{"id":590239,"date":"2018-06-07T10:19:32","date_gmt":"2018-06-07T16:19:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=590239"},"modified":"2018-06-08T07:53:57","modified_gmt":"2018-06-08T13:53:57","slug":"nm-land-commissioner-says-texas-landowners-are-stealing-water-selling-it-back-for-fracking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2018\/06\/nm-land-commissioner-says-texas-landowners-are-stealing-water-selling-it-back-for-fracking\/","title":{"rendered":"NM land commissioner says Texas landowners are &#8216;stealing&#8217; water, selling it back for fracking"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_590245\"  class=\"wp-caption module image alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 771px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-590245\" src=\"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Aubrey_Dunn_2_MKC_TT-771x517.jpg\" alt=\"Aubrey Dunn\" width=\"771\" height=\"517\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Aubrey_Dunn_2_MKC_TT-771x517.jpg 771w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Aubrey_Dunn_2_MKC_TT-336x225.jpg 336w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Aubrey_Dunn_2_MKC_TT-768x515.jpg 768w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Aubrey_Dunn_2_MKC_TT-1170x784.jpg 1170w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Aubrey_Dunn_2_MKC_TT.jpg 1250w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 771px) 100vw, 771px\" \/><p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Marjorie Kamys Cotera \/ for The Texas Tribune<\/p><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">New Mexico State Land Commissioner Aubrey Dunn walks along Ranch Rd 652 at the Texas-New Mexico border on May 23 next to a water line that runs from Loving County, Texas, to Lea County, N.M.<\/p><\/div>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">ORLA, Texas \u2014 After you head northeast on Ranch Road 652 from tiny Orla, it\u2019s easy to miss the precise moment you leave Texas and cross into New Mexico. The sign just says \u201cLea County Line,\u201d and with 254 counties in Texas, you\u2019d be forgiven for not knowing there isn\u2019t one named Lea.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">But the folks who are selling water over it know exactly where the line is.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">That\u2019s because on the Texas side, where the \u201crule of capture\u201d rules groundwater policy, people basically can pump water from beneath their land to their heart\u2019s content. But on the New Mexico side, the state has imposed tight regulations on both surface and groundwater that restrict supply.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"module align-left half type-aside\">\n<h3>About this article<\/h3>\n<p>This article originally appeared in\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.texastribune.org\/2018\/06\/07\/texas-landowners-new-mexico-stealing-water-fracking\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Texas Tribune<\/a>,\u00a0a nonpartisan, nonprofit media organization that informs Texans and engages with them about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.<\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Here\u2019s the rub \u2014 or the opportunity, depending on your perspective: With an oil fracking boom driving demand for freshwater on both sides of the state line in these parts, Texas landowners are helping to fill the void with water from the Lone Star State \u2014 including from at least one county in which Gov. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.texastribune.org\/directory\/greg-abbott\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Greg Abbott<\/a> has declared a drought.<\/p>\n<p>Now a top New Mexico politician is crying foul, saying that unregulated pumping from wells next to the state line is depleting the shared aquifers that supply water to Southern New Mexico.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cTexas is stealing New Mexico\u2019s water,\u201d said New Mexico State Land Commissioner Aubrey Dunn. \u201cIf you put a whole bunch of straws in Texas and you don\u2019t have any straws in New Mexico, you\u2019re sucking all the water from under New Mexico out in Texas and then selling it back to New Mexico.\u201d<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">The difference in ownership of land in the two states contributes to the divergent water policies. In Texas, <a href=\"http:\/\/texaslandtrends.org\/lt-2014-fact-sheet.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">more than 90 percent<\/a> of the land is privately owned. In New Mexico, by contrast, only <a href=\"https:\/\/ipanm.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/02-Dunn.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">43 percent<\/a> is owned by individuals, while 57 percent is in government or tribal hands.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_590247\"  class=\"wp-caption module image alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 771px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-590247\" src=\"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/sending-Texas-water-to-new-mexico-map-771x517.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"771\" height=\"517\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/sending-Texas-water-to-new-mexico-map.jpg 771w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/sending-Texas-water-to-new-mexico-map-336x225.jpg 336w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/sending-Texas-water-to-new-mexico-map-768x515.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 771px) 100vw, 771px\" \/><p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Ben Hasson \/ The Texas Tribune<\/p><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">For context, a look at the area in question.<\/p><\/div>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Dunn says he has already found at least seven unpermitted water lines snaking from Texas across state trust lands he oversees, and he believes millions of gallons a day are being pumped into his state for use in oil and gas exploration.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">The commissioner, who oversees 9 million surface acres of state trust lands, said he has quit issuing new fresh water well permits for the oil and gas industry on agency-supervised property, but he can\u2019t stop the pumping in Texas. And experts say there is no law barring unlimited sales of Texas water to New Mexico buyers \u2014 making the transfers hard to quantify.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cWater is a vested property in the state of Texas. There is no law that I know of that prevents it from being shipped over state lines,\u201d said state Sen. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.texastribune.org\/directory\/kel-seliger\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Kel Seliger<\/a>, R-Amarillo. \u201cIt is less important where the water goes, as long as the owners are compensated, I suppose, than what the plans are to see to it that we have a water supply in perpetuity.\u201d<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">It\u2019s a bipartisan sentiment. State Rep. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.texastribune.org\/directory\/poncho-nevarez\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Poncho Nev\u00e1rez<\/a>, the Eagle Pass Democrat who represents the far-flung outpost of Pecos in neighboring Reeves County, said he\u2019s not so worried where the water goes as long as there\u2019s enough to go around for residents and the towns they live in.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cWhat does it matter if it goes 5 feet across the county line or to the moon?\u201d Nevarez said. \u201cI could see the pushback if Pecos proper was having trouble getting water, and here you have these guys moving massive amounts of water to New Mexico &#8230; you gotta take care of the people where the resource generates from first.\u201d<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">When it comes to ensuring future supplies for the locals in Texas, lawmakers note that communities can always band together and form groundwater conservation districts, which issue pumping permits to protect aquifer levels. But here in Loving County, which is part of both Nevarez&#8217; and Seliger\u2019s sprawling districts and sits adjacent to Lea County, New Mexico, there is no water conservation district, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.twdb.texas.gov\/mapping\/doc\/maps\/GCDs_8x11.pdf?d=2964.5000000018626\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">according to maps<\/a> published by the Texas Water Development Board. (Abbott <a href=\"https:\/\/gov.texas.gov\/news\/post\/governor-abbott-issues-disaster-declaration-in-response-drought-conditions-across-texas\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">recently put<\/a> Loving County on the list of counties seeking federal drought assistance).<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Texas rancher Roy \u201cSonny\u201d Lindsay owns Loving County property that sits along the state border near Ranch Road 652, and he\u2019s seen plenty of water heading north to New Mexico \u2014 where locally sourced water is harder to obtain. He recently sold some of it himself to ConocoPhillips from a giant frac pit \u2014 used to store water in the drilling process \u2014 the company built on his land. The company then pumped the water through hoses running into New Mexico, he said.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cIf it wasn&#8217;t for Texas water, New Mexico wouldn&#8217;t have no oil production,\u201d Lindsay said. \u201cSo they shouldn&#8217;t gripe about us selling water over there.\u201d<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">In an emailed statement, ConocoPhillips spokeswoman Romelia Hinojosa cited the supply problems in New Mexico and said water from Lindsay\u2019s Hanging H Ranch was used to complete five wells in New Mexico in early 2017.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cAt the time, we could not source water from New Mexico because other operators had captured the full capacity of the water available from sources (third party water vendors) in New Mexico,\u201d Hinojosa said. She didn\u2019t know the \u201cexact volume\u201d of water sent over the state line but said it was less than 5 percent of the water it used in the Permian Basin in 2017.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cAt this time, ConocoPhillips is not using Texas water in New Mexico,\u201d Hinojosa added.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Lindsay said ConocoPhillips isn\u2019t the only company that has piped water into New Mexico over his land. He said he recently discovered a water line from Texas Pacific Land Trust, a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/articles\/2018-05-14\/the-130-year-old-bankruptcy-that-created-a-5-billion-oil-giant\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">highly profitable company<\/a> whose water sales have exploded in recent years, going over his land into New Mexico. He found another line lying alongside Ranch Road 652 whose owner could not be determined. Nor was it clear who owned several hard plastic lines \u2014 or what they were being used for \u2014 stretching across the state border near a wastewater facility not far from the Lea County Line sign.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Phone and email messages left for Texas Pacific Land Trust, a 130-year-old company that <a href=\"http:\/\/www.tpltrust.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">owns almost 900,000 acres<\/a> of land in 18 Texas counties, were not returned this week.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Meanwhile, a Houston-based water supply company, Solaris Water Midstream, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.solarismidstream.com\/news\/solaris-water-midstream-acquires-new-mexico-water-supply-business-vision-resources-inc-and\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">announced Tuesday<\/a> that it is building a pipeline that will soon deliver millions of gallons of water per day from parched West Texas to New Mexico to help alleviate what the CEO described as \u201climited sources of water\u201d constraining fracking operations in the region.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cThe high-capacity pipeline will add crucial, permanent water supply infrastructure to one of the most prolific areas in the Permian Basin and will be capable of transporting approximately 150,000 barrels [6.3 million gallons] of water per day from Loving County, Texas, to Eddy County, New Mexico,\u201d the company said. Solaris spokeswoman Casey Nikoloric said the company works closely with area landowners to ensure &#8220;all permits are in place and easement fees are paid.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">The heavy cross-state water sales come amid an unprecedented fracking boom in the northwestern Texas counties near the New Mexico border.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Fracking, short for hydraulic fracturing, uses enormous quantities of water, which drillers pressurize and shoot deep below the surface to help separate shale oil from porous rocks. In remote west Texas counties like Loving and Reeves, water lines zigzag between frac pits \u2014 above-ground pools lined with plastic \u2014 that dot the horizon. The drilling frenzy has filled hotels, torn up roads and boosted oil company profits all over the Permian Basin.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">But oil isn\u2019t the only liquid landowners are turning into quick cash. Suddenly, ranchers who once coaxed cotton out of the desert are finding their water is more valuable than the crops they once irrigated with it.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of individuals that have sold a million dollars\u2019 worth of water,\u201d said Paul Weatherby, former general manager of the Middle Pecos Groundwater Conservation District. He said he\u2019s not bothered that some of it is being sold in New Mexico.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cYou don\u2019t stop at the border for anything,\u201d he said. \u201cYou drive across it on a trip. Ranchers own land in both states; farmers own land in both states. Oil and gas doesn\u2019t recognize the border. Water doesn\u2019t recognize the border.\u201d<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Still, water and how it\u2019s used can be a touchy subject around here. In the early 1950s, a crown jewel of Fort Stockton \u2014 Comanche Springs \u2014 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.texasobserver.org\/playing-by-the-rule\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">dried up<\/a> amid heavy pumping by farmers, most famously Clayton Williams Sr. An ensuing court battle reaffirmed the landmark 1904 decision upholding the \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.twdb.texas.gov\/publications\/reports\/numbered_reports\/doc\/R361\/1%20CH%20Potter.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">rule of capture<\/a>\u201d \u2014 giving landowners broad control over the water under their property \u2014 and Comanche Springs never recovered.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Williams\u2019 son, Clayton Williams Jr., who lost the 1990 governor\u2019s race to Ann Richards, later rattled Fort Stockton with a plan to pump his water from the rural area to thirsty cities like Midland and Odessa. The battle dragged on for years, culminating in a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.oaoa.com\/news\/government\/city_of_odessa\/article_646af8e2-311d-11e7-9105-4f96f209de08.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">2017 settlement<\/a> that allows for limited water exports.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Tangling over water with New Mexico isn\u2019t new, either \u2014 particularly when it comes to the Rio Grande and Pecos Rivers. A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.texastribune.org\/2018\/03\/05\/federal-government-may-fight-texas-water-dispute-us-supreme-court-rule\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">battle<\/a> over distribution of water from the Rio Grande recently went to the U.S. Supreme Court, where Texas claimed a preliminary victory in March in an ongoing water war.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">In this new water-war battlefront, the New Mexico land commissioner argues that the rule of capture should not allow one state to negatively impact another\u2019s aquifer. Dunn also is trying to determine if the landowners and companies selling water in New Mexico are paying taxes on it as required.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Robert McEntyre, spokesman for the New Mexico Oil &amp; Gas Association, said his members believe in robust compliance with all regulations and tax laws.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">&#8220;If we&#8217;re running lines across state trust lands or federal lands, we should have the proper permits, and the proper taxes should be paid. I don&#8217;t think anyone is contesting that,&#8221; he said. &#8220;But I do think it would be irresponsible for the land commissioner to paint the entire industry with a broad brush over what seems to be a handful of cases.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Dunn says he worries about the long-term impact of pumping so much groundwater for use in oil and gas extraction. That pumping lowers the amount of water that feeds rivers and streams, he said.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cYou&#8217;re taking a resource that&#8217;s not really rechargeable, and using it,\u201d Dunn said. \u201cI think in the long run water is going to be more valuable than oil.\u201d<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Midland veterinarian Michael McCulloch, who owns land in both Texas and New Mexico and advocates for water conservation, said it\u2019s the disharmony in interstate water law that\u2019s helping to deplete the land\u2019s most precious resource.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cWe need to think about how this is going to affect our kids and grandkids down the road,\u201d McCulloch said. \u201cIt does bother me a little bit that New Mexico regulates how much water I can use, but it would be nice if we could have a compromise between the two states, and Texas conserves a little bit more water and New Mexico maybe lightens up a bit on their water law.\u201d<script src=\"https:\/\/cdn.texastribune.org\/pixel\/dot.min.29c708b3d0da5d17a725.js\" integrity=\"sha384-8Xwf\/TlQnmHiajg1t3dn8w4qlF1rmV33o5NAQVXYu0T2q3rHV5579zrSmRjh+XnM\" crossorigin=\"anonymous\" data-tt-canonical=\"https:\/\/www.texastribune.org\/2018\/06\/07\/texas-landowners-new-mexico-stealing-water-fracking\/\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Water restrictions in New Mexico have created a supply crunch for the fracking industry, so more free-flowing Texas water is helping to fill the void.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":590245,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[3323,2260,277],"class_list":["post-590239","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","tag-aubrey-dunn","tag-texas","tag-water"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/590239","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=590239"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/590239\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/590245"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=590239"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=590239"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=590239"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}