Water Resources Management & Shale
Gas Development in the Susquehanna
River Basin: The Lessons Thus Far
Environmental Sustainability Panel
Widener University School of Law
September 27, 2013
Thomas W. Beauduy
SRBC Special Counsel
About the Commission
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Federal-Interstate Compact Commission
Established in 1971 for 100 years
Jurisdictions: NY, PA, MD and US
Forum for the Exercise of Joint Sovereignty
Responsibility to Manage the Water
Resources of the Basin
• Role of Member Jurisdictions
What Does SRBC
Regulate?
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Surface Water Withdrawals: 100,000 gpd Threshold
Groundwater Withdrawals: 100,000 gpd Threshold
Consumptive Use: 20,000 gpd Threshold
Diversions: Thresholds - Any Amt. In; 20,000 gpd Out
For Unconventional Natural Gas Industry, all
Regulatory Thresholds are Set at Gallon One
Major Regulatory Changes Related to
Shale Gas Development
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Existing regulatory scheme didn’t quite fit
Water use patterns highly decentralized
Short-term nature of projects
Multiple withdrawals/sources for multiple pad sites
Headwaters - historically least developed portions of
basin
• Withdrawals spatially disassociated with
consumptive use activity
Major Regulatory Changes Related to
Shale Gas Development
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Prudence dictated a gallon one threshold
All water use is considered consumptive
Management of CU on a drilling pad basis
Approval by Rule
Four regulatory modification packages in 5 years
Rigor associated with recordkeeping and reporting
Emergence of a water use profile
Major Regulatory Changes Related to
Shale Gas Development
(Cont.)
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Post-hydrofracture reporting
Water sharing: registration of approved sources
Master source list approach - reporting
Source approvals (PWS) - coordination
Flowback: reuse, pad-to-pad transfers (including
interbasin)
• Wastewater, lesser quality waters source approvals
Marcellus – Basin Water Use Profile
(July 1, 2008 thru June 30, 2013)
• 2,312 Unconv. Gas Wells Hydrofractured
• 12.2 billion gallons of water consumptively used
• 9.39 billion gallons of water withdrawn from
docketed sources
• 3.0 billion gallons of water withdrawn from other
approved sources (primarily PWS)
Marcellus – Basin Water Use Profile
(July 1, 2008 thru June 30, 2013)
(Cont.)
• 4.5 million gallons (ave.) used per well for hydrofracturing (84% freshwater, 16% flowback reused).
• 8% - 10% of injected water is recovered as flowback
within first 30 days after release of pressure.
• 87% of water brought on-site is used, balance of
13% temporarily stored on site, or transferred to
another site.
Sustainability Issues
• At basin scale, location more important than
amounts of withdrawals
• Timing and location of withdrawals is key
• Cumulative impacts
• Use of passby restrictions (interruptible
sources) to minimize impacts on aquatic
ecosystems during low flow periods
Cumulative Water Use and
Availability Study
• Study is underway
• Quantify consumptive use at a watershed
scale
• Determine water availability at a watershed
scale
• GIS-based water use & availability assessment
tool
The End Game
• Determining water availability at a watershed
scale requires scientific rigor, but it may well
be the easy part.
• Establishing sustainable limits for water
development and protection of instream flow
needs will present challenges.
• Challenges will be legal, political and social.
• Shale gas development not the driver, but…
Toward Water Resource
Sustainability
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Follow the science
Practice adaptive management
Responsive, adaptive regulatory scheme
Low flow protection
Cumulative water use availability &
assessment
• Vigilance in monitoring impacts