State commission continues discussions on expanding wastewater reuse

Oil and gas operations in New Mexico produce hundreds of millions of gallons of wastewater per day, but the state isn’t allowed to recycle that water outside the oil fields. The New Mexico Environment Department wants to change that, and conversations around doing so started up again on Tuesday.

Amid a megadrought and worsening climate change, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s administration has prioritized nontraditional water reuse, including that of produced water.

It’s a naturally occurring byproduct of oil and gas operations, saline water with oil residues and other chemicals that must be treated for safe reuse, according to the state Environment Department. Much more produced water comes out of the ground than oil and gas in drilling operations; NMED estimates that for every oil barrel produced, which is 42 gallons, four to seven times more barrels of produced water come out of the ground, or 168 to 294 gallons.

The Environment Department petitioned the Water Quality Control Commission, which adopts water regulations, for a rulemaking in December 2023, asking for an expansion of what kind of wastewater reuse is allowed in New Mexico, including produced water. That process is ongoing, and the environment agency can’t move forward with its water reuse proposal unless the commission approves it.

The Water Quality Control Commission met multiple times in 2024 to consider the proposal, pausing deliberation for months between roughly weeklong meetings while also going back and forth with environmental and oil and gas groups for input on the rule. The hearing started up again Tuesday and could continue through Thursday in Santa Fe.

Disputes resurfaced on the lengthy first day of this week’s hearing, particularly around the discharge of produced water into surface or ground waters. Environmental advocates in particular have voiced concerns that produced water isn’t safe for reuse, though the Environment Department has repeated that there’s scientific data backing the treated reuse.

The state agency has pointed to projects like hemp farms or green hydrogen production as examples of produced water reuse, specifying it wouldn’t be recycled for drinking water.

A motion to categorically ban the discharge of oil and gas wastewater outside the fossil fuel industry failed in a tie vote Tuesday.

The state needs to develop standards around known toxic substances in produced water and do more research on unknown toxins, said Rachel Conn, deputy director of conservation organization Amigos Bravos, in the online comment section of the live hearing Tuesday.

“So basically a discharge permit could be issued based on a demonstration that the discharge will meet standards … but the discharge could still be toxic and extremely harmful to the environment and public health because we don’t have the appropriate standards in place to evaluate the quality of the discharge,” she said.

The concerns echo those some legislators had during this year’s session, particularly in regard to the Strategic Water Supply Act, which Lujan Grisham signed into law on Tuesday. The bill focused on brackish water reuse. It initially contained provisions incentivizing the treatment and reuse of produced water, but bill sponsors stripped that out during the session.

The water commission was successful in a few other motions Tuesday, including instituting a Dec. 31, 2030, expiration date on the potential rule.

The commission will continue the hearing Wednesday at 9 a.m. Information on attending the meeting in person in Santa Fe or online can be found at www.env.nm.gov/events-calendar/.