Calaveras County Municipal Code Art. I General Provisions

Footnotes:

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Note— The definitions, items or conditions addressed in these standards, as applied to Calaveras County, supplement the California Department of Water Resources, Bulletin 74-81, Water Well Standards: State of California, and the California Department of Water Resources, Bulletin 74-90, California Well Standards (Supplement to Bulletin 74-81) and other applicable state laws.

The purpose of this chapter is to regulate the construction, siting, reconstruction, modification, abandonment and destruction of water wells, agricultural wells, cathodic protection wells, industrial wells, geothermal heat exchange wells, monitoring and observation wells, test wells, test holes and exploration holes in such a manner that the groundwater of the county will not be contaminated or polluted and that water obtained from wells will be suitable for beneficial uses and will not jeopardize the health, safety or welfare of the people of Calaveras County.

(Ord. No. 2946, § 1, 5-6-2008).

This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the Calaveras County Well Ordinance and adopts the California Department of Water Resources, Bulletin 74-81, Well Standards: State of California, and the California Department of Water Resources, Bulletin 74-90, California Well Standards (Supplement to Bulletin 74-81), and any subsequent revisions.

(Ord. No. 2946, § 1, 5-6-2008).

For the purposes of this chapter, the following terms are defined as:

"Abandoned well" means a well whose original purpose and use has been permanently discontinued or which is in such a state of disrepair that it cannot be used for its original purpose.

"Abandoned excavation" means any artificial excavation constructed by any method, for any purpose (including, but not limited to groundwater extraction), whose original purpose and use have been permanently discontinued or which is in such a state of disrepair that it cannot be used for its original purpose. Examples of abandoned excavations include, but are not limited to, mine shafts, pits, wells, hand dug wells, septic tanks, cesspools and other excavations that can present a danger to public health and safety.

"Agricultural well" means a water well whose purpose is to supply water for irrigation or other agricultural needs.

"Animal or fowl enclosure" means barnyard, stable, feedlot or an area of land where animals are corralled, penned, tethered or otherwise caused to remain in confinement in a restricted area and where supplemental feeding is required.

"Annular seal" means the cement grout or bentonite placed between the conductor casing and the borehole or the well casing and the borehole.

"Annular space" means the space or gap between the conductor casing and the borehole or the well casing and the borehole.

"Approved" means being regarded favorably or determined by the director to be officially sanctioned.

"Application" means a form provided by the director requesting the issuance of a permit for the purposes of developing or performing work on a well.

"Aquifer" means a geological formation, group of geological formations or part of a geological formation that is water bearing.

"Authorized agent" means the director, an employee of a C-57 licensed water well drilling contractor working under the license of the well contractor, the property owner, or any individual duly authorized in writing by the property owner to act as the agent thereof.

"Board" and "board of supervisors" means the Calaveras County Board of Supervisors.

"C-57 licensed water well drilling contractor" means any person or company licensed under authority of the State Contractors License Law, as provided in Division 3, Chapter 9, Sections 7026.1 (d), 7058, and 7059 of the Business and Professions Code.

"Casing" means a tubular structure, usually a plastic or steel pipe, installed in a borehole to maintain the well opening.

"Cathodic protection well" means any artificial excavation exceeding fifty feet in depth, constructed by any method for the purpose of installing equipment or facilities for the electrical protection of metallic equipment that is in contact with the ground. Installations less than fifty feet in depth are legally considered to be shallow anodes.

"Cement grout" means a mixture of cement, water and other approved material, such as sand, of such fluid consistency that it can be pumped through a tremie pipe and readily pass through a perforated well casing.

"Commercial well" means a water well that is used to supply water to an individual enterprise engaged in the sale of water for profit.

"Contaminant" means any physical, chemical, biological or radiological substance or matter which, by contact or mixing, makes water impure.

"Department" means the Calaveras County Environmental Health Department.

"Destroyed well" means a well that has been properly cleared, filled and sealed so that it cannot produce water nor act as a vertical conduit for the movement of surface or shallow subsurface contaminants or pollutants into the groundwater.

"Director" means the Director of the Calaveras County Environmental Health Department, or any designated or authorized agent thereof.

"Drilled well" means an artificial excavation, specifically a borehole, constructed by means of a mechanical drilling apparatus, such as a rotary drill, an auger, a cable tool or mud rig.

"Drilling fluid" is a liquid, used in drilling operations to remove cuttings from the borehole, to clean and cool the bit, to reduce friction between the drill stem and the borehole wall, and to prevent caving or sloughing of the borehole wall.

"Drilling foam" is a chemical agent that, when agitated in water, creates a froth used in drilling operations to remove cuttings from the borehole, to clean and cool the bit, to reduce friction between the drill stem and the borehole wall, and to prevent caving or sloughing of the borehole wall.

"Enforcement" means the process undertaken by which individuals, subject to this chapter, are made to comply with the provisions of this chapter.

"Excavation" means any hole or cavity artificially constructed by any method for any purpose including, but not limited to, groundwater extraction. Examples of excavations include, but are not limited to, mine shafts, pits, wells, hand dug wells, septic tanks, cesspools and other excavations that can present a danger to public health and safety.

"Expedited inspection" means an inspection that is requested and conducted with less than twenty-four hours advanced notification.

"Exploration hole" means a test hole.

"Fee" means a fixed charge proposed by the director, pursuant to this chapter, as approved, updated and adopted by the board of supervisors.

"Geothermal heat exchange well" means any uncased artificial excavation, constructed by any method, that uses the heat exchange capacity of the earth for heating and cooling, in which excavation the ambient ground temperature is thirty degrees Celsius (eighty-six degrees Fahrenheit) or less, and which excavation uses a closed loop, fluid system to prevent the discharge or escape of its fluid into surrounding aquifers or other geologic formations. Geothermal heat exchange wells include ground source heat pump wells.

"Groundwater" means subsurface water that occurs beneath the ground surface in fully saturated zones within soils and other geologic formations.

"Hand dug well" means an excavation that was constructed by means of hand tools, is sometimes lined with brick or stone, is of sufficient diameter to allow easy entry by a person and was constructed for the purpose of extracting groundwater.

"Inactive well" means a well that is not routinely operated but which is capable of being made operable with minimum effort, i.e., opening valves and switching on electrical power.

"Incomplete well" means a well that lacks a part or parts or a well upon which all work is not completed.

"Individual domestic water well" means any water well that is used to supply water for the individual domestic needs of a private residence.

"Industrial well" means a water well that is used to supply water to an individual enterprise engaged in the commercial production and sale of goods, services or both.

"Monitoring well" means any artificial excavation made by any method for the purpose of monitoring fluctuations in groundwater levels, quality of underground waters or the concentration of contaminants in underground waters.

"Permanently inactive well" means a well which has not been used for a period of one year, unless the person owning the land demonstrates an objective intent for further use of the water supply and maintains the well in such a manner that the well shall not allow impairment of groundwater quality, shall have a cover that is watertight and cannot be removed without special tools or equipment, shall be easily visible, locatable and identifiable as being a well, and shall be kept clear of brush, debris and waste materials.

"Permit" means well permit.

"Pollutant" means any physical, chemical, biological or radiological substance or matter which, by contact or mixing, makes water unfit for consumption or harmful to living things.

"Public water system" means a system for the provision of water for human consumption that has fifteen or more service connections or regularly serves at least twenty-five individuals daily at least sixty days of the year.

"Sanitary building sewage disposal system" means the sewer line, i.e., the tight line or the sewer line, from the building to the on-site, sewage waste, disposal system.

"Sanitary seal" means a mechanical device used to form a watertight joint around the water line and against the well casing.

"Sewage dispersal area" means an area, above ground (i.e., spray fields and engineered waste disposal systems) or below ground (i.e., standard or engineered, sewage leach fields), that is used for the disposal of sewage wastes.

"Sounding tube" means a vented pipe that is attached at the access hole of the sanitary seal, is open to the contents of the well and extends into the water column. The water level within the sounding tube equals the water level within the well.

"Stand-by well" means a well that serves a public water system that is used only for short-term emergencies of five consecutive days or less, and for less than a total of fifteen calendar days per year.

"Surface seal" means a monolithically poured, concrete platform or pad constructed around the well casing on compacted native soil.

"Surface water" means any water that is open to the atmosphere or subject to surface water runoff. Surface waters include, but are not limited to, lakes, rivers, creeks, irrigation ditches, drainage ditches and natural or constructed impoundments.

"Test hole" means an uncased, temporary excavation (excluding blast holes and soil profile holes excavated for soil evaluations or for on-site sewage treatment and disposal evaluation) that is greater than twenty feet in depth, and whose purpose is the immediate determination of existing geological or hydrological conditions.

"Tremie pipe" means a tube inserted in the annular space, and which extends from the bottom of the annular space to the ground surface, through which cement grout is pumped to seal the annular space from the bottom of the annular space to the ground surface.

"Vapor extraction well" means any artificial excavation that is greater than twenty feet in depth, constructed by any method, and used to reduce concentrations of volatile and semi-volatile compounds that are adsorbed onto soils in the unsaturated, subsurface (vadose) zone, by the application of a vacuum.

"Water quality" means the chemical, physical, radiological and biological characteristics of water with respect to its suitability for beneficial uses.

"Water system" means an assemblage of such equipment as is necessary, for the provision of water conveyed through pipes or other constructed conveyances, for human consumption and includes, but is not limited to, all wells, pumps, tanks, filters, water treatment equipment, valves, water mains, water service lines, fire hydrants, fire hydrant piping, and all associated appurtenances.

"Water well" means any artificial excavation that is greater than twenty feet in depth and constructed by any method for the purpose of extracting groundwater.

"Well contractor" means a C-57 licensed water well drilling contractor.

"Well driller" means a well contractor.

"Well permit" means the formal, written approval of an application issued by the director under authority of this chapter to perform work on a well.

"Well rehabilitation" means the treatment or repair of a well that is necessary to recover loss of hydraulic efficiency caused by incrustation or clogging of the screen, filter pack, or the water bearing, strata adjoining the well.

"Work on a well" means any activity on a well for which a well permit, issued by the director, is required and includes, but is not limited to, the digging or drilling of a new well, the reconstruction, modification (i.e., sealing, deepening or re-perforation), destruction or abandonment of an existing well, or the drilling or destruction of a test or exploration hole.

(Ord. No. 2946, § 1, 5-6-2008).