Chapter 17.100
WATER SUPPLY PROTECTION

Sections:

17.100.010    Introduction and background.

17.100.020    Definitions.

17.100.030    Regulated activities.

17.100.040    Penalties and enforcement/violations.

17.100.050    Liability for damages.

17.100.060    Severability.

17.100.010 Introduction and background.

Residents and businesses in the city of Longview and Cowlitz County Public Utilities District No. 1 water service areas have relied on surface water from the Cowlitz River for the majority of their potable water. On January 28, 2010, the council approved development of a municipal groundwater supply to provide potable water to customers in the city of Longview and Cowlitz Public Utility District No. 1 water service areas, to replace the existing surface water supply from the Cowlitz River.

Groundwater is contained in underground layers of permeable rock, sand, gravel and/or soil called aquifers. These aquifers are important public resources and fundamental components of the overall hydrological cycle. Aquifers serve as reservoirs for storing, transmitting, and yielding water through wells, and they provide natural filtration for groundwater, which is especially important for potable water supplies. The percolation of water through the soil and aquifer filters many impurities and improves the quality of the groundwater.

It is important for the health, safety and welfare of all to protect aquifers from activities that may cause contamination or unacceptably increase the potential for contamination, and especially aquifers providing water for municipal water systems. The aquifer targeted for development as the city’s municipal water supply is a gravel aquifer located underneath the area known as the Mint Farm Industrial Park in the city of Longview. The target aquifer is typically located between a protective confining layer of silts and clays, and a bedrock formation, and is generally encountered from 230 feet to 380 feet below ground surface near the southern boundary of the Mint Farm Industrial Park. (Ord. 3127 § 1, 2010).

17.100.020 Definitions.

“Aquifer” means a soil formation containing layers of rock, sand, gravel, and/or soil that stores, transmits, and yields water.

“Director” means the director of the public works department of the city of Longview, or the director’s designee.

“Hydraulic fracturing” means a human-caused technique of cracking or fracturing rocks and other geologic formations to create, restore, or increase the capacity or rate at which fluids or gases, such as petroleum oil, natural gas, or water, can be stored in, transmitted through, or withdrawn from the geologic formations. Hydraulic fracturing frequently involves introducing materials, chemicals, and compounds into the geologic formations to promote the cracking process and to maintain the cracks in an open condition.

“Mint Farm Aquifer” means the aquifer targeted by the city of Longview for development as a municipal water supply, identified as the gravel aquifer boundary in Figure 3-1, Delineation of Source Area for the Mint Farm Wellfield, of the draft City of Longview Mint Farm Regional Water Treatment Plant Preliminary Design Report prepared by Kennedy/Jenks Consultants, dated January 8, 2010.

“Municipal water supply” means the system of withdrawal of water from a surface or groundwater source, treatment to potable water quality, and distribution to residents and customers of the city of Longview.

“Potable” means water meeting state and federal drinking water regulations. (Ord. 3127 § 1, 2010).

17.100.030 Regulated activities.

(1) Due to the use of materials, chemicals, and compounds that may be harmful to human health and to prevent the potential for contamination of the Mint Farm Aquifer being developed for the city’s municipal water supply, the practice of hydraulic fracturing is prohibited from use at all locations within or beneath the corporate city limits.

(2) Any other activity that has the potential to significantly reduce the Mint Farm Aquifer recharge, aquifer flow, or aquifer water quality and threaten the use of the Mint Farm Aquifer as a municipal water supply is prohibited. The director shall have the authority to determine that a specific activity threatens the Mint Farm Aquifer and to approve mitigating actions to protect the Mint Farm Aquifer. (Ord. 3127 § 1, 2010).

17.100.040 Penalties and enforcement/violations.

(1) Civil Infraction. Any person who undertakes any activity prohibited by this chapter shall be guilty of a Class II civil infraction and may be assessed a penalty pursuant to LMC 1.30.040(1)(b) and (2). Each violation of this chapter or approval or order issued pursuant to this chapter shall be a separate offense, and, in the case of a continuing violation, each day’s continuance shall be deemed to be a separate and distinct offense. All costs, fees and expenses in connection with enforcement actions may be recovered as damages against the violator.

(2) Enforcement by Director. It shall be the responsibility of the director to enforce the provisions of this chapter and any order or approval issued pursuant to this chapter. The director is authorized to issue notices of civil infraction for violations thereof. The issuance of a notice of civil infraction shall not preclude recourse to any other remedies permitted by law. (Ord. 3127 § 1, 2010).

17.100.050 Liability for damages.

(1) City Liability. This chapter shall not be construed to hold the city of Longview, or any officer or employee thereof, responsible for any damages to persons or property by reason of the certification, inspection or noninspection of any building, equipment or property as herein authorized.

(2) Violator Liability. The violator shall be liable for all damages to persons, property, and mitigation or remediation costs to the city to mitigate the impacts of any contamination of the municipal water supply due to violations of this chapter, including but not limited to the costs of additional treatment processes and chemicals, or development of a replacement water source for the municipal water supply. (Ord. 3127 § 1, 2010).

17.100.060 Severability.

Should any section, clause or provision of this chapter or any code adopted hereby be declared by a court to be invalid, the same shall not affect the validity of the remainder, either in whole or in part. (Ord. 3127 § 1, 2010).