<img class="styles__noscript__2rw2y" src="https://dsx.weather.com/util/image/w/gettyimages-480337041.jpg?v=at&w=485&h=273&api=7db9fe61-7414-47b5-9871-e17d87b8b6a0" srcset="https://dsx.weather.com/util/image/w/gettyimages-480337041.jpg?v=at&w=485&h=273&api=7db9fe61-7414-47b5-9871-e17d87b8b6a0 400w, https://dsx.weather.com/util/image/w/gettyimages-480337041.jpg?v=ap&w=980&h=551&api=7db9fe61-7414-47b5-9871-e17d87b8b6a0 800w" > Pump jacks are seen at dawn in an oil field over the Monterey Shale formation where gas and oil is extracted using hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. (David McNew/Getty Images) (David McNew/Getty Images)

At a Glance Water use per well for fracking has increased up to 770 percent.

The volume of toxic wastewater generated also increased by up to 1440 percent.

The Energy Department says fracking has given “the United States more flexibility ... to use our oil resources with less concern.”

The amount of water used for fracking in each oil or gas well increased up to 770 percent from 2011 to 2016, a new study has found.

The volume of toxic wastewater that fracked oil and gas wells generated during their first year of production also increased by up to 1440 percent during the same period, according to the study, which was published on Aug. 15 in the journal Science Advances.

The study comes on the heels of a new memo from the Trump administration saying conserving oil is no longer an economic imperative for the United States , the Associated Press reports. The nation's Energy Department says fracking has given “the United States more flexibility than in the past to use our oil resources with less concern.”

“After more than a decade of fracking operation, we now have more years of data to draw upon from multiple verifiable sources. We clearly see a steady annual increase in hydraulic fracturing’s water footprint, with 2014 and 2015 marking a turning point where water use and the generation of flowback and produced water began to increase at significantly higher rates,” said Avner Vengosh, co-author of the study and a professor at Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment.

<img class="styles__noscript__2rw2y" src="https://dsx.weather.com/util/image/w/frackingmap.jpg?v=at&w=485&h=273&api=7db9fe61-7414-47b5-9871-e17d87b8b6a0" srcset="https://dsx.weather.com/util/image/w/frackingmap.jpg?v=at&w=485&h=273&api=7db9fe61-7414-47b5-9871-e17d87b8b6a0 400w, https://dsx.weather.com/util/image/w/frackingmap.jpg?v=ap&w=980&h=551&api=7db9fe61-7414-47b5-9871-e17d87b8b6a0 800w" > The volume of water used for fracking energy resources has risen sharply in recent years, raising concerns about its sustainability in regions where water resources are stressed. (Duke University) (Duke University)

To conduct the study, a team from Duke collected and analyzed six years of data on water use and natural gas, oil and wastewater production from industry, government and nonprofit sources for more than 12,000 individual wells in all major U.S. shale gas and tight oil producing regions. They used the historical data to model future water use and first-year wastewater volumes under two different scenarios.

Their models showed that if current low oil and gas prices rise and production again reaches levels seen during fracking’s heyday in the early 2010s, cumulative water use and wastewater volumes could surge by up to 50-fold in unconventional gas-producing regions by 2030, and by up to 20-fold in unconventional oil-producing regions.

“Even if prices and drilling rates remain at current levels, our models still predict a large increase by 2030 in both water use and wastewater production,” said Andrew J. Kondash, who was lead author of the study.

The research, according to Huffington Post, raises new concerns about hydraulic fracturing , the controversial drilling technique in which liquid is injected at high pressure into rock to force out oil and gas. Vital drinking water reserves are being threatened. In areas where climate change is already causing fresh water sources to dry up, fracking is yet another competitor for the resource.

The study also said salts, toxic elements, organic matter, and naturally occurring radioactive material in the wastewater that is produced poses risks to local water supplies.

The Trump administration's new position on oil conservation was outlined in a memo released online this month without fanfare.

Growth of natural gas and other alternatives to petroleum has reduced the need for imported oil, which "in turn affects the need of the nation to conserve energy," the Energy Department said.

It also cites the now decade-old fracking revolution that has unlocked U.S. shale oil reserves, giving "the United States more flexibility than in the past to use our oil resources with less concern."

