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Unconventional natural gas development did not result in detectable changes in water chemistry (within the South Fork Little Red River)

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Abstract

The Fayetteville Shale within north central Arkansas is an area of extensive unconventional natural gas (UNG) production. Recently, the Scott Henderson Gulf Mountain Wildlife Management Area (GMWMA) was leased from the state of Arkansas for NG exploration, raising concerns about potential impacts on water resources. From November 2010 through November 2014, we monitored four reaches of the South Fork Little Red River (SFLRR), within the GMWMA, establishing baseline physico-chemical characteristics prior to UNG development and assessing trends in parameters during and after UNG development. Water samples were collected monthly during baseflow conditions and analyzed for conductivity, turbidity, ions, total organic carbon (TOC), and metals. All parameters were flow-adjusted and evaluated for monotonic changes over time. The concentrations of all constituents measured in the SFLRR were generally low (e.g., nitrate ranged from <0.005 to 0.268 mg/l across all sites and sample periods), suggesting the SFLRR is of high water quality. Flow-adjusted conductivity measurements and sodium concentrations increased at site 1, while magnesium decreased across all four sites, TOC decreased at sites 1 and 3, and iron decreased at site 1 over the duration of the study. With the exception of conductivity and sodium, the physico-chemical parameters either decreased or did not change over the 4-year duration, indicating that UNG activities within the GMWMA have had minimal or no detectable impact on water quality within the SFLRR. Our study provides essential baseline information that can be used to evaluate water quality within the SFLRR in the future should UNG activity within the GMWMA expand.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Morgan Welch, Jason Corral, and Zachary Simpson in assisting in the collection of water samples and Keith Trost and Jennifer Purtle at the Arkansas Water Resources Center for analyzing the water sample collected. This project and the preparation of this publication were funded in part by a grant from the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission (RG12153) and by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service through the State Wildlife Grants program (T37-02).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biological and Agricultural Engineering Department, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, USA

    Bradley J. Austin

  2. Arkansas Water Resources Center, UA Division of Agriculture, Fayetteville, AR, USA

    Erin Scott & Brian E. Haggard

  3. Engineering Freshmen Program, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, USA

    Leslie Massey

  4. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, USA

    Michelle A. Evans-White

  5. University of Central Arkansas, Conway, AR, USA

    Sally Entrekin

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  1. Bradley J. Austin
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Correspondence to Bradley J. Austin.

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Austin, B.J., Scott, E., Massey, L. et al. Unconventional natural gas development did not result in detectable changes in water chemistry (within the South Fork Little Red River). Environ Monit Assess 189, 209 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-017-5904-8

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