Wellington Water Works passes hurdle with state

By Cherry Sokoloski
North Forty News

Like a river in geologic time, Wellington Water Works is slowly but surely wearing away at opposition to its project.

The company, which wants to put produced water from the Wellington Oil Field to beneficial use, received some major encouragement in August when the state engineer's office decided it was satisfied with WWW's plans.

"The state was a big hurdle," said Richard Seaworth, a partner in WWW along with oilman Brad Pomeroy. "We feel pretty confident now that we're going to make this happen." Another former objector, the city of Greeley, also withdrew its statement of opposition in August.

Others remain opposed, however, so WWW will go to the state water court in Greeley on Jan. 17 to plead its case.

In a nutshell, WWW wants to use the oilfield water for irrigation. That would free up well water now used for irrigation. When treated, the well water could be used as a domestic water source. Some could be used for development, and some could be sold to Wellington to augment the fast-growing town's water supply.

Seaworth recently filed a request with Wellington to annex about 51 acres on either side of County Road 70, just east of County Road 11. If the water court approves his plans, he will use the freed-up irrigation water to serve development within the annexation. The water would be treated at a new plant within a new water district.

Seaworth said all the work that has gone into the produced water project, including construction of a $1.4 million water purification plant at the oil field, has had one purpose: He does not want to dry up his farm in order to develop some of his property.

Two requests filed

WWW filed two applications with the state water court early last year, both related to the oilfield water. One asks for a decreed right on the produced water, while the second is an augmentation plan. The augmentation plan must prove that WWW can replace existing irrigation water from the Boxelder Creek reservoir with the produced water.

Several entities including the state engineer, farmers, water districts, North Poudre Irrigation Co., Greeley and Wellington filed statements of opposition in response to the WWW requests. Most were focused on concerns about the WWW project harming other entities' water rights.

The WWW partners had to prove that the water being pumped from the oil field comes from a "non-tributary" source. That is, the water and oil are contained in a geological structure and cut off from rivers and streams in the drainage.

"We had to prove without a shadow of a doubt that there's no way the Boxelder Creek water or North Poudre Irrigation Co. water could ever get into that geological structure," Seaworth said.

First oil/water project

Dick Wolfe, assistant state engineer in the Division of Water Resources, said the WWW project is the first of its kind in the state. As a result, his office required a considerable amount of proof from WWW, in the form of geological work and computer modeling, before engineers felt comfortable that others' water rights were protected.

"They have now addressed our concerns," said Wolfe. That is, he said, WWW has shown to the state's satisfaction that the produced water at the Wellington Oil Field is non-tributary. Both the state engineer and Greeley outlined terms and conditions with which WWW must comply; otherwise they can get back into the case.

The oilfield water, which could provide an entirely new source of water for Larimer County, was until recently considered a bothersome byproduct of oil production. According to Pomeroy, about 98 percent of the fluid produced at the Wellington Oil Field consists of water that must be separated from the oil. Until the purification plant was built, the water then had to be reinjected about 5,000 feet below the surface.

The WWW project has drawn interest from Rep. Mark Udall, who visited the treatment plant in March; and Sen. Ken Salazar, who was at the plant on Aug. 27. Salazar, in a statement before the visit, noted that Colorado is an arid state, and every drop of water is vital. The produced water from the Wellington Oil Field "is water that would have been wasted but instead could be used by our farmers, ranchers, communities and recreation users," Salazar said.