ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the policy narratives generated by the arrival of a powerful new water user—the oil and gas industry—in the South Platte River Basin in Colorado, which is known for being semi-arid, hydrologically unpredictable, and crowded with water users. I investigate the discourse surrounding two questions at the heart of the debate over hydraulic fracturing water demands in the state: (1) how much water is the oil and gas industry using, and (2) at whose gain and whose loss? The analysis draws from local media coverage and interviews with energy and water stakeholders. Colorado’s hydraulic fracturing debate is important because it illustrates the symbolic and political power of water in controversies over other resources, such as energy. I find that, as water and energy stakeholders have sought to answer and debate the questions above, they have also attempted to characterise hydraulic fracturing water demands as harmful or benign via the strategic use of varying volumetric and water competition frames. A close analysis of these narrations suggests that they are characterised as much by the unknown as the known, and that the uncertainties that both drive and limit public discourse reflect problematic disconnects between energy and water regulators.
