Dallas, Texas is located in North Texas and sits above the eastern portion of the Barnett Shale natural gas formation. Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, was introduced to the region as a means to access previously inaccessible natural gas within the formation. This fracking concerns many because it requires large amounts of fresh water, an average of over 4 million gallons per well within Dallas Water Utilities service area. This thesis examines whether water use for fracking will have a negative effect on the water supply for the city of Dallas and its wholesale water customer cities. The water is typically removed from the water cycle because chemical additives required for fracking are difficult to remove and the water is often disposed of underground. Methods of recycling and treating this water are being pursued but are not currently employed at a high rate in the Barnett Shale area. Water is of special concern in this region due to drought, increasing population, and the recent discovery of Zebra Mussels in the water supply. Texas is experiencing the worst drought other than the 1950s drought of record which is reducing the available water supply, through both evaporation and lack of recharge. The population in the area is also projected to nearly double by 2060 which will lead to increased water demand. Zebra Mussels have been found in Dallas supply system and these mussels are impossible to remove and can clog pipes, reducing the flow of water and so potentially reducing the available supply. Future water plans are prepared to address these issues, focusing on conservation as well as increasing available supplies. Based on this analysis, hydraulic fracturing in Dallas, Texas and within Dallas Water Utilities wholesale customers should not significantly affect Dallas water supply in the near term. Other methods of conservation, such as limiting landscape watering, should be considered as more beneficial ways to save water.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LSU/oai:etd.lsu.edu:etd-10162013-201151 |
| Date | 06 November 2013 |
| Creators | Yates, Sarah |
| Contributors | Wilson, Vincent L., Overton, Edward B., Hudson, Ryan Blake |
| Publisher | LSU |
| Source Sets | Louisiana State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-10162013-201151/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached herein a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to LSU or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below and in appropriate University policies, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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