Texans talk future of water supply at West Texas Legislative Summit

SAN ANGELO, Texas ( Concho Valley Homepage ) — Would you eat crops that were grown with water that came from the same soil as an oil field? If so, “produced water” may just be for you — and, possibly, the rest of Texas.

Major politicians and industry leaders gathered in San Angelo for the 2024 West Texas Legislative Summit on Tuesday, July 30, bringing several influential figures under one roof to discuss the future of the Lone Star State. One such topic of discussion was produced water, which is defined as “water that exists in subsurface formations and is brought to the surface during oil and gas production” by the Ground Water Protection Council .

“You only get produced water when you are producing oil, that’s just the nature of it,” Rusty Smith, executive director of the Texas Produced Water Consortium, said. “When you are producing oil, you are also producing water from that same well.”

This liquid is brought out of the ground with crude oil during oil production and contains a variety of solids and chemicals used during the production process. Oil operations found throughout Texas, especially those in the Permian Basin, have led the Railroad Commission of Texas to oversee a pilot program run with the goal of treating produced water for use in agriculture.

“The quantity of that water you see, what we call the ‘water-to-oil ratio,’ that number differs in each basin, and it also differs by the well depending on the life of that well,” Smith said. “The longer that that well proceeds, the longer that that well is producing, the more water that you start to see coming up with that oil each time.”

Produced water sourced from oil production has already been utilized in watering crops in California, including almonds and pistachios. If successfully treated and implemented in the Texas agricultural industry, produced water could be used to more readily address growing water demands from farmers.

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