From the Fort Collins Coloradodan (Bobby Magill):

The tests, which will establish a baseline for water quality where oil and gas companies are rushing to buy up mineral leases so they can drill the potentially oil-rich Niobrara Formation, are a protective measure required in southern Weld County but not yet in far Northern Colorado. “It’s an area where we don’t have a lot of baseline information at this time, and where we are anticipating significant oil and gas development in the future,” said David Neslin, Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission director.

The information will help the state respond to residents’ complaints about suspected domestic water well contamination from nearby oil and gas development, he said.

The region between Grover and Wellington and around the Pawnee Buttes is becoming a hotspot for oil drilling after a new oil well in northern Weld County gushed 1,700 barrels of oil in one day last year.