CHEYENNE - Proposed revisions to state water quality rules drew comments Thursday ranging from they aren't necessary, would hurt the booming and lucrative coal-bed methane industry or aren't tough enough.

The state Environmental Quality Council is considering the revisions proposed by the state Department of Environmental Quality that would guide the agency in issuing surface water discharge permits. The council was expected to make a decision on the proposal at a later date.

Concern about the quality of surface water has risen with the state's booming coal-bed methane industry, which produces lots of groundwater in order to capture the methane trapped underground. Millions of gallons of water has ended up running down creeks and streams that are normally dry.

Some ranchers and landowners complain the discharged groundwater has damaged their land to the point that trees and grass are killed by salt and other chemicals in the water. However, other ranchers and landowners say the coal-bed methane discharges have provide new sources of water for their operations.

The current water rules stipulate that surface water discharges permitted by the DEQ will not result in "measurable decrease" in crop or livestock production. But the rules contain no process or criteria for determining the level of pollutants, such as how much salt should be allowed in the discharged water.

"The intent of the policy is to set appropriate limits in these discharge permits to be protective of agriculture, and the policy itself provides a process … that is known by the permit applicants and known by the public that is used to appropriately set those limits," state DEQ Director John Cora said.

The proposed revisions would be flexible enough so that water quality pollution limits could be adjusted according to the unique soil characteristics of each area where the discharge water would flow. However, in cases where no data or analysis exists on the soil, the proposal establishes default limits that would apply.

Johnson County landowner Tom Harriet, of Buffalo, told the council that the current rules don't need changing.

"Why do we need another policy? It just muddles up the water," Harriet said.

But Jill Morrison, an organizer for the environmental group Powder River Basin Resource Council, said she was concerned the proposed revisions didn't go far enough in protecting water quality.

Morrison noted concerns that the revisions provided too many "loopholes" to get around the rules, such as allowing industry representatives to analyze soil characteristics instead of having an independent analysis done.

Dan Coolidge, a Campbell County commissioner, voiced concern that the plan would create restrictions that would slow the booming coal-bed methane industry.

"It would have a serious impact on it," he said.