HOUSTON, July 6 (UPI) -- Regulators in Texas said the boom in oil and natural gas in the state doesn't mean the industry is using up valuable water resources during a pervasive drought.
U.S. monitors put most of Texas in some state of drought. Local officials and residents worry that oil and gas activity in the state will take vital water supplies away. One well in the Eagle Ford deposit in Texas requires 13 million gallons of water as part of its hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, fluid.
Robert Mace, deputy executive administrator at the Texas Water Development Board, told the Platts news service that some households were experiencing declines close to gas company operations.
"We've heard reports of water-level declines," he was quoted as saying.
Oil and gas companies draw on groundwater aquifers for fracking fluid. Drought doesn't have a direct affect on groundwater levels though demand from that source might be higher because of declines in surface water levels.
