New Mexico proposes regulations to reuse fracking wastewater

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico environmental officials have proposed a new regulatory framework for reusing wastewater with a major focus on treating and repurposing the used, salty byproducts of oil and natural gas drilling in a major U.S. petroleum production zone.

The Environment Department announced Thursday its petition to the Water Quality Control Commission to begin formal deliberations on the proposed rules.

New Mexico is looking to the oil sector and water-intensive fracking as a potential source of treated water for industrial applications — and to offset water demands that are depleting freshwater aquifers amid drought.