The commonwealth of Pennsylvania has issued a drought watch, acknowledging what those of us with gardens have known for months: We are well short of the rainfall we’d normally expect by this time of year. According to the National Weather Service, we’ve received only 13.6” inches of rain when we would normally have gotten 17.7 inches, a shortfall of almost a quarter.

The commonwealth has asked residents to voluntarily cut consumption by 5% to 10%. But why should regular residents have to cut their water use when heavy industry gobbles up more than its fair share?

The United States Geological Survey estimates that the average fracking well consumes 5,100,000 gallons of water annually. The average Pennsylvanian household uses just 22,000 gallons annually.

That means that each individual fracking well consumes as much water as more than 230 households.

Here in Penn Township, Westmoreland County, Olympus Energy operates three active fracking operations, named Gaia, Poseidon and Metis, that have a total of 21 wells. A fourth site, Aphrodite, is proposed. If their 21 wells each consume the average 5,100,000 annual gallons, that totals 107,100,000 gallons we lose to industry in Penn Township. Even without Aphrodite’s wells yet operational, this single fracking corporation consumes 63% as much water as all 7,788 households in Penn Township combined.

Industrial wastewater often cannot be remediated and must be injected back underground. Household wastewater can be treated and recycled. But we don’t get back the millions of gallons we lose to each fracking well.

My family is fortunate: We have our own well water supply, and our water is clean, at least for now. Other families, especially those who live close to fracking wells, are not so lucky. And when the water table drops, it drops for all of us.

My family is conscientious about how much water we draw from our well, and we believe frackers should be, too.

There’s something tone-deaf about a fracker naming fracking pads after Gaia, the Greek goddess of the Earth, and Poseidon, the god of the sea. Greek gods were famous for punishing human hubris. Poseidon in particular was fickle, causing water-related disasters any time mortals displeased him. It is all too fitting that “Poseidon” should be worsening our drought.

If we are in drought, those who consume the most should cut the most. We support any resident who wishes to voluntarily cut their use, but it would be far more effective for the commonwealth to require fracking corporations, and other water-guzzling industries, to cut back.

Darlene Leslie is a Penn Township resident and a board member of Protect PT, a citizens’ group working to ensure the safety, security and quality of life from the effects of unconventional gas development in Penn-Trafford and surrounding communities.

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