Shell Oil Wants To Buy Walsenburg?s Water

Walsenburg has a big decision to make. Shell Oil is asking the city if it can buy water to cover an acre 5 feet deep. Shell Oil has been doing research in Walsenburg for the past two years and now wants the water because it plans on drilling a test well for natural gas, according to city leaders.

“They finally approached the city of Walsenburg and asked if we would supply them with 5 acre feet of water,” Mayor Bruce Quintana said.

Quintana told KRDO NewsChannel 13 Shell Oil is willing to pay a lot for the water, “$100,000 would be a lot of chunk of change.”

He hopes this will later lead to more jobs.

The water would be for the drilling of a test well to see if there is natural gas. They want to drill near La Veta, but the water belongs to Walsenburg.

District Administrator Donald Saling in on board, but know not everyone else is.

“The people of La Veta and the area have had some bad experience there was actually methane gas that traded into the aquifer,” Saling said.

“Its really hard to clean that impression up when someone has felt it,” Quintana said.

However, Saling said the process of Shell Oil drilling is different.

“The depth of it is well below the coal beds and well below any water aquifers around here,” said Quintana. Residents will get the chance to voice their concerns on June 1st at 5:30 PM at the Huerfano County Community Center.