Executive Summary

This report communicates accomplishments and findings of the Texas Produced Water Consortium’s six research thrusts related to the beneficial reuse of treated produced water generated from oil and gas operations, especially in the Permian Basin. Produced water management has emerged as a critical challenge for Texas due to increasing water production volumes, constraints on traditional disposal practices, concerns regarding induced seismicity, disposal well integrity and pore space limitations, and persistent regional water shortages. The Consortium’s interdisciplinary research program examines the scientific, engineering, environmental, economic, legal, and social dimensions of produced water treatment and reuse. Collectively, the findings demonstrate meaningful progress toward understanding how treated produced water can become a safe, economically viable, and publicly acceptable supplemental water resource for Texas. Effectively, the Consortium is working to de-risk the beneficial reuseof treated produced water for all stakeholders. Creation of 10 MMbbl/day of polished desalinated produced water (PDPW) represents an additional 420 million gallons per day (mgd) or 470,000 acre-feet per year (ac∙ft/yr) of freshwater, which is significant relative to water availability in West Texas. Two key beneficial reuse opportunities are the discharge of polished desalinated produced water to surface water (e.g., the Pecos River in the Permian-Delaware Basin) and land application (e.g., rangeland rehabilitation and crop irrigation), which would drive cascading environmental and societal benefits for generations to come.

Produced Water Volumes

In 2025, approximately 25.3 million barrels per day (MMbbl/day) of produced water were generated in the Permian Basin, of which 5.2 MMbbl/day (21%) were recycled for hydraulic fracturing, 2.9 MMbbl/day (11%) were used for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) in the Central Basin Platform,and the remaining 17.2 MMbbl/day (68%) were sent to salt water disposal wells(approximately 15 MMbbl/day in Texas). Updated forecasting indicates that, by 2030, the Permian Basin could see growth of an additional 2 to 7 MMbbl/day of excess produced water and will continue to generate large volumes of produced water through 2050.

Law/Policy, Economics, and Communications

The Law/Policy, Economics, and Communications research thrust demonstrates that technological success alone will not enable polished desalinated produced water reuse and efforts are needed to support regulatory authority and public acceptance. Significant progress has been made in clarifying regulatory authority for land application and surface discharge permits, addressing liability issues, and resolving questions regarding produced water ownership. Produced water disposal costs continue to increase (e.g., in the range of $0.75 to $1.25 per barrel). Economic studies produced a new techno-economic framework for evaluating treatment alternatives and management strategies; an initial capital investment of $2.5B is needed to provide treatment capacity to generate 1 MMbbl/day of polished desalinated produced water for beneficial reuse. Communication studies established an initial understanding of public perceptions, stakeholder concerns, and information gaps. These efforts collectively underscore the importance of regulatory certainty, economic feasibility, protection of the environment and public health, and public trust in enabling future implementation.

Surface Discharge

The Surface Discharge research thrust focuses on the Pecos River and Red Bluff Reservoir because TCEQ has received permit applications for approximately 1 MMbbl/day of clean water discharges into these bodies, and consistent release of polished desalinated produced water could significantly increase instream flows and decrease salinity, improving conditions for native freshwater species. Hydrologic, hydraulic, ecological, and watershed-scale modeling efforts are advancing tools capable of evaluating discharge scenarios and their effects on flow, water quality, salinity, groundwater interactions, and ecosystem processes. Extensive field investigations have established biological, chemical, and sediment baselines and documented important ecological gradients throughout the watershed. Together, these studies provide the scientific foundation necessary for evaluating future discharge applications while protecting river ecosystems and downstream water users.

Land Application

The Land Application research thrust evaluated the use of polished desalinated produced water for greenhouse production, crop irrigation, rangeland restoration, and native vegetation establishment. Theoretically, hundreds of thousands of acres could be rehabilitated in the Permian Basin in the coming decades. Across multiple field and controlled-environment studies, many crop species, including cotton, sorghum, alfalfa, lettuce, tomato and several specialty crops, demonstrated growth and physiological performance comparable to conventional irrigation sources. Initial findings also suggest promising applications for rangeland rehabilitation and revegetation efforts. While long-term monitoring remains necessary, current results indicate that treated produced water may serve as a viable alternative water source for selected agricultural and restoration applications.

Water Quality and Toxicology

The Water Quality and Toxicology research thrust demonstrates that advanced treatment systems can substantially improve produced water quality and reduce biological toxicity. Pilot treatment systems have scaled up from treatment capacity in the range of 20 to 800 barrels per day in 2024-2025 to 2,000 to 20,000 barrels per day in 2026. Treatment processes effectively removed petroleum hydrocarbons, dissolved salts, radionuclides, ammonia, and other contaminants while producing water that compared favorably with local groundwater for many measured parameters. Toxicological testing confirmed that raw/untreated produced water is highly toxic to terrestrial and aquatic organisms, whereas advanced treatment significantly reduced adverse effects, and optimized advanced treatment systems can yield polished desalinated produced water with no toxicity. The research further demonstrates the importance of integrating chemical analyses with biological testing to ensure that potential reuse applications are evaluated comprehensively.Long-term monitoring of biological systems is advised to confirm the safe application of advanced water treatment systems in surface discharge and land application.

Treatment Technologies and the Energy-Water Nexus

The Treatment Technologies and the Energy-Water Nexus research thrusts advanced multiple innovations aimed at improving treatment efficiency and resource recovery. Key advancements include effective pretreatment processes, comparative thermodynamic evaluation of desalination technologies, development of lithium recovery systems, and approaches for converting concentrated brines into useful industrial products. New thermodynamic and process simulation models are enabling more accurate evaluation of desalination technologies and their integration with power generation systems (especially nuclear), low-grade heat recovery, and critical mineral recovery processes. These efforts support the long-term goal of reducing treatment costs while maximizing water recovery and economic value.

Overall, substantial progress has been made toward understanding the technical, environmental, economic, and social requirements necessary for the beneficial reuse of PDPW. The results establish critical baseline datasets, advance treatment technologies, improve understanding of environmental impacts, and provide tools to support future regulatory and management decisions. While important scientific and implementation advances remain, the research conducted by the Texas Produced Water Consortium is building the knowledge base required to evaluate PDPW as a potential component of Texas’ future water portfolio and to guide responsible, science-based decision making.