Impacts of Groundwater Pumping for Hydraulic Fracturing on Aquifers Overlying the Eagle Ford Shale.

Autor: Brien JA; Water Management and Hydrologic Sciences Program, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, 77843, USA.; Brien Well Drilling, Hearne, TX, 77859, USA., Obkirchner GE; Water Management and Hydrologic Sciences Program, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, 77843, USA.; California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Sacramento, CA, 95834, USA., Knappett PSK, Miller GR; Civil and Environmental Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, 77843, USA., Burnett D; Petroleum Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, 77843, USA., Bhatia M; Berg-Hughes Center for Petroleum and Sedimentary Systems, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, 77843, USA.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Ground water [Ground Water] 2024 May-Jun; Vol. 62 (3), pp. 343-356. Date of Electronic Publication: 2023 Aug 16.
DOI: 10.1111/gwat.13344
Abstrakt: Hydraulic fracturing (HF) events consume high volumes of water over a short time. When groundwater is the source, the additional pumping by rig/frack supply wells (RFSWs) may impose costs on owners of other sector wells (OSWs) by lowering the hydraulic head. The Carrizo-Wilcox aquifer in south Texas is the main source of water for HF of the Eagle Ford Shale (EFS) Play. The objectives are to assess the impacts of groundwater pumping for HF supply on: (1) hydraulic heads in OSWs located nearby an RFSW and (2) volumetric fluxes between layers of the regional aquifer system compared to a baseline model without the effect of RFSW pumping. The study area spans the footprint of the EFS Play in Texas and extends from 2011 to 2020. The pumping schedules of 2500 RFSWs were estimated from reported pumped water volumes to supply 22,500 HF events. Median annual drawdowns in OSWs ranged from 0.2 to 6.6 m, whereas 95th percentile annual drawdowns exceeded 20 m. The magnitudes of drawdown increased from 2011 to 2020. Of the four layers that comprise the Carrizo-Wilcox aquifer, the upper Wilcox was the most intensively pumped for HF supply. During the peak HF year of 2014, the net flux to the upper Wilcox was 292 Mm 3 compared to the baseline net flux for the same year of 278 Mm 3 -a relative gain of 14 Mm 3 . Pumping for HF supply has the potential to negatively impact nearby OSWs by capturing water from adjacent aquifer layers.
(© 2023 National Ground Water Association.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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