GILLETTE - Ranchers in this arid, high-plains territory in northeast Wyoming welcome a little bit of extra water. But with limited rangeland and sensitive soils, a lot of extra water can be a detriment.

When coal-bed methane producers arrived in the Spotted Horse Creek area, Bill and Marge West were excited at the prospect of having a few extra watering holes for livestock and possibly some water to irrigate their hay meadows.

What they got was more than they could use - a deluge of poor quality groundwater.

"The vast majority of the water is flushed down draws and run down ephemeral drainages. It destroys the land," Marge West said. "We had 80 acres of prime hay meadow destroyed, and we lost 200 cottonwood trees."

The Wests, and scores of other landowners in Wyoming, say state regulators have allowed the destruction to continue by playing a shell game among agencies regarding water quality and water quantity considerations in permitting discharges for the coal-bed methane industry. They have petitioned the Wyoming Environmental Quality Council to take up the issue and change state rules to force the industry to provide assurances that all the water it discharges is put to measurable beneficial use.

The council is scheduled to hear arguments today about why it should consider the "petition for rulemaking." A decision won't come until later.

"The effect would be that (the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality) could no longer assume discharge water of a certain quality is being put to beneficial use," said Kate Fox, an attorney representing the petitioners, who include the Powder River Basin Resource Council.

"No. 1, existing beneficial uses of by-product water would stay in place," Fox continued. "To the extent there isn't a beneficial use, it would require alternatives to surface discharge."

The petitioners' argument centers on the notion that only a small portion of coal-bed methane water volumes are actually put to a measurable beneficial use. As long as some beneficial use is demonstrated - for deer to drink, for example - DEQ allows the discharge of large volumes of water without regard that a majority of the water is not put to a beneficial use.

The Petroleum Association of Wyoming is fighting to block the petition, arguing in part that "the burden should lie with the petitioners to demonstrate that wildlife and livestock do not utilize the water that is available to them."

The association further argues that DEQ has decided there should not be a quantity limitation related to the agricultural and wildlife use determination.

In its comments to the Environmental Quality Council, the industry association argues, "Federal regulations did not contemplate a maximum allowable flow rate but rather that the water being discharged was actually used by wildlife or agriculture during periods of discharge. It was not the intent of the federal regulations that all the water be consumed."

"Prove to me that it's not being put to a beneficial use," John Robitaille, vice president of petroleum association, told the Casper Star-Tribune. "We believe if the water is available in these arid environments, the animals will use it. And we've heard dozens of stories of ranchers who get better range utilization with their cattle spread out, and we've seen very successful irrigation programs."

Industry leaders also argue that the proposed amendments would interfere with the state's appropriation, diversion and distribution system. Fox counters that those considerations would still lie with the state's Board of Control under the state engineer's office. The petitioners do not want to interfere with water appropriations, she said; they simply do not want wastewater labeled as "beneficial use."

Since 1987, the industry has pumped enough coal-bed methane water to fill Lake DeSmet 1.5 times, according to a study by the Ruckelshaus Institute of Environment and Natural Resources. Yet, the industry has only produced about 5 percent of the methane reserve in the Powder River Basin.

Energy reporter Dustin Bleizeffer can be reached at (307) 682-3388 or dustin.bleizeffer@casperstartribune.net.