New Groundwater Study Exposes Deep Folly of Fracking
Nothing shows the dangerous connection between drought and fracking more than the study released by the journal Nature
this week, which shows groundwater demand is exceeding supply,
particularly in agricultural zones. Not only is the oil and gas industry
turning our rural areas into sacrifice zones, it is also diverting
water that is needed to grow food.
Drilling and fracking is not only a threat to water quality — it also
uses massive amounts of water, removing much of the water used from the
water cycle altogether.
Unbelievably, even during horrendous drought conditions, oil and gas
companies are able to continue using our freshwater resources while
communities pay for pricy technologies like water reclamation plants, as
we see in Big Spring, Texas. And in Colorado, farmers are competing
with the oil and gas industry, who are driving up prices at water
auctions.
Fracking is not only a problem for consumers and farmers in the
United States. France and Bulgaria have banned fracking thanks to the
risks to water and agricultural areas. More communities, from South
Africa to Australia, are fighting it as well. On September 22, these
communities will join together for a global day of action to tell
decision makers around the world that fracking should be banned. We
can’t sacrifice our public health, our environment and communities, and
there is no replacement for our diminishing water resources.
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