Fracking wastewater will stay in Lujan Grisham's strategic water plan

Feb. 27—Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham will sign a final set of legislative bills next week, but one she wanted to see on her desk will be missing: a provision for $100 million to jumpstart a strategic water supply for New Mexico.

The governor announced the plan to tap the state's massive brackish water and fracking wastewater potential at the United Nations climate summit in Dubai in December, saying she would request $500 million in severance tax bonds from the Legislature to pay for it.

These would be new and bountiful sources of water that could be used in the state's growing manufacturing sector, sparing New Mexico's freshwater supply that's expected to decrease by 25% as a changing climate makes the state more arid, the governor said in Dubai and at a later news conference.

But most lawmakers weren't sold on the idea — first whittling the ambitious funding request to $100 million, then scuttling it.

One of the main concerns they expressed was having the state buy, treat and distribute fracking wastewater, commonly known as produced water, given that it's laced with toxic chemicals.

The governor agreed to take out the produced water provision in an 11th-hour effort to secure this round of funding, but to no avail. She will have to wait until next year's legislative session to try again.

So will the future strategy be to remove produced water from the mix?

The short answer is no.

The governor's spokeswoman indicated Tuesday the longterm water plan will include this fracking byproduct.

"Produced water and brackish water have the potential to be game-changers in our state as temperatures rise and water becomes more scarce," spokeswoman Maddy Hayden wrote in an email. "There seems to be a basic — and perhaps intentional — misunderstanding here. Treated produced water is not going to be discharged into the environment, let alone sprayed on fields or pumped into drinking water systems."

Hayden reiterated the argument that treating and reusing produced water for manufacturing will conserve freshwater resources.

It also will reduce the amount of produced water that operators will have to inject back underground, decreasing the potential for earthquakes, she added.

And it could supply the water to generate clean energy, she wrote, referring to what's known as green hydrogen.

This type of hydrogen is extracted from water, which is considered a cleaner method than separating it from natural gas but also deemed impractical in an arid state like New Mexico because it requires huge amounts of water.

Lujan Grisham has said tapping brackish and produced waters would solve this problem.

Environmentalists fervently oppose reusing this byproduct for anything other than fracking. They contend the high level of toxins would be difficult to purge with the current technology and could pose a health hazard to workers and communities.

"We don't have the technology yet, and I'm not aware that we're even close to it," said state Sen. Antoinette Sedillo Lopez, D-Albuquerque, who opposed funding the water plan. "So I think it's pretty risky at this point."

But even if produced water were omitted from the plan, Sedillo Lopez said she'd still have a problem with the idea of "commodifying" water to this extent.

The plan calls for the state to buy the brackish and produced water as part of contracts to encourage companies to build treatment plants and other needed infrastructure.

Sedillo Lopez questioned why private industry should be involved. Instead, the government could invest the money directly into building the treatment and desalinization plants, keeping everything in the public's hands, she said.

That's how countries like Israel do it, she said.

"I'm still having a hard time wrapping my mind around commercializing water," Sedillo Lopez said, "instead of using it under a constitutional system where the water belongs to the people."

As long as the private sector is part of the equation, she probably won't support using public money for it, she said.

Mariel Nanasi, executive director of Santa Fe-based New Energy Economy, had an even harsher assessment of the plan, saying it was based on politics instead of science.

Buying produced water is a giveaway to the fossil fuel industry, which has donated generously to the governor's election campaigns, Nanasi said, citing a report that estimates oil and gas companies contributed roughly $880,000.

Earmarking $100,000 to research brackish water and its pros and cons is reasonable, but spending $100 million is premature and irresponsible, Nanasi argued. The money is better spent on fixing the leaks and other flaws in the current water infrastructure, she said.

Modernizing water systems and mapping aquifers are among the list of 10 suggested actions by a group of experts, Nanasi said. "They're not as sexy as what the governor proposes, but they're realistic."

But Hayden wrote that any treated water the state buys through the strategic water supply program would be subject to stringent regulatory standards. Safety would be foremost throughout the process, she added.

She dismissed accusations of donor influence as "a tired and false narrative."

"[It] clearly continues to be a go-to talking point for advocacy groups who — without fail — refuse to acknowledge the monumental work of this administration with regard to climate and the environment," Hayden wrote.