VAN HORN, Texas (AP) — A 60-mile pipeline intended to carry 5.4 million gallons of water daily from a West Texas desert aquifer to the Permian Basin oilfield has won approval despite objections of ranchers, farmers and environmentalists.
The Culberson County Groundwater Conservation District on Wednesday voted to allow the multimillion-dollar Agua Grande project proposed by Dan Allen Hughes, who owns the 140,000-acre Apache Ranch near Van Horn and runs his father’s San Antonio-based oil company, Dan A. Hughes Co. The water would be used in fracking operations in the oil- and gas-rich Permian Basin.
The Houston Chronicle reports that Hughes has said ranch and farm wells won’t be depleted and the company will monitor aquifer water levels.
Some opponents have said they’ll file lawsuits to block the project.