Enough Water in Western North Dakota for Fracking? You Betcha

As posted earlier, the US Army Corps of Engineers has agreed to release 100,000 acre-feet of water from the Missouri River for industrial uses (fracking).  For a fee.

When this discussion first came up, the Corps said there was not enough water in the Missouri for fracking.

100,000 acre-feet is enough to frack 10,000 wells/year. That is about ten times more water than needed. It is estimated that somewhere between 1,000 and 1,500 wells will be fracked in North Dakota this calendar year.

It was interesting to note that within the past couple of weeks it has come to light that the US Army Corps of Engineers flood plan for western North Dakota is .... drum roll .... 100,000 acre-feet above the plan.

I have not seen anyone else note the coincidental nature of these two facts: how much the Corps is willing to release, and the current state of the Corps' flood plan. The numbers were identical.

Today, it is being reported that flooding is expected again this spring in western North Dakota.

The National Weather Service says flooding risk is "well above average" for many locations on the James, Knife, Cannonball and Little Missouri rivers and Little Muddy, Apple and Beaver creeks.

According to a flood outlook the National Weather Service released on Thursday, all historical weather patterns would produce flooding in many locations in western or central North Dakota. That means something out of the ordinary would have to happen for flooding to be averted in those places, given the current snowpack and water flow conditions. Knife River, Apple Creek, Little Muddy Creek, James River and Pipestem Creek all are very likely to face flooding, according to the historical models, hydrologist Allen Schlag said.

By the way, BEXP has started taking water from the Missouri, previously reported at this site.