Chapter 8.32
WATER WELLS
Sections:
8.32.010 Intent.
8.32.020 Exceptions.
8.32.030 Definitions.
8.32.040 General standards.
8.32.050 Water well permitting, drilling, and testing.
8.32.060 Ground water use permits.
8.32.010 Intent.
It is the purpose of this chapter to provide knowledge to the town as to the construction, conversion, abandonment or destruction of water wells, groundwater monitoring wells, groundwater contamination recovery wells, and cathodic protection wells and the use of groundwater, and to provide minimum regulation of those subjects for the protection of the health, safety and general welfare of the town and its inhabitants. The knowledge acquired will be useful to develop and interpret a data base that will be supportive of a groundwater management policy. (Ord. 465 § 1 (part), 1991: Ord. 355 § 1, 1977)
8.32.020 Exceptions.
All wells and well pumping systems existing or for which a permit was issued or applied for prior to May 14, 1991 are exempt from the requirements of this chapter, until such time as any such well or well pumping system is to be deepened, reperforated, reconstructed, repaired, destroyed, abandoned or converted, whereupon all requirements of this chapter shall be applicable. (Ord. 465 § 1 (part), 1991: Ord. 355 § 2, 1977)
8.32.030 Definitions.
The following definitions shall govern the interpretation of this chapter:
A. “Abandoned well” means any well that has not been used for over one calendar year and may present a potential threat to the public health and safety.
B. “Agricultural well” means any well used solely to supply water for agricultural purposes, including but not limited to irrigation other than residential landscaping.
C. “Applicant” means a property owner or the agent of a property owner applying for permission to dig, drill, bore, jet, drive, deepen, reperforate, excavate, construct, reconstruct, change or repair a well within the corporate limits of the town.
D. “Cathodic protection well” means any well designed or used to protect pipelines, tanks, cables, power lines and other facilities from corrosion.
E. “Dewatering well” means a well or group of closely interrelated wells designed, installed and used for the purpose of lowering the water table during excavation.
F. “Domestic well” means a well used or intended for the purpose of delivering potable water for human consumption. This term shall include any water well, agricultural well, industrial well or other type of well which is used to provide potable water for human consumption.
G. “Domestic irrigation well” means any well designed or used for the purpose of irrigating any residential, commercial or industrial landscaping or for maintaining residential, commercial or industrial waterscapes including but not limited to fountains, swimming pools, spas, etc.
H. “Groundwater contamination recovery well” means any well constructed or used for the sole purpose of recovering or otherwise alleviating groundwater contamination.
I. “Groundwater monitoring well” means any well constructed or used for the sole purpose of observing or monitoring groundwater conditions related to suspected groundwater contamination.
J. “Observation well” means any well installed and used for the specific purpose of monitoring water level response during pump tests.
K. “Potable water” means water of a quality which meets the Regulations Relating to Domestic Water Supply Quality and Monitoring issued by the California Department of Health Services.
L. “Property line” means the legally established line separating one piece of property from another or separating a public right-of-way from private properties.
M. “Pump test” means a test conducted in a well wherein water is pumped for the purpose of determining optimum well yield or aquifer hydraulic properties (permeability, transmissivity, storage, etc. as defined in hydrogeologic literature).
N. “Repair, pump” or “pump system repair” means any maintenance to the water abstraction equipment suspended in the wellbore necessitating the removal of that equipment from the wellbore. This definition is not intended to include maintenance to above ground components.
O. “Repair, well” means maintaining the subsurface portion of the wellbore and/or casing and screen assembly that requires removal of the pump, motor, etc. from the wellbore. Well repair includes but is not limited to deepening, reperforating, reconstruction, recasing or relining.
P. “Sewer” means a pipe carrying waste water from any structure or a part of a community or individual sewerage system.
Q. “Well” means any drilled, bored, dug, jetted, or driven or artificial excavation of any kind for the purpose of extracting water from, or injecting water into, the underground. This definition shall include (without limitation) agricultural wells, cathodic protection wells, domestic wells, domestic irrigation wells, groundwater contamination recovery wells, groundwater monitoring wells and observation wells. This definition shall not include: (1) oil, gas or geothermal wells constructed pursuant to state law except those wells converted to use as water wells; or (2) wells used for the purpose of stabilizing hillsides or embankments. This definition shall include dewatering wells that are retained for controlling groundwater levels as a site feature following project occupancy approval and not abandoned after completion of the excavation project. (Ord. 465 § 1 (part), 1991: Ord. 355 § 3, 1977)
8.32.040 General standards.
A. No person shall construct, reconstruct, repair, destroy, abandon, operate or use a water well or cathodic protection well except as provided by this chapter.
B. Any construction, reconstruction, repair, destruction, abandonment or conversion of a water well or cathodic protection well shall be undertaken only by a well driller who possesses a C-57 water well contractor’s license as provided by licensing law of the state of California.
Any pump system repair shall be undertaken only by a contractor who possesses a C-57 or C-61 license as provided by licensing law of the state of California.
C. Any disturbance at a well site for the purpose of construction, reconstruction repair, destruction, abandonment or conversion of a water well or cathodic protection well shall be limited to the minimum amount of disturbance necessary to gain access to drill the well and shall be in compliance with any other pertinent laws or regulations, including but not limited to grading permit requirements and roadway encroachment permits.
D. Drilling fluids and other drilling materials produced or used in connection with well construction, destruction or conversion shall not be allowed to discharge
onto or into streets, waterways or adjacent properties unless written permission to discharge is granted by the appropriate property owner or legal entity. Upon completion of the construction, destruction or conversion of the well, the site shall be restored as nearly as possible to its original condition.
E. The well site including any excavations and drainage pits shall at the time of drilling be secured or maintained in such a manner as to prevent injury or damage to persons and animals. At all times when the drilling crew is not present any excavation, drainage pit or accumulation of drilling fluids and mud shall be secured within a temporary fencing or plastic fence netting capable of preventing animals and small children from becoming entrapped.
F. In the event a water well should, at the time of drilling, prove to have an inadequate water supply or quality for its intended use, it shall be closed in accordance with county requirements and the site shall be returned as nearly as possible to its original condition. The applicant is responsible for providing all information required by this chapter.
G. Nothing contained in this chapter shall be deemed to relieve any person from compliance with the provisions of San Mateo county ordinances, nor with the provisions of state law, including but not limited to any reporting requirements under the California Water Code. (Ord. 465 § 1 (part), 1991: Ord. 355 § 4, 1977)
8.32.050 Water well permitting, drilling, and testing.
A. No person shall dig, drill, bore, jet, drive, deepen, reperforate, excavate, construct, reconstruct or repair any well or cathodic protection well in the town for any purposes, without first having obtained approval from the town in accordance with this chapter. A permit granted pursuant to this chapter is valid only for the proposed activity listed on the permit application and solely for the site specified therein. A permit granted pursuant to this chapter does not authorize the use or operation of the well as a water supply intended for human consumption as provided in San Mateo county Ordinance 03101.
B. Each well permit applicant shall comply with the following:
1. Submit an application in the form provided by the town.
2. a. New Well Construction. Pay a fee per well as established by resolution of the city council. Exceptions to this fee requirement are as follows:
Excavation dewatering well systems designed to control water levels within a single excavation will be assessed a fee for all wells installed within twelve consecutive months. These wells are not exempt from data reporting and use fee requirements.
Groundwater monitoring wells and groundwater contamination recovery wells that are to be installed consequentially to investigation and or remediation programs being mandated by the San Mateo county environmental health services division and the California Regional Water Quality Control Board—San Francisco Bay Region will be assessed a fee for all wells installed within twelve consecutive months. These wells are not exempt from data reporting and use fee requirements.
Observation wells to be installed in conjunction with a previously permitted well are exempt from this fee. Observation wells are not exempt from data reporting requirements.
b. Existing Well Reconstruction, Deepening, Reperforating or Repair. Pay a fee per well as established by resolution of the city council.
3. Provide the town with a copy of a valid well permit from the county of San Mateo. The town will not issue a well permit until the applicant has provided a copy of a valid well permit issued by the county of San Mateo. An application for a town well permit may be filed prior to receipt of the county permit but will not be approved without a copy of a valid county permit on file.
4. A permit issued pursuant to this chapter shall be kept available for inspection at the well site during the course of and until completion of the construction, reconstruction, repair, destruction, abandonment or conversion of the well.
C. Well Locations and Spacing.
1. All agricultural wells, domestic wells and domestic irrigation wells will be set back from possible sources of pollution and contamination and land use constraints. These setbacks are not to be considered in conflict with setbacks established by the county of San Mateo in county ordinance 03101. The more stringent setback is to prevail unless an exception is approved by the town. The procedure for application, hearing and decision or any exception shall be that established for conditional use permits under Chapter 17.12 of this code. Any exception to these distances must first be approved by the town, before a county variance will be considered by the town. The following setbacks, measured horizontally from the well, shall be:
|
From another well |
50 feet |
|
From a sewer line or lateral |
50 feet |
|
From a side or back yard property line not bounded by a street |
10 feet |
|
From a street bounded property line |
25 feet |
|
From an exterior building formation |
5 feet |
2. In order to lessen the likelihood of interference between adjacent wells (drawdown of the water level to one well caused by the pumping of another well), the distance between nearby existing wells and a new well will be approved by the town.
A. This approval is automatic if this distance exceeds three hundred feet.
B. If wells are to be located with less than three hundred feet, but more than fifty feet, of separation, special well interference pump testing requirements may be imposed on the developer(s) of the new well(s).
C. Generally new wells may not be located within fifty feet of an existing well, but subject to the following exceptions:
1. Observation wells will be permitted to be constructed within fifty feet of an existing or permitted well.
2. Wells in a dewatering system or groundwater contamination monitoring/recovery system may be within fifty feet of each other.
3. Any well for which a San Mateo county variance has been received. However, a well interference test must be conducted in each well, and the resulting mutual interferences must be agreed to in writing by both well owners before an exception may be issued by the town.
D. Well Construction.
1. All wells shall be constructed, reconstructed, repaired, destroyed, abandoned or converted in accordance with the standards set by San Mateo county Ordinance No. 03101 or its successors, and state law, including those regulations and standards issued by the California Department of Water Resources and Department of Health Services.
2. All agricultural wells, domestic wells and domestic irrigation wells shall be provided with a watertight reinforced concrete slab of a minimum thickness of six inches which shall extend horizontally at least two feet from the well casing in all directions. The concrete slab shall be adequately sloped to drain water away from the well casing. The top surface of the slab at its outer edge shall be at least four inches above the surrounding ground level. A variance from this requirement issued by the county of
San Mateo may be submitted to the town for consideration of a town variance.
3. Any drilling contractor named on a permit issued by the town to construct, repair, reconstruct, abandon, convert or destroy a well shall, within thirty days after the completion of the drilling, digging, boring or excavating authorized by such permit, furnish the town with a log of such well. The log shall include, but is not limited to, information on the type of casing, the number and location of the perforations therein, the depth of the well and the soil types encountered during drilling of the well, as well as any other data requested by the town. This provision may be satisfied by providing a copy of the state of California Department of Water Resources Form 188: Water Well Driller’s Report. Failure to comply with this provision will be cause for the town to refuse issuance of future permits to the drilling contractor until said reports have been received.
E. Borehole/Well Data Collection.
1. Drilling, Sampling and Logging—All New Wells.
a. At the town’s option, during the initial well drilling of each drilling firm’s first new well after enactment of this chapter (and for each driller operating in the town), each firm will be instructed in the collection and preservation of samples from the drilling cuttings. On subsequent well drilling activities the driller will be responsible for the collection and preservation of cuttings samples according to this procedure. Samples will be collected at a minimum of ten foot intervals during drilling or at each change in material type. The driller will deliver these samples in labeled containers with clean, dry exteriors to the town along with his field log of the materials encountered (or DWR Form 188) and be available for discussion of the samples, if required.
The town reserves the right to inspect all well drilling operations. All well drilling must be performed in a safe, professional manner. The town’s representative has the right to shut a contractor down and prohibit further work in the town by said contractor until safety concerns are corrected to the satisfaction of the town.
b. At the town’s option, a borehole may be logged by a registered geologist, certified engineering geologist or professional engineer, civil, soils.
c. At the town’s option, a borehole geophysical log (also known as electric log or simply E-log), consisting at a minimum of resistivity and spontaneous potential, of the drill hole may be required prior to completion of the well. This E-log will be contracted by the town. The driller may be required to notify the town or their E-logging contractor of the estimated completion time of the borehole at least twenty-four hours in advance and must leave the rig over the borehole and be available for assistance during the logging. The drilling contractor and E-logging contractor will be compensated for directly related services at a previously agreed upon amount.
d. At the town’s option, a representative of the town may be required to be present for the drilling of future wells considered to be of critical importance. A minimum of twenty four hours’ notice of the start of drilling must be given by the driller to the town.
2. Well Pump Testing—All New Wells.
Pump tests of all new wells are required to ascertain the suitability of a property to support the use of groundwater. The cost of the pump test is to be borne by the owner of the new well.
A well performance test (step drawdown test) or aquifer hydraulic test (constant rate test longer than four hours or well interference test) may be performed by a professional licensed as a registered geologist, certified engineering geologist, or professional engineer, civil. Registered sanitarians and contractors appropriately licensed by the state of California can perform these tests only if under the supervision of licensed engineers or geologists.
a. Minimum Pump Tests.
A pump test performed by a professional licensed as a registered geologist, certified engineering geologist, or professional engineer, civil, can be conducted for a duration that the professional deems appropriate.
If not performed by a professional as defined above, a pump test can be performed independently by a registered sanitarian or appropriately licensed contractors (C-57, C-61) following the general procedures outlined below.
i. The standard procedure for domestic wells and domestic irrigation wells will be a four-hour long pump test. Agricultural wells will require a minimum twelve-hour long test. The test is to be performed with a pump capable of being regulated to provide constant flow (within about plus or minus six percent), along with an accurate flow measurement device. The flow measurement device (flow meter) will be calibrated with a container of appropriate size and a stopwatch during the course of each pump test. A water level measurement device (such as an electric water level probe) capable of measurements with an accuracy of 0.1 foot must be used to determine water levels as the test progresses.
ii. Water level measurements must be taken at a minimum of one each minute for the first five minutes and one measurement each five minutes for the remainder of the first hour, and once each ten minutes for the following three hours. Flow measurements must be recorded along with each water level measurement after the first five minutes.
iii. At the completion of the pumping test, the recovery in water level in the well must be measured at least once each minute for the first ten minutes, and then at least once per each five minutes for the next fifty minutes for a total of one hour.
iv. The town’s representative will be present to observe and monitor the first pumping test to be run by each separate contractor or any new employee thereof within the town. A minimum of twenty-four hours’ notice of the start of the pumping test must be provided by the pump testing contractor to the town.
The town reserves the right to inspect all pump test operations. All pump tests must be performed in a safe, professional manner. The town’s representative has the right to shut a contractor down and prohibit further work in the town by said contractor until safety concerns are corrected to the satisfaction of the town.
b. Pump Tests—Closely Spaced Wells.
i. Where wells are drilled with less than three hundred feet separation from existing wells, interference pumping tests longer than four hours may be required at the town’s option. The test duration is likely to vary from twelve to seventy-two hours, depending on geologic conditions and well spacings. Cooperation of adjacent well owners is necessary as measurements of water levels in adjacent wells will be required as the test progresses. Cooperation of owners of wells installed under this chapter is required under subsection J of Section 8.32.060.
ii. All interference tests will be conducted by a professional licensed as a registered geologist, certified engineering geologist or professional engineer, civil, or other individual appropriately licensed by the California Department of Consumer Affairs.
3. Groundwater Quality—All New Wells.
a. It will be the responsibility of the pump testing contractor/consultant to take one gallon samples of the water produced during the pump testing. For a four hour pumping test, samples will be taken at the end of each one hour interval. One or more of these samples will be selected by the town for laboratory testing at the expense of the applicant.
b. Standard laboratory testing required on water samples selected for testing will be for:
Specific conductance
Cations (Sodium, Potassium, Calcium, Magnesium)
Anions (Chloride, Sulfate, Carbonate, Bicarbonate)
Nitrate
Total dissolved solids
Iron
Manganese
At the town’s option, other tests for such constituents as boron, coliform bacteria or any other CAC Title 22 parameter may be required to be performed at the expense of the applicant.
4. Previously Developed Information. In order to maximize the availability of useful information relevant to groundwater conditions throughout the town, developers who hold previously developed information may be required to make such information available to the town if they are to receive future well permits. This applies in particular to pumping test information and water level recovery data for both single and multiple well pumping tests.
5. Ongoing Monitoring and Sampling of Wells. The town and its representatives shall have access rights to wells drilled under this program for an indefinite length of time so as to be able to measure static water levels and obtain water samples for analysis. The town will arrange for access with owners of wells at least twenty-four hours in advance.
F. A permit issued pursuant to this chapter for the construction, repair, reconstruction, destruction, abandonment or conversion of a well shall expire and become null and void if the work authorized has not been completed within one calendar year following the issuance of the permit or the expiration of the county permit, whichever is less. Upon expiration of such permit, no further work may be done in connection with the construction, repair, reconstruction, destruction, abandonment or conversion of a well unless and until a new permit for that purpose is secured in accordance with the provision of this chapter. (Ord. 465 § 1 (part), 1991: Ord. 355 § 5, 1977)
8.32.060 Ground water use permits.
A. No person shall operate a well without applying for and obtaining a groundwater use permit for such activity from the town in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.
B. The requirements of this section shall be applicable to all new wells used or operated. The requirements of this section shall not be applicable to existing wells at the time of its adoption. This provision shall be applicable to existing wells when it becomes necessary to implement pump system repair.
C. Each applicant for a groundwater use permit shall provide the town with a letter or other written evidence from California Water Service Company or the San Mateo county health services department documenting that a backflow prevention device has been installed between the property being served and the meter box or distribution system.
D. Issuance of a groundwater use permit is contingent upon submittal to and approval by the town building department for electrical and plumbing specifications for the water well pump and distribution system.
E. Each well operated to supply water for any purpose shall have a meter installed on the well to record the volume of water used. A record of such water usage shall be submitted by the permittee to the town annually unless otherwise requested by the town. This provision shall include dewatering wells (or well systems) and groundwater contamination recovery wells, but not groundwater monitoring wells.
F. All wells shall be provided with a one inch access pipe, capped at the bottom and perforated with at least three holes per foot of no less than one-twentieth of a square inch each, and free from burrs, over the lower forty feet. (Each hole is approximately equivalent to a quarter-inch drilled hole or two hack saw cuts one-half inch long.) This pipe will extend from above the pump to the surface and may be secured to the discharge pipe and well cap. The top of the pipe shall be kept sealed by a threaded or equivalently secure cap or plug. The purpose of this pipe is for measuring water levels and it may also be used to comply with county Ordinance 03101 Section 4710.
G. Any well used or operated as a water supply shall be tested for water quality at the expense of the permittee upon request of the town. Results of these tests shall be provided to the town. (This provision expands San Mateo county Ordinance 03101 to include all wells.)
H. Any domestic well must meet San Mateo county requirements. Any agricultural well or domestic irrigation well used for waterscapes, including but not limited to fountains, swimming pools, spas, etc. must meet minimum San Mateo county drinking water standards with respect to potable water.
I. A permit issued pursuant to this section for the use or operation of a well shall not expire and shall remain valid provided that the operation or use of the well is in compliance with the standards under this chapter and county and state law. A one-time groundwater use permit fee as prescribed by city council must be paid by the applicant.
J. As a condition for the issuance of a permit under this section, the permittee shall allow the town or an authorized representative to enter the property where the well is located, upon twenty-four hours’ notice, unless otherwise agreed by the parties, to investigate, examine and test the well and well site. (Ord. 465 § 1 (part), 1991: Ord. 355 § 6, 1977)