Los Angeles Times

Here's why New Mexico's oil boom is raising a lot of questions about water

CARLSBAD, N.M. - Massive oil drilling rigs stretch across the horizon here like giant carnival rides - 85 in all, lighting the night sky across two counties that sit atop one of the biggest fossil fuel deposits in the nation.

Southeastern New Mexico has long been a modest producer of oil, but the advent of fracking technology a decade ago turned it into hot property for drillers. Only Texas and North Dakota now extract more oil, and New Mexico is gaining.

Production grew 30 percent last year to 565,000 barrels a day, almost all of it from the

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