Best Management Practices
The Getches-Wilkinson Center for Natural Resources, Energy, and the Environment and its partners welcome you to this free-access website of Best Management Practices (BMPs) for oil and gas development in the Intermountain West. BMPs are state-of-the-art mitigation measures applied to oil and natural gas drilling and production to help ensure that energy development is conducted in an environmentally responsible manner (see the Bureau of Land Management BMP website).
The focus
of this website is a searchable database addressing surface resources
affected by oil and gas development. The database includes both
mandatory and voluntary Best Management Practices currently in use or recommended
for responsible resource management in the states of Colorado,
Montana, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming.
The
BMP database is not intended to represent a consensus on what
the best practices are for specific applications nor to advise
users on the current legal requirements for specific locations.
Rather, the database describes each practice and documents the
source of the practice (who requires or recommends it in what
specific applications). The database provides a link to the source
of the BMP and, where possible, it provides supplemental information,
including construction specifications, illustrations, pictures,
maps, monitoring reports, and evaluations of the potential of
the practice for mitigating impacts of development. Because practices
change over time, database users should check with appropriate
authorities to verify the latest requirements and recommendations
for your area.
Training and Workshops
Water, Oil, and Gas 101
April 10, 2013
Denver, Colorado
View our complete list of Workshops and our calendar of upcoming events.
We welcome requests for training in the use of the BMP Database.
To arrange a training or for help with a custom search, contact
us!
Resources
For background information on oil and gas development issues,
click on RESOURCES or
go to:
• The Development Process
• Geographic Information Systems
for Oil and Gas
• Community
• Air Quality
• Water Quality
• Solid Waste
• Wildlife
• Reclamation
• Vegetation
• Case Studies
Laws & Policy
Our federal, state, and local laws pages provide brief summaries of the laws, regulations, and agency policies and guidelines of particular importance to regulation of oil and gas development. They also provide links to the codes, regulations and to the agencies in charge of regulating the industry. |
BMP
Categories
The database includes BMPs to address a variety
of resources and issues...
BMP Search
What management practices are recommended or required for oil
and gas development? To find out, use the drop down menus or type
Keywords. For a more refined search, click "Advanced Search"
or use the BMP SEARCH button.
Search the Bibliography
Our searchable bibliography includes over 400 publications, including
environmental impact statements, agency guidelines, and many technical
reports, websites, and journal articles prepared by government
agencies, academics, environmental advocacy groups, and industry.
These publications are:
• Source Documents from which we have derived BMPs for the
database, and
• Supplemental Documents that provide more detailed descriptions
of specific BMPs or background information on oil and gas development
and its impacts (cited on our RESOURCES
pages.)
You can browse the bibliography
alphabetically by title or search the
bibliography by words in the title, author or a brief annotation.
All document citations are linked to a full text .pdf copy or
an internet link.
Help
To print search results, click the "File" button
on your web browser’s tool bar, then click "Print". Records obtained
from your Basic or Advanced search are automatically formatted
for printing.
You can also copy and paste data into Excel if you are browsing
with Internet Explorer or into Zoho, if using Safari.
For help with composing your search or with exporting or printing
results, please contact us or
see our Help page. |
What's New
Check out our calendar for a schedule of BMP-related events in the region and beyond. Please let us know if you'd like to include an event on the calendar.
This program, cosponsored by the Rocky Mountain Land Use Institute (Sturm College of Law, University of Denver), the Colorado Bar Association CLE, and White & Jankowski, LLP, will be the second of a 3-part series focusing on water, oil and gas issues of critical
interest in Colorado. Topics will include treatment, recycling and disposal of water, and purchasing water from municipalities.
The Natural Resources Law Center at Colorado Law is now known as the Getches-Wilkinson Center for Natural Resources, Energy, and the Environment and is dedicated to serving the people of the American West, the nation, and the world through creative, interdisciplinary research, bold, inclusive teaching, and innovative problem solving in order to further true sustainability for our lands, waters, and environment. The Getches-Wilkinson Center is building on the successful legacies not only of the NRLC, but also of other existing programs in natural resources, energy, and the environment at Colorado Law.
Review the presentations from our recent workshop, Monitoring and Protecting Groundwater During Oil and Gas Development, held in November 2012.

The Intermountain BMP Project is a work in progress. Currently,
the database includes BMPs for a variety of resources (see the
BMP Categories section) from a range of source documents (see
the Bibliography), including project Environmental Impact Statements,
Resource Management Plans, state wildlife agency guidelines, and
industry and conservation group reports and websites.
Partners
The structure and content of this website is being developed
in conjunction with project partners and advisors from government,
industry, the conservation community, academia and landowners.
For information on our current partners or to become a project
partner, see ABOUT US
Contributing to the BMP Database & Dialogue
To access or share information about a particular BMP
or a resource topic area, or to make suggestions on the database
or website, go to the ADD INFO
page.
You can also contact us by email or telephone. Go to the ABOUT
US page for details.
|