Amendments to County Well Ordinance

Amendments to County Well Ordinance

Amend County Code Chapter 7.70, Water Well, to 1) allow the Board of Supervisors to waive the requirement for a County well permit if another agency provides comparable oversight; 2) require that wells may only be constructed on an existing legal lot of record; 3) allow construction of a replacement well less than 100 feet from a septic system if there is no other alternative and the well is constructed in a manner to prevent contamination; 4) require evaluation by an appropriately qualified professional when a new well is proposed to be located in proximity to a hazardous materials facility or site of known soil or groundwater contamination; 5) provide for development of additional procedures specific to construction and destruction of monitoring wells; 6) provide more explicit requirements for the destruction of abandoned wells; 7) expand the requirement that wells must utilize deeper seals and can only draw from one aquifer zone throughout the Pajaro groundwater basin or any other areas where poor groundwater quality may exist; 8) require basic water quality testing whenever a new or replacement well is constructed; 9) require water use efficiency measures for wells serving more than four residential connections or serve non-residential uses that consume more than 2 acre feet per year, in lieu of requiring environmental review for individual well permits; 10) modify wording to provide the Board of Supervisors with discretion in the declaration of a groundwater emergency, depending on whether adequate actions are being taken to address the overdraft conditions; and 11) other minor editorial corrections and clarifications. The projects location is Countywide in the Santa Cruz County, California.

Santa Cruz

Countywide

California Coastal Commission (CCC), California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Bay Delta Region 3 (CDFW), California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS), California Department of Parks and Recreation, California Department of Transportation, District 5 (DOT), California Highway Patrol, California Native American Heritage Commission (NAHC), California Regional Water Quality Control Board, Central Coast Region 3 (RWQCB), Department of Water Resources, Resources Agency, State Water Resources Control Board, Division of Water Rights, State Water Resources Control Board, Divison of Financial Assistance

Other (Ordinance Amendment)

Ordinance Amendment

Geology/Soils, Hydrology/Water Quality, Public Services