a one thousand-times increase. (One acre foot is 325,851 gallons which will cover one acre of land that is one foot deep.) The Central Valley Project and State Water Project have projected that they will deliver little to no water to farmers. Around 75% of the water needed for agriculture has been pumped from reserved aquifers that are fed by reservoirs. Also, farmers have been cultivating more water intensive crops like avocados, nuts and berries because they will bring a higher profit. This year, it is possible that 800,000 acres of land will be fallow, which makes up 7% of the farmland in California. According to the California Farm Water Coalition, 14,500 jobs could be lost as well as $1.7 billion to the agriculture economy.
Every year approximately 34 million acre feet of water are used to irrigate 9.6 million acres of land in California. This is 3.3 x 1014 gallons of water. It was reported in the New York Times that farmers are collecting about 75% of their water needs from reserved aquifers, amounting to 2.4 x 1014 gallons for irrigation. They are still short by 8.16 x 1013 gallons of water.
Conclusion
If California were to stop fracking, it would save about 4.4 x 106 gallons of water per year, providing nearly half of the water needed to lessen the water shortage.This would make an impact on the 8.2 x 1013 gallons of water needed by farmers; however, it would not solve the issue presented by the drought. It is undeniable that agriculture consumes a gargantuan amount of water. Is it worth it to channel the water used for fracking into agriculture? Although food is a necessity, fracking makes large contributions to the economy. Therefore the issue arises: there is only so much water. What are we going to do with it?It was really fun presenting what I learned! I also received some good suggestions on how to further the research we have started. A potential topic I would like to look into is the efficiency of water usage in the agricultural community. Another topic could be to compare the water usage for fracking across all participating states.
Bye for now!!
Love, Marissa
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