The scarcity of water has made this commodity the new gold.
And with over a century of contamination because of coal mining, much of the already over utilised groundwater in Northern KZN is saline and not usable.
This was said at an anti-fracking focus meeting held at Talana Museum hosted by visiting US Ranger Science Professor, Devan McGranahan, and attended by farmers, geologists and others.
While contamination, caused by chemicals used to break down underground rock formations to release oil and gas is of concern, the impact on the landscape, caused by the network of pipelines, road and other infrastructure associated with fracking, changes everything, Prof McCracken warned.
He said this was especially true in North Dakota where the fracking oil boom had seen thousands of job seekers flocking into small towns, greatly changing the soul of these towns.

More on fracking in Northern KZN:

Court rules against oil, gas exploration in the area

The High Court has since turned down Rhino Oil and Gas’s application to drill in this area while another company, Sungu Sungu, recently withdrew their application.
Businessman and dairy farmer, Dave Durham, said fracking would not only impact on Northern KZN, but on the whole country as the water network would become contaminated.
He added there was not enough research into the effects fracking has on the environment and that the impact may only become apparent in perhaps 50 years.
Asked what the direct impact had been in North Dakota, besides the aesthetic concerns, Prof McCracken said fracking had only been in operation since 2008 and there had been no directly findings… yet. However, the management of the point source is critical to ensure environmental safety, he added.
Speaking to the Courier independently, local hydrologist, Rae Bester, said at 150 metres and below quite often the water is bad due to heavy metals or bad elements from the granites or just due to the age of the groundwater.

Farmer, Herman de Wet, said that after surviving the worst drought in memory, the concern is that farmers had to drill over 120 metres to find desperately needed water and any fracking would impact directly on these resources.
“South Africa is the 30th driest country in the world… water is something we cannot mess with if we want to ensure there is food security.”
Disturbingly, Prof McGranahan said drilling companies were not legally forced to give details of the process or the chemicals used to frack, therefore it was difficult to know what the impact would be. “The resulting cocktail of chemical reactions once fracking is done to release oil and gas are incalculable.”
Historical concerns
Historian, Pam McFadden, said heritage sites would also be vulnerable to any drilling operations in Northern KZN and while drilling applications ‘gave lip service to avoid these sensitive areas’, she believed this did not offer enough protection.
Geologist, Kevin Petzer, said Northern KZN had been heavily polluted because of coal mining and previous slack environmental legislation.
“The whole country is suffering largely from acid rain as there are no filters on our coal fired power stations… the effects are enormous.
“Now, fracking is just adding to our woes.”
While for now, the High Court has stopped attempts to frack here, the feeling at the meetings is that it is just a matter of time that business needs will outstrip environmental concerns – as has been the case in many States in the USA.