Understanding the Relationships Between Hydraulic Fracturing and Brook Trout Habitat in the Marcellus Shale Region

Improved natural gas extraction technologies (horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing) have led to rapid and extensive natural gas development in the Marcellus Shale formation, which underlies twenty-six percent of the historical native range for brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis). Activities associated with hydraulic fracturing potentially threaten brook trout populations through hydrological, physical, and chemical impact pathways. We are exploring potential impact pathways by (1) developing regional flow-ecology relationships to evaluate potential water use impacts, (2) identifying predictive modeling techniques to simulate the expected interactions between land clearing for hydraulic fracturing infrastructure and stream habitats, and (3) testing expected relationships between drilling activity and habitat factors that influence brook trout across a range of watershed drilling conditions to initialize and calibrate predictive models which can be applied in other locations. The goal of this research is to help inform strategies that facilitate sustainable energy development in the Marcellus Shale while preserving habitat quality and quantity for eastern North America’s only native stream salmonid.