Regional Monitoring/Analysis of the Effects of Oil and Gas Development on Groundwater in California

Landon, Matthew K.

Regional Monitoring/Analysis of the Effects of Oil and Gas Development on Groundwater in California

Tuesday, April 25, 2017: 4:20 p.m.

Matthew K. Landon , US Geological Survey, San Diego, CA

Peter B. McMahon, Ph.D. , USGS, Denver, CO

Justin T. Kulongoski, Ph.D. , USGS, San Diego, CA

Janice Gillespie, Ph.D. , USGS, Bakersfield, CA

David Shimabukuro, Ph.D. , Geology Department, CSU Sacramento, Sacramento, CA

Lyndsay Ball, Ph.D. , USGS, Denver, CO

Kimberly Taylor, Ph.D. , USGS, Sacramento, CA

The California State Water Resources Control Board and U.S. Geological Survey are collaborating to implement a Regional Monitoring Program (RMP) to determine how oil and gas development has contributed to changes in groundwater quality at regional scales. Although creation of the program was motivated by public concerns regarding oil/gas stimulation treatments (primarily hydraulic fracturing), in California, the effects of stimulation treatments on groundwater resources are difficult to distinguish from those of other past and present oil and gas development activities that include larger volumes of injected fluid and overlapping chemical use for enhanced recovery or wastewater disposal.

During 2016-17, the RMP is analyzing selected priority oilfields in the southern Central Valley to: (1) produce three-dimensional salinity maps, (2) characterize the chemical composition of groundwater and oil-field water, and (3) identify the extent to which fluids from oil and gas development may be moving into protected (total dissolved solids less than 10,000 milligrams per liter) groundwater at regional scales.

Salinity distributions in groundwater near oil fields are being mapped using existing water-sample data, analysis of oil-well borehole geophysical logs, and newly collected airborne and surface electromagnetic data in selected areas to fill data gaps.

The RMP sampling-well networks are designed to evaluate groundwater quality along transects from oil fields into adjacent aquifers and include existing wells supplemented by monitoring-well installation in priority locations. Oil-field water and background regional groundwater are being sampled to characterize end-member compositions that may mix to influence groundwater chemistry near oil fields. The analytes include constituents with different transport characteristics such as dissolved gases (light hydrocarbon and noble gases), inorganic constituents (major, minor, trace elements), and organic compounds, as well as isotopic and groundwater-age tracers. Preliminary results indicate that groundwater quality near oil fields is strongly influenced by the regional hydrogeologic setting, including recharge rates.

Matthew K. Landon, US Geological Survey, San Diego, CA

Matthew Landon has been a Hydrologist with the U.S. Geological Survey since 1990. He received a M.S. in Geology from the University of Minnesota in 1993 and a B.S. in Geology from the University of Kansas in 1987. He has conducted studies of groundwater hydrology and geochemistry in Minnesota, Nebraska, California, and Southeast Asia. He has been with the USGS California Water Science Center in San Diego since 2005, currently serving as Project Chief for the USGS California Oil, Gas, and Groundwater project in support of the California State Water Board’s regional monitoring program in oil and gas areas.

Peter B. McMahon, Ph.D., USGS, Denver, CO

Peter B. McMahon, Ph.D., research hydrologist with the U.S. Geological Survey’s Colorado Water Science Center, has more than 30 years of experience conducting groundwater-quality studies across the United States and is currently studying the effects of energy development on groundwater quality in Arkansas, California, Colorado, Louisiana, and Texas. He earned his master’s degree in geology from the University of Texas at Austin and his Ph.D. in geology from the University of South Carolina.

Justin T. Kulongoski, Ph.D., USGS, San Diego, CA

Justin Kulongoski is a Research Hydrologist with the U.S. Geological Survey. His work includes regional water-quality assessments, and focused groundwater studies that explain the natural and human processes that affect water quality. As a geochemist, his research focuses on the use of isotopes to explore hydrologic systems, with the aim to better understand and quantify subsurface flow, mixing processes, and to characterize unique reservoirs. These isotopic techniques include the application of helium isotopes and noble gases, radiogenic isotopes, and the stable isotopes deuterium and oxygen-18 to investigate and characterize the timing of groundwater recharge, tectonic processes, and trends in groundwater quality.

Janice Gillespie, Ph.D., USGS, Bakersfield, CA

Janice Gillespie received her B.S. degree in geology from Bemidji State University, her M.S. degree from South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, and her Ph.D. from the University of Wyoming. She retired in 2016 as a professor in the Department of Geosciences at California State University, Bakersfield. She currently works for the USGS on the California Oil, Gas, and Groundwater project.

David Shimabukuro, Ph.D., Geology Department, CSU Sacramento, Sacramento, CA

David Shimabukuro is an Assistant Professor in the Geology Department at California State University Sacramento. His research interests include tectonics and structure of Circum-Mediterranean and Cordilleran orogenic belts, high-pressure metamorphism, and the interaction between wastewater injection and groundwater in California.

Lyndsay Ball, Ph.D., USGS, Denver, CO

Lyndsay Ball receieved a B.S. in Environmental Soil Science in 2003 from Virginia Tech University and a Ph.D. in Geological Sciences from the University of Colorado Boulder in 2012. She is a research geophycist with the USGS Crustal Geophysics and Geochemistry Science Center in Denver. where her research explores hydrogeologic systems and subsurface processes using integrated hydrological and geophysical approaches, with a focus on electrical and airborne geophysical methods.

Kimberly Taylor, Ph.D., USGS, Sacramento, CA

Kim Taylor received a B.A. from Reed College and Ph.D. in Energy and Resources from the University of California Berkeley. She is currently program officer for the USGS California Water Science Center focusing on troubleshooting, strategic planning, and helping researchers translate science into operational information.