From the David Suzuki Foundation Blog
Feb 20, 2014
By David Suzuki with contributions from Ian Hanington, Senior Editor
 |
| Drought and fracking have already caused some small communities in Texas
to run out of water altogether, and parts of California are headed for
the same fate. (Image Credit: Merinda Brayfield) |
It would be difficult to live without oil and gas. But it would be
impossible to live without water. Yet, in our mad rush to extract and
sell every drop of gas and oil as quickly as possible, we're trading
precious water for fossil fuels.
A recent report, "Hydraulic Fracturing and Water Stress", shows the severity of the problem. Alberta and
B.C. are among eight North American regions examined in the
study by Ceres, a
U.S.-based nonprofit advocating for sustainability leadership.
One of the most disturbing findings is that
hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is using enormous amounts of water in
areas that can scarcely afford it. The report notes that close to half
the oil and gas wells recently fracked in the
U.S. "'are in regions with
high or extremely high water stress'
and more than 55 per cent are in areas experiencing drought. In
Colorado and California, almost all wells — 97 and 96 per cent,
respectively — are in regions with high or extremely high water stress,
meaning more than 80 per cent of available surface and groundwater has
already been allocated for municipalities, industry and agriculture. A
quarter of Alberta wells are in areas with medium to high water stress.
Read the entire article by clicking here.
- Submitted by Karla
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