Eagle Ford Shale

Water Supply and Demand

Stephen Jester, P.E.
Eagle Ford Shale Play

Eagle Ford Shale

Texas Association of Counties. The County Information Project.

http://www.county.org/cip/Products/CountyMap.pdf
Eagle Ford Shale Water Demand

 Total Water demand estimate based on:

 Forecasted number of future wells

 Estimated water demand per well

 823 wells drilled, 394 completions in 2010

 Number of rigs ramping up
Eagle Ford Shale Water Demand

 Potential 20,000 wells at full 

development*

 Water demand per well

90,000 to 115,000 bbls

11.5 to 15 acre-feet

 Primary source of water - groundwater

*”Eagle Ford Shale Play and the Carrizo Aquifer”, Darrell Brownlow, PhD, Fountainhead 4th qtr 2010
Eagle Ford Shale Water Demand

 EF Shale development assume over 

10-15 years

 Rate of 1300 to 2000 wells/yr

 At 11.5 -15 acre-ft/well,

15,000 to 30,000 acre-feet water demand/yr
Other Water Demands in EF

2008 Water Use Survey Summary Estimates in Acre-Feet1) 

Eagle Ford Counties

Source: TX Water Development Board (http://www.twdb.state.tx.us/wrpi/wus/2008est/2008wus.asp)

Region County

Population 

Estimat

es2) Municipal Manufacturing Mining Steam Electric Irrigation Livestock 

L ATASCOSA 43,829 6,483 15 64 6,448 29,661 1,696

L DEWITT 20,166 3,573 129 63 0 13,094 1,849

L DIMMIT 9,964 2,267 0 0 0 7,069 517

L FRIO 16,333 2,583 0 0 189 83,725 889

L GONZALES 19,223 4,635 1,892 0 0 4,143 4,735

L KARNES 15,348 2,907 48 0 0 1,038 1,064

L LA SALLE 5,962 1,404 0 0 0 4,491 585

L WILSON 40,979 6,049 9 0 0 14,332 1,730

L ZAVALA 11,844 2,812 566 0 0 37,692 1,146

N BEE 33,117 5,221 0 0 0 6,270 856

N LIVE OAK 12,082 2,017 2,056 0 0 1,934 838

N MCMULLEN 859 173 0 219 0 0 395

P LAVACA 19,435 2,991 414 2 0 5,368 2,088

M WEBB 238,269 39,301 17 160 1,092 3,738 1,056

K COLORADO 21,774 3,131 151 15,741 0 134,720 1,634

K FAYETTE 24,116 3,262 224 2 19,146 76 2,130

Total 88,809 5,521 16,251 26,875 347,351 23,208 
EF Water Demand Comparison

2008 Water Use Survey Summary Estimates 

Eagle Ford Counties

Livestock 

4%

Drilling & 

Completions

3-6%

Irrigation 

66%

Steam Electric

5%

Mining 

3%

Manufacturing 

1%

Municipal 

17%

538,000 Ac-Ft Total

347,000 ac-ft

30,000 ac-ft

Source: TX Water Development Board (http://www.twdb.state.tx.us/wrpi/wus/2008est/2008wus.asp)
Gulf Coast Aquifer

Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer

Source- Texas Water Development Board
Groundwater Supply Availability

 TWDB 2007 State Water Plan*

 Gulf Coast Aquifer – 1,800,000 ac-ft availability

 Vs 1,200,000 ac-ft demand

 Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer – 1,000,000 Ac-ft availability

 Vs 450,000 ac-ft demand

 Groundwater Supply in Eagle Ford Area

 Northern portion (Karnes County and 

north/east) – Gulf Coast Aquifer

 Southern portion (Karnes County and 

south/west) – Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer

*http://www.twdb.state.tx.us/publications/reports/State_Water_Plan/2007/Chapter7.pdf
Water Supply - North

Northern Area of Eagle Ford Shale

 Supplied mainly by Gulf Coast Aquifer

 Central Gulf Coast Aquifer overlaps northern EF in 

Karnes County and to North and East

 Central Gulf Coast Groundwater Availability 

Model*:

 About 620,000 ac-ft annual flow through 

 30 percent rainfall

 70 percent stream seepage

 Annual Pumping in 1999 was 420,000 ac-ft

*http://www.twdb.state.tx.us/gam/glfc_c/glfc_c_TWDB_SummaryReport.pdf Pp 26, 88
Water Supply - South

Southern Area of Eagle Ford Shale

 Supplied mainly by Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer

 Southern region of C-W Aquifer overlaps Eagle Ford 

from Karnes County to Zavala and Dimmit Counties

 Southern Carrizo-Wilcox Groundwater 

Availability Model*

 About 370,000 ac-ft annual flow through

 87 percent recharge

 12 percent streams

 Annual pumping estimated at 190,000 ac-ft/yr

*Source: GAM for Southern Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer, TWDB pp 8-20, 4-89

(http://www.twdb.state.tx.us/gam/czwx_s/CZWX_S_Full_Report.pdf)
Summary

 Projected Oil & Gas Industry Water 

Demand in Eagle Ford:

 approximately 3-6% of Total Demand

 Texas Water Development Board data 

show sufficient aquifer supply to meet 

demand over this area.

 Local conditions should be monitored to 

avoid impacts