The synergy between environmental control and production in Vaca Muerta

Vaca Muerta represents an opportunity of enormous significance for Neuquén and for Argentina. But every opportunity of this magnitude carries an equivalent responsibility. The challenge we face is not only how much we can produce, but how we are going to do it, what controls we will establish and, fundamentally, what kind of province we want to build with the resources this activity generates.

From my role in the Ministry of Tourism, Environment and Natural Resources, I understand that the development of Vaca Muerta must necessarily be accompanied by a solid environmental policy, based on scientific evidence, accurate information, territorial presence, continuous monitoring and inspection capacity. Producing and protecting are not contradictory objectives when there are clear rules, effective controls and a concrete commitment to anticipate problems.

Hipólito Salvatori, head of the Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources, detailed actions parallel to Vaca Muerta's development.

Water management strategy

One of the main challenges is related to integrated water management.

In a province where hydrocarbon activity, agricultural and livestock production, tourism, cities and community needs coexist, managing this resource requires planning and knowledge. For this reason, the Ministry of Tourism, Environment and Natural Resources is currently executing more than 280 billion pesos in water and sanitation works and hydraulic infrastructure.

Water management must consider all its uses and ensure that the growth of one activity does not compromise and enhances the possibilities of the others.

One of the central changes in this management was bringing together for the first time the different teams involved in environmental inspection and control within the same ministry. Environment, Water Resources, Water and Sanitation Company (EPAS), Climate Change and park ranger teams now work in a coordinated manner, sharing information, coordinating interventions and addressing the territory from an integrated perspective. This organization allows each area to contribute its specific knowledge, while the State's response is unified.

Secretary Hipólito Salvatori conducting fieldwork. (Courtesy of the Government of Neuquén).

This coordination is especially important in a large province with diverse productive activities and natural resources requiring continuous controls. Integrating teams allows us to plan inspections, share information and act in a coordinated manner across the territory.

In this framework, preventive monitoring plays a central role. Inspections and sampling certifications are conducted to evaluate groundwater quality, detect the presence of hydrocarbons early, monitor effluents and verify parameters established by regulations. Measuring and generating reliable information allows us to anticipate and make decisions with technical backing.

At the same time, teams travel throughout the province to oversee productive activities, verify compliance with environmental measures and respond to contingencies. Controls reach hydrocarbon industry operations, livestock facilities, effluent treatment plants, quarries and other activities, through both scheduled inspections and immediate interventions when necessary.

Hipólito Salvatori during a site visit. (Courtesy of the Government of Neuquén).

Emissions monitoring and control in Vaca Muerta

Another major challenge is emissions control. The objective is for Vaca Muerta's growth not to result in proportional emissions increases, and for this reason, Neuquén is incorporating tools that position it at the forefront of monitoring. The Province works alongside the United Nations International Methane Emissions Observatory (IMEO/UNEP), serves as a focal point for the MARS satellite system and is advancing with international measurement, reporting and verification standards.

Today we can combine satellite alerts, field inspections, optical cameras and leak detection and repair programs to identify emissions and act on them. The challenge is increasingly concrete: measure better to control better, reduce emissions and use more efficiently the resource we produce.

Discussing sustainability also means being able to demonstrate it. That is why traceability, validation and data certification are important. If we truly want to evaluate the environmental performance of an activity, we need objective indicators that allow us to compare, correct and verify results over time.

But there is another dimension I consider fundamental: what we do with the resources Vaca Muerta generates. The utilization of hydrocarbons should not be measured solely by production levels or by the investments it generates. We must also observe how those resources return to the territory in the form of infrastructure, services, capabilities and new development opportunities.

Part of these resources allows for financing water and sanitation works, hydraulic infrastructure and environmental policies. In recent years, significant investments have been made to expand access to drinking water, extend networks, improve treatment systems, strengthen hydraulic infrastructure and address emergency situations. Added to this are funds destined to strengthen environmental management, waste administration and inspection and control actions. The challenge also consists of transforming natural resources into infrastructure that prepares the province for its future.

The discussion about Vaca Muerta must overcome the false choice between producing or preserving. The true challenge is to produce under increasingly demanding environmental standards, responsibly manage water, reduce emissions, strengthen inspection and use resources generated by development to build infrastructure and diversify the province's economic matrix. If we are capable of doing so, as we are doing, Vaca Muerta will be far more than a geological formation of enormous energy potential: an economic transformation that reaches the entire national territory.