Imperial County Municipal Code Ch. 3 Well Standards

Any person who uses a new or existing well shall first register said well with the Imperial county planning and development services department. If a well is under an active conditional use permit, the well shall be deemed to be registered. Any well that is not under an Imperial County CUP shall be registered with the planning and development services department and the state pursuant to California Water Code, Section 13750.

An application to register any well shall be filed with the planning and development services department and said application shall contain all information required upon the form.

(Ord. 1415 § 332, 2006)

The driller shall provide the enforcement agency a completion report within thirty (30) days of the completion of any well construction, reconstruction, or destruction job.

A. Submittal of State Report of Completion. A copy of the "Report of Completion" (Driller's well log) required by California Water Code, Section 13751, shall be submitted by the well driller to the enforcement agency within thirty (30) days of construction or destruction of any well (except driven wells). This report shall document that the work was completed in accordance with all applicable standards and additional permit conditions.

This section shall not be deemed to release any person from the requirement to file the report with the State Department of Water Resources.

B. Confidentiality of Report. With the exception of the well driller's name, the date the well was drilled and the well yield, all information contained in this report shall remain confidential.

C. Other Agency's Requirements. Nothing in this division shall be deemed to excuse any person from compliance with the provisions of California Water Code, Section 13752, relating to notices and reports of completion or any other federal, state, or local reporting regulations.

(Prior code § 92103.01)

Except as otherwise specified, the standards for the construction, repair, reconstruction, alteration, reactivation, operation, or abandonment of wells shall be as set forth in:

A. The California Department of Water Resources Bulletin 74-81 entitled, "Water Well Standards, state of California," except as modified by subsequent supplements or revisions issued by the department of Water Resources.

B. The California Department of Water Resources Bulletin 74-90 and any subsequent supplements or revisions issued by the department of Water Resources.

C. The following factors, to the extent necessary to avoid conditions of overdraft, subsidence, well interference, water quality degradation, or other environmental degradation:

1. The type of use or uses served;

2. The number of users served;

3. Wasteful or inefficient use;

4. Water conservation activities;

5. Reasonable need of the extractor and other affected water users;

6. The quality of groundwater;

7. The affected groundwater basin or sub-basins;

8. Environmental impact as determined through the CEQA review;

9. Any other factors that the planning and development services department reasonably believes it should consider in order to reach an equitable result within the entire county in accordance with the provisions of this division, and of California Law.

(Ord. 1415 § 334, 2006)

The enforcement agency shall have the power under the following specified conditions to grant a variance from any provision of the standards referred to above and to prescribe alternate requirements in their place. There is no appeal from a denial of a variance request, unless:

A. Special Circumstances. There must be, in a specific case, special circumstances where practical difficulties or unnecessary hardship would result from the strict interpretation enforcement of any standard. Economic expense will not be considered unnecessary hardship.

B. Intent of Division not Compromised. The granting of any variance is to be consistent with the purpose and intent of this division and state law.

(Prior code § 92103.03)

The enforcement agency may designate areas where potable groundwater quality is known to exist and where a well will penetrate more than one aquifer. The enforcement agency may require in these designated areas special well seals to prevent mixing of water from several aquifers. Where an applicant proposes well construction, reconstruction, alteration, repair or construction work, in such an area, the enforcement agency may require the applicant to provide a report prepared by a registered geologist or a registered civil engineer that identifies all strata containing poor quality water and recommends the location and specification of seal or seals needed to prevent entrance of poor quality water or its mitigation into other aquifers.

The enforcement agency may take such other action as it determines reasonably necessary to protect the degradation of both quantity and quality of any known aquifer resulting from the installation, modification, refurbishing, construction, repair or destruction of well or from improper well operations, maintenance, and/or from excessive pumping capacity.

(Prior code § 92103.04)

A. Any person whose application for a permit has been denied, granted conditionally, or whose permit has been suspended or revoked, may appeal the determination to the Imperial County planning commission, provided the appeal is in writing, within ten (10) days after any such denials, conditional granting, suspension, or revocation. Such appeal shall specify the grounds upon which it is being requested and shall be accompanied by a filing fee as set forth in the county's Codified Ordinances. The planning director shall set such an appeal for hearing before the planning commission at the earliest practicable time, and shall notify the appellant and all interested parties in writing at least ten (10) days prior to the hearing.

B. After such hearing the planning commission may uphold, or may reverse, wholly or in part, or may modify any such determination.

C. The decision of the planning commission shall be final unless it is appealed to the board of supervisors within ten (10) days from the date of the planning commission's decision.

D. Any decision made by the board of supervisors on an appeal from the planning commission shall be final.

(Prior code § 92103.05)

Representatives of the enforcement agency shall have the right to enter upon any premises at all reasonable times to make inspections and tests for the purpose of such enforcement and administration. If any such premises are occupied, the representative shall first present proper credentials and demand entry. If the same is unoccupied, the representative shall first make a reasonable effort to locate the owner or other person having charge or control of same representative shall have recourse to such remedies as are provided by law to secure entry.

(Prior code § 92103.06)