by Tracy McCue, Sumner Newscow — With the possibility of an oil boom coming to Sumner County, so comes concerns for another commodity undoubtedly even more precious to the area — water.

After nearly three years of speculation, mineral rights haggling, and news of oil riches elsewhere, Sumner County is starting to see its first oil rigs pull into the area.

The water hydrant at U.S. 160 and Seneca connected to a hose to the new oil well.

Source Energy Partners, headquartered in Highlands Ranch, Colo., was the first to stake down near Wellington in 2013. The drilling company is located on property owned by Robert Miller — west of the Kansas Turnpike and north of U.S. 160. The company touts itself on its website as a “resource development company with oil and gas interests focused on the Mississippian Lime Play in Oklahoma and Kansas.” It is the first company within the Wellington city zoning district to start the horizontal drilling process.

While the idea of oil production can whet the appetite of those hoping for new riches in the area, there is another sight that has caused concern.

A water hose connects the city water hydrant at Seneca Road and East Highway U.S. 160 to the new oil well. That hydrant, located where the old turnpike motel once sat, connects to the line that services the KTA gate with Wellington city water.

Sumner Newscow has received e-mails from concerned citizen on the subject. One person, who wishes to remain anonymous, was especially concerned:

“After watching the meter, it was determined that 7,100 gallons of water was used in 35 minutes,” the person in the e-mail stated.  “That would be about 336,000 gallons a day for one well. As precious as water is in this drought, I believe many citizens of Wellington would be very upset upon learning this.

“The city is talking about rationing and they are selling it off to the oil companies behind our back. Not just that, but they won’t allow a rural meter to someone who wants to build outside the city limits. But they sure allow these companies who won’t be here more than year to gorge it…”

Sumner Newscow is obviously not the only source to be receiving such complaints. Wellington City Manager Gus Collins said he has been receiving a lot of inquiries. So much so that he addressed the council briefly at Tuesday’s meeting. A city council work session has also been called on Wednesday to address the subject.

Collins position…

The Wellington City has sold the use of 2.2 million gallons of “potable” water, i.e. treated water, to Source Energy at a rate of  $4.40 per thousand gallons. That equates to $9,680 to the city.

Oil drilling by Source Energy.

While 2.2 million gallons sounds like a lot, Collins said comparably speaking to the total water consumption used in Wellington it is not. On average, 1 million gallons of water is consumed a day during the winter months in Wellington.  That figure jumps to 2.5 to 3 million gallons per day during the peak summer months of July and August.

“I will never, ever compromise the use of potable water that would negatively affect the community,” Collins said.

And Collins said this is a one-time situation. His hope is that since this is the first oil drilling company, that things will go very well thus sparking an oil boom to come.

“If they hit big, that will trigger huge interest from others,” Collins said.

Although the oil drilling is outside of the city limits, it is within the three-mile exterior radius surrounding Wellington and falls within its planning jurisdiction.

Council member Jan Korte said the city has sufficient water rights to supply this agreement with the drilling company.

“The city has a rationing policy to follow in the event water rationing is necessary,” Korte said. “The city is not at this time discussing water rationing.”

The drought of the past two years has put significant strain on the Wellington water supply. The Wellington Lake to the west, which is the primary source for Wellington’s water supply, is currently 61 inches below normal due to the drought.

The city has started to pump from the Chikaskia River to the west into the Wellington Lake, Korte said. Thus the lake level has increased by nine inches. The city has taken about one third of the water allowed from the river as of Feb. 11.

Water from the nine water wells is still available for use, she said.

While the winter storm of this week may have supplied a little bit of moisture, it is nominal compared to what the city is hoping to get with spring rains.

Fracking and water…

Collins said when Kevan Eddy, a sandman out of Edmond, Okla. working for Source Energy, approached him a few weeks back, he said the company would need 60 to 80 million gallons of water to make the operation work. That is a lump sum of potable water the city was not able, nor willing, to expend.

With hydraulic fracturing, water is injected into the ground at a high pressure to help crack shale rock and bring oil to the surface. The industry says it takes as much as 2 million gallons of water to drill a single horizontal well in Kansas, according to a CNN Money article (see story here).

Most drillers use groundwater or surface water from ponds and river. Water permits in south-central Kansas have soared to the highest level in 30 years.

Harper County to the west is fully aware of the water issue that comes with an oil boom. One company turned Harper County’s biggest lake into a water source. Select Energy excavated Anthony Lake so it can hold more rainfall last spring.

Local Harper County farmers and landowners are also making money by digging their ponds deeper, praying for more rain, and then selling whatever water they have to oil companies.

The water used for fracking amounts to less than 1 percent of the state’s overall use, the article said. But water supplies are already so tight, it’s difficult for farmers to ensure they have enough for irrigation.

Also, water used in fracking cannot be recycled for other uses because it is mixed with chemicals, said Joe Spease, chairman of the hydraulic fracturing committee at the Sierra Club.

The proposal…

As far as Wellington is concerned, Collins has come up with a proposal.

This Wednesday when the Wellington Council meets, they will discuss using “grey water,” as a water supply means for Source Energy.

“What is grey water?” you may ask. That is the water that has been used by you and I whether in the laundry, or in the shower, or down the toilet that is sent to the Wastewater Treatment Plant on south Botkin.

Collins said Wellington has 10 million gallons of grey water in reserve at the plant, and 1 million gallons are collected a day and discharged. His proposal is to allow Source Energy to use this water for its needs.

The trouble with the proposal is the government is standing in the way of the government.

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment has no problem with the proposal. However, the Kansas Division of Water Resources has denied the request.

“It’s strange because both departments work for the same state of Kansas,” Collins said.

“It would be a win-win situation for both the city and the drilling company,” Korte said.

But if this does not work out, Collins said the city is looking at other proposals including having the oil company assist in constructing other water supplies to the city of Wellington in exchange for its use of water.

It is all part of the irony: while oil and water don’t mix, when it comes to drilling, the elements most certainly mix.