Ok, so I find myself selling water for drilling operations. This is all coming out of my pond. I have already sold water for 10 cents a barrel for one site. The company offered me a nickel a barrel and I countered with a quarter. They said they couldn't pay me that and countered a dime a barrel...... I live in central Oklahoma and we have been suffering through a drought. I just don't have a clue as to what to charge these folks for future operations in the area. I know that trucking water in would be expensive, but without rain, my pond will be bone dry by July or August! It doesn't rain much in those two months and the temperatures sore into the 100's! We average 35 inches of rain in these parts in a normal year. I understand that places in the South receive much more rain and pond water will probably be cheaper, but this is Oklahoma where people pray for rain, especially farmers. I need some direction here folks. I have a deep pond, but my shoreline is down to less than an acre and this pond used to be 1.5 acres in size! The pond is stocked with Channel Cats, Largemouth Bass, and Hybrid Bluegill. I don't want to lose my fish and pond over a couple thousand dollars.......... Help! What should I ask for in return? Thanks folks....

I don't know much about the price of water in OK, but I would figure out what I had invested in fish and everything else(just in case you lose some fish) and then figure how many barrels of water would take me down to about half full. After that I would divide my investment by the number of barrels and tell them that's what I want or go buy it somewhere else.

How many barrels are they going to need?

If they needed 1,000, you would make $100. That would equal 55,000 gallons. I think I would tell them to get water elsewhere. It's too hard to come by in dry areas to let them dictate the terms.

Let me start off by saying that I don't know the first thing about drilling, and selling water. Not a lot of that goes on in Indiana. But I am very curious as to how such an arrangement would work.
Are you under any obligation to sell them your water, or is it strictly voluntary on the part of the landowner? Do you have a reason for wanting to stay on their good side? Do you stand to gain anything other than the price paid to you for your water?

My reason for asking is this: according to my math, if you were to sell water at 10 cents a barrel, and made $2000.00, then they will have removed 1,100,000 gallons from your pond. On a 1.5 acre BOW, that will drop the depth by over 2 feet, exposing a lot of shoreline.

If I were under no obligation to sell them the water, there is no way I would let it go that cheap, if I would even sell it at all. Which, under the drought circumstances you spoke of, would not be very likely.

Also, besides doing the math and computing the area of exposed shoreline to get a rough idea, how do you know how much water they take? Do you take their word on it, or is it metered somehow? Seems like an arrangement that would benefit the company far more than the pond owner.

On a different note, with two limited reproducing species such as CC and HBG as the primary forage for your LMB, I would think the bass might be a little on the thin side. If you don't mind me asking, what are your management goals, and how is it working out?

Well, here's what I have in mind. I plan on enlarging the pond. I also plan on clearing it. It looks like watered down tomato soup. I told the drilling company to take all the red water, but leave the clear. LOL! Sorry, I've had a beer or two tonight. The pond is down about 5 ft., but still has a hole that's 13 ft. deep. I'd like to drop the level even more, dredge the bottom and level out the deep spots so that it isn't deeper than 12 ft. when bank full. I plan on putting rip-rap along the dam and place Bermuda sod on top of the dam. I want to gravel the bottom and place sod wherever runoff is an issue as to not silt in the pond with more red clay. I'd also like to dig down to the spring that oozes water into the pond and get it dumping at least 500 gallons a day vs. a few gallons a day. The pond has no structure so I plan on sinking/anchoring some red cedars. I may place some larger boulders in some spots for more structure....... I've been holding off on a lot of expense until I get my Farm Tax ID #. I got that in the mail yesterday and this will save me money on my investments in my land and pond. I pay no tax for anything farm related. This includes alum, hydrated lime, rock, fish food, fish etc........ I'm working on a contract with West Star Drilling right now. They took out 12,500 barrels(42 gallons)when they initially drilled. This second need for water was used for hydro-fracking the well. It required 60,000 barrels, much more water and my pond wouldn't support their needs. They want to dredge the pond, drill a water well, and keep my pond bank full for future needs. They said they'd take care of stocking the fish, too. I have 40 acres here and am retired, at the age of 54. My goal is to serve the needs of the drilling company while maintaining an aesthetically pleasing/appealing pond for my kids and grandchildren when they come to visit. I want fish so I can eat some from time to time......Oh, and another issue is runoff during rains. If I get an inch of rain, the pond rises just a tad over that, maybe two inches max. If I drill a water well, this wouldn't be an issue, but I believe I need more runoff anyway..... There is no vegetation in the pond and this is also a concern that needs to be addressed. No matter how I look at it, I've got a lot of homework, negotiations, and work ahead of me. Again, I'm thankful for finding this site and will get deeper involved and donate in the future. Right now I have my hands full with construction of a house, a tornado shelter, a pole barn, and a "Man Cave", to get away from my Okie, squaw bride when she's on the warpath! LOL! Thanks for your interest and input.......

It sounds like a heck of a deal. Personally, I'd see if I can get the pond deeper if possible. Ponds have a tendancy to fill in over time (or a short length of time like mine did) and having it deeper will lengthen the time until you have to dredge it out again. I dug mine to 22' depth, and within a month Hurricane Ike washed in about 3 to 4 feet of sediment. this winter I had low water going into the winter, and I ended up having between 11 and 12 feet of water in the pond under the ice.

Will the well have enough capacity (GPM) to fill the pond? Will the $$ gained by selling the water be more than enough to pay for the electricity to run the well?

Won't the deep water establish a thermocline? Isn't this dangerous to the fish for a small pond? A water well from my aquifer will be like turning on your city water tap. I'd venture that its close to 20 gallons a minute??????? My theory is that with the Bermuda grass and rock around the edges that silt wouldn't be that big of an issue. Leaves in the Fall would be a bigger concern to me. I'm going to get someone from the State of Oklahoma to come advise me on what to do and expect. They do this for free and I believe it would give me some much needed guidance on achieving my goals. I figure that between them and this forum, I'll be a Certified Pondologist in no time! LOL! I'll post some before and after pics on here so you folks can oooooh and awww over my little pond! LOL!

I forgot.......yeah, I'm gonna hit them up for the electric bill on that 10 acres since the only electricity used will be for pond water replenishment.

I would make sure, contractually, that they continue to pay the electric bill. How much can the well produce? One acre of water, one inch deep, is 27,000 gallons. The cost of running the well might just unretire a 54 year old Okie.

Tell us more about the spring. Depending on location(depth) those things can be a bigger liability than asset.

All ponds establish a thermocline and the fish spend most of their life above it. That's where the oxygen is.

Some guys from the State are OK and others only understand crops and things that go moo.

This is a new industry and it's hitting PA also.

Yes with a deep pond a thermocline will be established if no aeration is present. But, that allows the thermocline room to move up and down if the water level does the same, where in a shallow pond you might run out of water in dry times if the well won't support the pond. My well pumps 28 gpm, and with the sandy soil it is barely enough to keep the pond at one level, let alone fill it during low water times of the year. 50 to 100 gpm would be a whole lot better.

To replace one acre foot of water would take running a 20 gpm well 271 hours. (325851 gallons)

Well the spring is pretty much just a wet area on the east side of the pond. It's quite sandy over there and I believe the spring just oozes maybe a couple gallons of water a day. I'm not sure that even constitutes being advertised as "spring fed", but it sure was a selling point when I purchased the property! LOL! Maybe it does better during the wet season, I don't know. I just purchased this land back in July of 2010 so this pond is still a mystery to me.......The 5 inches of rain we received a week ago didn't really raise the water level as much as I'd hoped. Maybe I need to do some dozer work so I can capture more runoff. The sand is at least 4 foot deep on top of the hill on the east side of the pond. Maybe with the dry weather, it needs to totally saturate before the pond gets any runoff. Here are some pics of the pond. They were taken in March before anything greened up. The dam is on the west side of the pond. Thanks again for your interest, expertise, and helpful input.

Here are some more pics. The 1st one in the previous post is looking west off the top of the dam. You all probably figured that I didn't have any water left at all! LOL! Pic #3 shows the "spring" feed into the pond

Thanks for the pictures.... that is some red water you have there!

Yeah, but I plan on "fixin" that problem. Right now, I'm trying to get the drilling company to pick up the tab on some of the rock and such so I don't have to go to the bank and apply for a Pond Improvement Loan! LOL!

Update:
Well the "powers that be" from the drilling company came by yesterday afternoon. Their plans are to dredge the pond, while also expanding the pond to the east, something I'd already planned to do myself. They also want to slope the east side to capture more runoff from rains and possibly dig another well on the 10 acres where the pond exists. They are also considering building another pond on the west side, below the dam. The land slopes down towards the west, from the dam, and it was my intention to build another pond down there, anyway. Right now, it's all in the planning stage. There is a private gravel road that is maintained by my neighbor and I, that split our properties. They would maintain that road for us. They would restock the existing pond and stock the new pond with fish. This all sounds good to me. Maybe I get get them to kick in the alum and hydrated lime. LOL!

Wow good for you I hope it all works out for you. Like you thought your water is worth more then they were paying if they want to do all that for you.

How long will they be using the water? Or, when does it start benefiting you? With them sucking it out, stocking could get iffy.

They're wanting exclusive water rights for 3-5 years. I get $500 a year. Every time they lay pipe to drain water, I get $250. They will also pay for the water they use, but it drops to a nickel a barrel since they are gonna be doing all these improvements. Seems like a good plan. Hell, I hope they hit the mother lode of oil! Not only do I benefit, we all will by reducing our need for foreign oil and reducing the price we pay at the pump. I'll be posting before, during, and after pics of the progress. I know you guys like to look at pics. LOL! I'll keep you all informed on the finer details. Again, thanks and have a great day!

I would make sure there is a limit they can take say 40% of pond volume from full pool. Also if you don't know alot about building ponds you should get a pond comstant to make sure it's done right.

If you don't limit the amount of water they can take you will likely have very little water for 3-5 years.

Maybe this is a good thing, but I get a bad vibe about this. Hopefully things work out for you.

The nicest guy in the world is a Landman. However, when the paperwork is signed, he's gone.

Who pays for electricity to fill the pond once it's drained?

Remember the golden rule - "The man with the gold makes the rule"

They will. If they want that pond bank full! Drilling for water runs about $12 a ft. around here. Our well is at 160 ft. If they hit water at 160 ft., it would cost them less than $2,000 to drill. They may just use some other type of pump to extract the water from below the aquifer. Possibly something that runs off of gasoline or diesel. I saw this done once in Mississippi. It was shooting a huge amount of water into a newly constructed pond. The guy said it was cheaper and quicker than using electricity, but there again, fuel was much cheaper back then. Bottom line, the improvements I'm wanting to make are going to cost me thousands of dollars. If I can get the drilling company to pick up the tab, why not? I'll have a way to refill the pond, even during drought conditions, and the drilling company picks up the tab.........As far as the fish goes, someone on here said that the largemouth didn't have enough to feed off of, so should I get a few hundred minnows tossed in too?

While I'm thinking of it.........My well water is ice cold. If my pond water is sitting at ......lets say 82 degrees, will the introduction of 55 degree water hurt the fish?

Not only will the cold water (if in enough volume) drastically change the water temp in the pond, but if it isn't run over something to agitate the water as it goes into the pond, it will drastically reduce the O2 levels in the pond as well. Well water is mostly devoid of O2. It will rapidly pick up O2 from the air, but not if it's pumped directly into the water that is already in the pond. It needs some type of exposure to air to pick up the O2, and the more well water that is exposed to the air, the faster that it picks up the O2.

Changing the pond temp all depends on the quantity of water left in the pond, and how fast the water is pumped in. I didn't notice any temp change when pumping 28 gpm into a 1 ac pond other than right close to where the water was entering the pond.

One thing Bob in 3-5 years you get total control back so it is a good deal to me. It might sound to good to be true but maybe in the oil companies eyes it's their best option.

As far as the cold well water
Try Keeping it close to full pool as they are removing water you should be adding

Are you willing to do supplemental feeding and buy feed trained fish that could solve some of the forage problems due to fertility of pond.

As you can see I am from Canada and I am not an expert when it comes to bass but I know alot about cold water

Thanks Esshup. I sorta planned on letting it run in, or spraying it in. Maybe running it across rocks for 50 ft. will agitate it and warm it a couple of degrees, huh? By the way, I donated to the cause yesterday and I also started a 2 year subscription to Pond Boss. The information I have received is invaluable and this forum appears to have a bunch of really nice folks on it willing to share information and experience.

I agree, keeping it at full pool as much as you can will greatly diminish the temp fluctuation.

While not that aesthetically pleasing as a rock stream, Cecil's solution of running well water (@ 50 gpm) thru a series of hanging 5 gallon buckets that were filled with a type of biological filter balls worked well enough for him to raise trout in a pond year round. IIRC he had 4 or 5 buckets, one above the other. The bottoms were cut out enough to let the water fall from one bucket to another, but screening was in place to keep the bio balls in the buckets. The bucktes were roughly 10" apart. The water fell into a small holding tank, and overflowed into the pond via a 6" or 8" dia plastic pipe.

The buckets ended up with a bacteria growing on them that also helped remove excess iron in the water. It was a win/win situation for his water needs.

People in Central Oklahoma routinely get paid $30,000 for water they sell. I am unsure of the gallons they sell. But I know several stories of people have built at a pond at a cost of $20,000 and it has paid for itself several times over.

That's a heck of a lot more than what I got! I think I'm going to call the Corporation Commission in Oklahoma and see if they can give me some direction. If they say $2 a barrel is the going rate, I'm gonna blow a head gasket! Now they got me where they want me! If I tell them about the knowledge I've gained, they'll go find some other poor schmuck to bend over the barrel!

I will try to find out how many gallons or barrels they sell for that amount.

How did you handle the Oklahoma sales tax when selling water for drilling operations?

AngBar, do individuals in OK have to charge sales tax when selling something?

I am guessing their outfit is commercial and exempt from sales tax on a consumable?

No, I received a 1099 from them. The whole dang thing stinks to high heaven! We've been in drought conditions and even though we've had good moisture as of late, my pond hasn't come up much.

I am a drilling consultant working in the middle east. When I worked in the Woodford shale in Western Ok. Mainly Canadian, Blaine county we paid .15-.20 per barrell for fracing, for drilling about $120 a day. That was without the oil company doing any work to the pond.
I have worked with a lot of companies in Oklahoma but not all. The best I have worked with is Devon energy by far. The 20-30,000 is true just shows how much water we use. I would talk to neighbors see what they get. Most farmers/ranchers come by wanting to sell water it is easy money. One thing remember these guys have deep pockets depends on the company , but for me building some fence , a little dozer work, gates etc was no problem if it kept the landowner happy.
Dale

If it were me, I'd be sinking an oil well instead of a water well!

Dang, where were you a couple years ago? I posed this question here figuring someone with a pond had been approached by an oil company at some time or other and offered a contract on water usage. It either has never, ever happened or the amount to be expected was of proprietary information! I even called the Cooperation Commission of Oklahoma asking for some kind of guidance, but to no avail. I could get the nuclear missile codes from Washington easier than I can get any information on the going price of water here in central Oklahoma!!!!! All I got was some replies as to why I would sell water from my pond to an oil company. My answer is that I'm trying to keep all of us from paying $5 for gasoline, and even more for diesel!!!!!

Perhaps yours is simply a case where nobody knew the answer Bob? Like you stated, I seem to remember that many here implied they wouldn't sell their water for any price.....coming from a forum dedicated to pond management, that would seem to indicate that many folks on here placed the health of their BOW above and beyond what it's monetary worth to a drilling operation would be. Therefore it would seem reasonable to assume that no one here knew what value ($$) to assign to your water.

Farmers are more likely to sell water than someone who manages their pond very carefully for their hobbies. This forum is full of people who manage their ponds for hobbies not just livestock watering holes and to make a profit off of. That's why no one has answered the question.

Seems odd to me that no one on this forum was ever approached by an oil company for their water from their pond!.....and when I decided to go through with it I was thinking that the windfall could be used to make my pond even better. I had no idea that we'd go through drought conditions for so long and figured the pond would fill back up quickly. I also didn't know that the runoff from the drainage basin was mostly being absorbed, being that it's sand. I was also told that my pond was spring fed. I've only owned this property since August of 2010. I've been lied to, given false information, and generally left in the dark.....but I'm a quick learner. "Ponds 101" was new to me a couple years ago. Now I know more about this pond than I do about my wife, who I've been married to for 30 years come March 31st! Live and learn. Like I said in a previous post, as soon as I can find out what oil companies should pay you for water, I'll let you all know. I'm sure it depends on where you live and annual precipitation rates. Maybe we have some folks in North Dakota, where the oil business is booming, that can weigh in.

Hmmmmmm.......dont know if this will help you since your in OK and I'm in OH, but here is a link to a water broker in our area. I was suprised to see this guy doing this because it seemed detrimental to ponds and I thought it would be hurting his businness in the long run. But, I guess we all have ponds for different reasons. Maybe he could help you out with contacts out in your area.

Here, I did a bit of changing, but it won't impact the information in this thread.

IMPORTANT MESSAGE from STEVE FENDER
Sell your water for profit

With the oil and gas boom we are seeing in Ohio many of you will be seeing large financial gains for sign up bonuses and eventually, royalty checks from wells drilled on or around your property. What you may not know is that there could be another natural resource on your property that could possibly be just as valuable . . . water.

As these companies come in to drill, they will need water and lots of it. Some of the drilling will use up to 250,000 gallons of water daily and when they frac they could need between 7 to 10 million gallons and they will pay for it.

I have become a water broker and am working with a company that buys water and then sells it to the drilling companies. I am looking for landowners that have water sources that could produce a minimum of 250,000 gallons per day. These water sources can be large ponds (5 acres or more), a creek or river running through your property or a real good spring. This company has even drilled for water in some cases. Good road frontage helps but is not necessary. Or you might have a location that would be ideal for building a lake. I can't promise that everyone will have the perfect location but if you would be interested in selling water, please contact me. I can be reached at 740-502 -5454 or e-mail me at agelessiron@gmail.com

Steve Fender

My land is in Montague County, about 70 miles NNW of D/FW. Lots of water wells going dry in the area since the water is going for fracing. I probably won't be hurt. My well is at 70 ft in a small seam producing 1/10 gpm.

Bob, at the time you first asked, they hadn't started drilling anywhere in North Texas.

DAVE- Same here, it has only started within the last two years here. Its good to know how we might deal with these companies and some of the drawbacks.. I am sure many will be approached as time goes on.

ESSHUP- Thanks for the fix-up.

I'm going to drain a million gallons (.62) acres in a couple of weeks. Sure would be nice to sell that water. I see there is some fracking in my state by not near me.

Call Steve and see if you can sell it. What the heck, a phone call wouldn't hurt.

Sorry Okie Bob.
I have been a mag. subscriber for a year or so just never got on the forum. or would have tried to help out. I have been fighting a pipeline going accross my place for a while now.(seaway pipeline) Not against pipelines these guys just want to run rough shod over me. Been in the oilfield 32 years. Not the way to do buisiness. I am around Tishomingo in south east Ok.
Dale

What are they paying per rod?

Not sure. Its a long story , guy comes by the house says he is with seaway pipeline. Wants to know about crossing my land , just cutting accross the corner. I told him really wasn't interested I was planning on retireing out ther and he could just go around my place as he is just cutting accross the corner. First he ask your not even going to let me survey? I said don't see any reason as I don't want the pipe line. He answered , well you know by Oklahoma law I don't need your permission to survey. I answer well I tell you what old buddy I catch you out there you will need the Oklahoma law. He finishes up by telling me his boss will probably want to talk to me. I said no problem I gave him my cell, home phone , wifes phone. Don't hear anything I figure its a done deal they are going around. Next thing I know I am being sued he also says I threatened him. I don't think I did , I am a friendly guy I had also told him I owned two other pieces of land and wouldn't have a problem with a pipe line on those places. They have tried scare tactics suing me for there lawyer fees etc. When I hired a lawyer they left cards on my door with lets talk. Yea right. I know I probably won't win but We are going to court. Sorry about the rant guys but I am in the field and |I can't tell you how many mad landowners I have delt with. If you own mineral rights you can get rich if they hit a well. I would probably sell water if I had a big pond. But just put up a sign witha open to the public on it. Same thing.
Dale

I don't have mineral rights. However, the pipeline(gathering line) is going to stop about 500 ft from my gate. They say that my land is too rocky to drill on. Not sure I believe that. Not sure I believe anything.

I'm just now seeing this thread. I was hit up to sell water for oil wells a few years ago. Sounded fairly lucrative. I even considered buying a bunch of pipe to pipe water from pond to road. Eventually fizzled out and I didn't do anything. I think they bought a few truckloads of water from someone else. Don't remember what they were offering. My pond is big enough and normally refills fast enough that probably wouldn't have had to worry about adverse consequences to fish too much; but...

Perhaps. Do you think my culvert could take the weight?

Yeah Cecil, I think it's strong enough.

I emailed to the address given and it bounced back. I see they may be fracking two or three counties down in Wells County.

On another note do you have your mineral rights? My dad says someone came through in the early 20th century and bought them all up for most of us.

Cecil, I honestly don't know about my mineral rights.

Try this e-mail:

fender@clover.net

We have three pipelines crossing our ranch property and don't even know they are there except when they mow ROWs.
G/

ps: you should always know about mineral righti!

Yeah, I guess I messed up big time on selling water for fracking. Number 1, I didn't get squat for the water. Number 2, my pond bank now look like the grand canyon which means my pond is really silting in, big time. Number 3, We've been in drought conditions for going on 3 years now........ What I've learned? Water is more valuable in central Oklahoma where average annual rainfall is around 36-38 inches, versus the South where 51-60+ inches is normal. Heck, I made more money off of the "mud farming" then I did off the water! If'n you don't know, that rock, soil, etc. that they drill out of the ground has to go somewhere. Well, they spread that stuff all over my property.......It's still there and not breaking down much. I was told it was real rich nutrients and that I'd notice greener grass, etc. Not so much! I'll have my dozer operator plow it in with the rest of the dirt. Then we'll see. This whole thing has been a learning experience for me. Since no one on this forum has been through what I've been through, I'll keep you all up to date as to what to expect if ever confronted by oil companies or drilling operators who need your water.

That's another water broker?

I know this is an old forum but does anyone know how I find an oil company/fracking company or anyone nearby in Oklahoma to buy water from me? Thanks

Oil and gas was on the upswing in Oklahoma during the time of this thread. Since then, due to many factors one of which was the Saudi's flooding the market with oil to eliminate the US Oil Companies. They pretty much got that done through bankruptcies of US Oil Co.'s and eliminating 100's of thousands of jobs here in the US. Look at what the Saudi's did this week, they are strong in oil production. And we in the industry also hurt ourselves through developing shale production for Natural gas. We over produce gas today, thinking was at the time we would be using more natural gas for such things as cars and trucks. Clean burning, less wear and tear on engines etc.

Is there any drilling going on in the area where you are located? If so you might contact the oil co.'s and let them know who you are and location, but today in this market I would not expect to sell much water if any. And the price would be bottom dollar price for the water. I don't see things changing much until the oil and gas market has pricing stability and an increase in prices with oil and natural gas. An exception might be in the Permian Basin located in West Texas, where drilling and production cost are lower than the norm.

1. You need drilling activity in your area. Usually they contact landowners who are either close to the rig for drilling or have enough water to frack.

2. It takes anywhere from 500,000 to 750,000 barrels of water to frack a well. Most smaller pond owners don't have that much.

There is a bunch of activity going on Central Oklahoma around the SCOOP and STACK plays. There are still several opportunities to sell around these drilling operations. I can't speak for Western Oklahoma as I haven't been out there lately.

I just saw this thread and didn't notice the date. The rates mentioned above for water are very dated. Water is practically gold now and its taking ~ 1M barrels to frac a horizontal here. I can't imagine how desperate they must have been to solicit people for their pond water. Oil companies usually drill their own water wells, pump their own water, dig and line their own water holding ponds and bury the production mud.

If anyone else gets in a situation like this please consult a good O&G attorney. We pay ours a pretty penny but he has paid for himself many, many, many times over. Not enough "many's".....he has been priceless.

Land men and oil companies know you as an individual know nothing about damage payments for things like water, flow line, buried pipeline, overhead electric lines, roads/cliche, pad sites, up-charges for multiple wells on a pad, tank batteries, frac water pits, SWD injection wells, etc, etc. And that is just surface damages. If you own minerals......

Here is a link with some suggested damage rates. FWIW, we get close to double this amount for our water.

http://www.utlands.utsystem.edu/forms/pdfs/Rate_Damage_Schedule.pdf

Lance, thank you for your information, hit the nail on the head. like you said most Co.'s will drill a water well, build lined water pits and lay lines for water fracs, but I have been on many drilling sites where pond water was sold for drilling and not for fracing. As I said, today in our industry pricing is half what it was. Leased land has gone from $1500.00 per acre and now @ 200.00 in some areas. Same with the water sold from ponds.

Thank you all for your information, I really appreciate it. I'm desperate to dispose of a lot of water, I have enough plus to frack a well or two. I pray everyday the Good Lord intervenes somehow with the water that is ruining my land and home. Thank you all again and if you have a solution and/or advice for me, please contact me. God Bless and Happy Easter

Interesting thread. I was involved in mineral exploration for many years, mostly uranium, but I also worked for a coal company, for the BLM as a fluids geologist and an environmental protection specialist, and under contract to the AEC, ERDA, and DOE. One company I worked for got nailed twice for stealing water, each time from the same pond, and the pond belonged to a prominent rancher who was also a member of the State government. The same company drilled into a pipeline and started a fire that burned for several days. When the pipeline company shut down the pipeline, it ruptured. I once lived next door to an oil company landman in CO who was responsible for reclamation of a well site in WY that I was responsible for when I worked for BLM in WY. Small world.

Thank you so much for your information. I do understand about damages etc. I'm to the point I will give the water away if someone, anyone will come get it. I pump an average of 500 gallon daily out of my basement and have for the last 3 years!! So if anyone wants water, please don't hesitate to contact me! An I'll take any advice you have. Thank you all again

We were just approached with a proposal to use water for drilling. We are a little concerned because the contract is 6 pages long and demands "exclusive" rights for 6 years with no guarantees that they will actually use any water! It also gives the company carte blanc access to our land. We have plenty of water but this contract seems very invasive and gives us no protection. Has anyone else worked with Crescent Services and had any issues?
Thanks!

My place is in Montague County just South of Oklahoma. A guy North of Bowie leased his water rights. They drilled and started pumping. Wells started going dry all around them. I would advise caution.

This is the first time I have heard of a contract structured like this. Usually they are structured on a per well basis. Unless there is something unique about the drilling situation in your area. I will do some asking around to see if anyone has heard of anything like this.

I would have a lawyer look things over first and then if I did not need the money I would not sign the deal. Or maybe a shorter time period to test the waters with how this company works with the land owners, so to speak. it's your property and they do need the water, so who is in the best seat here?

Thanks for the thoughts on this! We have asked them to use a different contract and they have complied. Just went with three years giving them first right of refusal but no exclusive use. They also cannot go anywhere or have access to anything but where their lines and pumps are.
We have a great bass pond that we will not let them touch and the pond we recently built we were hoping to turn into a crappie home. They are going to dig it out a little deeper and use that so all in all, it will be better for them and eventually the crappie. We still had a lot of work to do before we stocked it so maybe we can sell a little water and end up with a great fishing spot as well.