The big point made by advocates for Mora’s policy of banning oil and gas drilling (as I discussed recently) is that water is more important than oil or natural gas. That may sound like a valid point, but this is a very interesting article which notes that fracking uses far less water in the United States than golf courses. See the following chart on water usage by fuel source:
Of course, water IS a precious resource and the free market HATES the loss of a valuable resources. So, naturally, there are companies out there that are working to recycle frack water. And, according to the article, 20% of frack water is already recycled.
Rather than banning a particular process (Mora County hasn’t just banned fracking, but ALL oil and gas drilling), it might be worth pushing for procedures like water recycling that will make fracking and oil and gas drilling more environmentally-friendly than they already are.
In the 1970’s Walter Famariss set out to build a new refinery in Dona Ana County. He wanted it there because of good pipeline access locally. Certain people in the area opposed the refinery because of the supposedly large water use. They cited the water requirements in “gallons per year.” I was suspicious so I converted the water amounts to “acre feet per year” and I immediately saw the water was only enough to water a 320 acre farm — a relatively small amount of water. But the gallons per year amounts stuck in the public mind and the refinery was not built in Dona Anna County but rather in Lea County which was friendly to the oil and gas business.
The same mentality continues today. I suspect these opponents of development aren’t really concerned with water use but just want to stop development.