Campbell County, WY

Coalbed Methane Water Wreaks Havoc Downstream

By Ed Swartz

I own a ranch in Campbell County, Wyoming. The really good feature of our ranch is Wildcat Creek, which meanders about eight miles through the ranch. It flows only during snowmelt or violent storms, and it is typically dry nine or more months of the year. I have water rights on alluvial meadows, which provide winter hay supplies and a lot of our winter grazing.

In early October 1999, coalbed methane discharge water started flowing across my ranch from a neighbor's property. This water ran all winter and finally stopped in late April 2000. When this water evaporated in the spring and summer of 2000, I noticed that all the vegetation and grasses which I usually graze in the winter were dead. This usually dry streambed's soil could not stand water for such a long period of time.  Alkali was drawn from the clay soils, and salts and sodium were dropped out of the water. This caused the vegetation to die and left white salt and alkali deposits on the surface.

The next flood will wash these deposits out on my hay meadows and probably kill my alfalfa and grass hay. These same meadows have been irrigated in every flood since about 1901 and there has never been a loss of vegetation or as much salt and alkali deposits as I got with just seven months of what the agencies say is drinkable coalbed methane water.

Other coalbed methane companies, probably knowing what damage the water could cause, started building reservoirs in the drainages above my water rights to store the water. An employee of the Wyoming State Engineer's office (which is in charge of water rights) told me that there were at least 30 new, unpermitted reservoirs above my water rights.

When I started raising hell about interference with my water rights, the State Engineer allowed the coalbed methane companies to permit these reservoirs as permanent livestock reservoirs instead of industrial coalbed methane water storage reservoirs, which could be removed once development is complete.

One day's coalbed methane water would supply my ranch's water needs for 127 years - in dry years with no reservoir water. Can we afford to lose this much groundwater? What damages will be caused to the soils and vegetation from this much water?

It's way past time for action. I and other ranchers have too much to lose.