Was contacted by Kaiser Francis as there is a rig that is close to my property line. I was told they were wanting to use a bulldozer to expand two of my ponds for fracking reservoirs. Unsure if they plan on pumping well water into the ponds, but neither one of them is restocked with well water. Wondering if I should sell the water to them instead of just accepting the benefit of the expansion of the ponds. I meet with the KF rep next week and am trying to figure out what I need to ask or know before they try and charm me out of my water. Any advice is appreciated.
They may be planning on using your ponds and water on more than one well. You need to be paid accordingly. That is being done in Texas in a lot of places. The companies drill multiple water wells and pump the water into the ponds. You need to be paid for the water from the wells. Also, they might and probably will lay water lines above the surface from your pond to other wells on others’ surface property. Do you have stocked fish in your ponds? It will have an effect on that too. Get written disclosures ahead of time. How long do they plan on using the water? Months, years, forever?
Get a good surface attorney to read any offer and any amendments to any surface use agreements that you already have.
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Hire the bulldozer yourself and sell the water. Not sure where your property is or how big your ponds/farm is, but 10 or so years ago XTO used my property for water for numerous surrounding wells and I made more off the water than the minerals. Looking back on it, I wish I would have sold my minerals or cattle to fund more ponds/water for them.
I would seriously go and visit with an attorney of your choice to advise you before you agree to anything with another individual or company. You need to get the agreement memorialized, so there are no misunderstandings later on.
Be sure to have them pay you for your water! I was 1 dollar a barrel in New Mexico! That’s been years ago.
I appreciate all the advice here. My main concern is how close this rig is to my house. The pasture these ponds are on have been used primarily for cattle in the past and there has not been any clear sign how they plan on keeping the water stocked as these are not natural springs to replenish the water. From the sounds of it, it may be more lucrative to sell the water and build these ponds up for that reason.
I ran around 500 head of cattle when XTO approached me and had no problems with them hauling water. Ask the landman at Kaiser or whomever contacted you about it, how many wells they plan to drill in your area. If it’s only 2, it might not be worth it, but if it’s several and they use you for every well, you’ll make more money in a year on water than 5 years of cattle/crops etc.
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