Abstract
GIS Applications in Natural Gas Predrill Water Supply Surveys
Track: Environmental Management
Authors: Roger Bannister, David Cleland
Hydraulic fracturing techniques for natural gas resource development in the Marcellus Shale have raised environmental concerns over potential impacts to potable water supplies. Pre-drill water supply surveys protect both operators and land owners by documenting water quality prior to well development activities. GIS is integral to planning and coordinating water sampling by mapping gas well locations, delineating sampling areas, and determining ownership of targeted land parcels. Sharing a common GIS parcel dataset between consultants helps reduce duplication of sampling effort and aids in visualizing survey progress. The Data Driven Pages feature of ArcGIS 10 streamlines map production and allows a small GIS team to regularly update large volumes of maps. Configurable web applications such as the ArcGIS Viewer for Flex provide field crews and stakeholders with access to the most up-to-date GIS data with low deployment costs.