Energy Environmental Blog

Drilling Water Withdrawal Impact "Negligible"

Written by Ilya Batikov | Nov 12, 2014 3:10:22 PM

From the Akron Beacon Journal:

Drillers in eastern Ohio’s Utica Shale have withdrawn nearly 136 million gallons of water from three reservoirs in 2014.

The water was taken from Piedmont, Clendening and Seneca lakes, according to a new report from the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District.

That volume — a 22.5 percent increase from 2013’s total water sales of 111 million gallons — is comparable to what the city of Akron pumps in four days to its 300,000 water customers.

The impacts of the latest withdrawals on the district “were negligible,” the agency said in its assessment, noting that it limited maximum daily withdrawal to 2 million gallons.

Withdrawals resulted in less truck traffic because more water was being moved by pipelines than tanker trucks, officials said.

The watershed district said this year’s withdrawals had only “negligible to minimal effects” on recreation on its lakes.

Read the full article here.