Lassen County Municipal Code Ch. 7.28 Water Wells

It is the purpose of the ordinance codified in this chapter to provide for the construction, repair, modification and destruction of wells in such a manner that the groundwater of Lassen County will not be contaminated or polluted and that water obtained from wells will be suitable for beneficial use and will not jeopardize the health, safety or welfare of the people of Lassen County.

(Ord. 488 § 1, 1988; Ord. 488-A § 2, 1988)

Words used in this chapter shall have the definitions set forth in this section:

"Board of supervisors"

means the board of supervisors of Lassen County.

"Cathodic protection well"

means any artificial excavation in excess of fifty feet constructed by any method for the purpose of installing equipment or facilities for the protection electrically of metallic equipment in contact with the ground, commonly referred to as cathodic protection.

"Community water supply well"

means a water well for domestic purposes in systems subject to Chapter 7 of Part 1 of Division 5 of the California Health and Safety Code.

"Completion" or "completion operation"

means any work conducted after artificial excavation to include:

Placement of well casing;

Gravel packing (if done);

Sealing;

Casing perforation (in place); or

Other operations deemed necessary by the health officer.

"Contamination"

means an impairment of the quality of water to a degree which creates a hazard to the public health through poisoning, or through spread of disease.

"Destruction" or "destroy"

means the proper filling of a well that is no longer useful as to assure that the groundwater is protected and to eliminate any potential physical hazard.

"Duly licensed contractor"

means a contractor who is currently licensed by the state of California, Department of Consumer Affairs, Contractors State License Board in accordance with the Contractors License Law (Chapter 9, Division 3, of the California Business and Professions Code). The term duly licensed contractor shall be deemed to include a person, or the employees thereof, who drills, digs, bores or otherwise constructs, deepens, repairs, reperforates or abandons a water well for his own use.

"Health officer"

means the health officer of Lassen County or his or her duly authorized representatives.

"Individual domestic well"

means a water well used to supply water for domestic needs of an individual residence or commercial establishment.

"Modification or repair"

means the deepening of a well or the reperforation or replacement of a well casing.

"Pollution"

means an alteration of the quality of water to a degree which unreasonably affects such waters for beneficial uses, or which affects facilities which serve such beneficial uses. Pollution may include contamination.

"Well" or "water well"

means any artificial excavation constructed by any method for the purpose of extracting water from or injecting water into the underground, for providing cathodic protection, for making tests or observations of underground conditions, or any other wells whose regulation is necessary to fulfill the purpose of this chapter. Wells shall not include:

Oil and gas wells, or geothermal wells constructed under the jurisdiction of the Department of Conservation, except those wells converted to use as water wells; or

Wells used for the purpose of:

a.

Dewatering excavation during construction, and

b.

The stabilizing of hillside or earth embankments; nor shall this definition include;

Test or exploratory holes for soil testing or seismic exploration where such holes are less than twenty-five feet deep; and

Holes or excavation for soil percolation tests where such holes are less than ten feet deep.

(Ord. 488 § 1, 1988; Ord. 488-A § 2, 1988)

No person, firm, corporation, governmental agency or any other legal entity shall, within the unincorporated area of Lassen County, construct, repair, modify or destroy any well unless a written permit has first been obtained from the health officer of the county, as provided in this chapter. In case of emergency affecting life, health, crops or livestock a well driller may start work immediately, but shall notify the enforcing agency within seventy-two hours of the work being done, and at that time apply for a permit application. Under emergency construction, all work must be done in conformance with standards set forth in this chapter.

(Ord. 488 § 1, 1988; Ord. 488-A § 2, 1988)

Application for permits shall be made to the health officer of the county of Lassen and shall include the following:

A. A plot plan indicating the exact location of the well with respect to the following items within a radius of two hundred feet of the well:

1. Property lines;

2. Overhead power lines;

3. All sewage disposal systems or works carrying or containing sewage or waste waters;

4. All intermittent or perennial, natural or artificial water bodies or water courses, including springs;

5. Drainage pattern of the property;

6. Existing wells;

7. Aboveground or belowground fuel tanks;

8. Access roads;

9. Easements of any type;

10. Location of animal or fowl enclosures.

B. Location of the property, (to include Lassen County assessor parcel number);

C. Name, address and California Contractor's License number of persons doing the work,

D. Expected depth of well and final depth of well;

E. Use of well;

F. Other information as may be necessary to determine if underground waters will be protected.

(Ord. 488 § 1, 1988; Ord. 488-A § 2, 1988)

Permits shall be issued subject to compliance with the standards provided in this chapter, except that such standards shall be inapplicable or modified by the health officer when, upon his finding, inapplicability or modification will accomplish the purposes of this chapter. A permit to be valid must comply with all other state and county laws.

(Ord. 488 § 1, 1988; Ord. 488-A § 2, 1988)

All work shall be performed by a duly licensed contractor in accordance with all other state and county laws.

(Ord. 488 § 1, 1988; Ord. 488-A § 2, 1988)

Permit application fees for the new construction of water wells, and for the repair, modification and destruction of water wells shall be established under separate ordinance.

(Ord. 488 § 1, 1988; Ord. 488-A § 2, 1988)

(a) The permittee shall complete work authorized by the permit within one year of the date of issuance of the permit. The permit expires one year from the date of issuance. The permittee shall notify the health officer in writing upon completion of the work and work shall not be deemed to have been received completed until such written notification has been received. No final building or electrical inspection shall be made at any residence for which a water well permit has been issued until the work to be done under the well permit has first been completed.

(b) Permit extensions may be granted by the health department at the discretion of the health officer.

(Ord. 488 § 1, 1988; Ord. 488-A § 2, 1988)

Any person aggrieved by the refusal of a permit or terms of the permit may request in writing that the matter be heard by the board of supervisors. If such request is made, the health officer shall within ten days schedule the matter for review by such board and give reasonable notice of the time and place thereof to the applicant. At the time and place of the hearing, the board will allow the applicant and other interested parties an adequate opportunity to present any facts pertinent to the matter at hand. The board may place any person involved in the matter, including the applicant, under oath. The board may, when it deems necessary, continue any hearing by giving notice to the applicant of such action. At the close of the hearing, or at any time within ten days thereafter, the board will order such disposition of the application or permit as it has determined is proper and will make the disposition known to the applicant. Determination made by the health officer relating directly to the public health, or to Chapter 7 of Part 1 of Division 5 of the California Health and Safety Code, may not be overruled or modified by the board.

(Ord. 488 § 1, 1988; Ord. 488-A § 2, 1988)

Standards for the construction, repair, modification or destruction of wells shall be Chapter II of California Department of Water Resources Bulletin No. 74-81 "Water Well Standards: State of California" and Chapter II of Bulletin No. 74-1, "Cathodic Protection Well Standards: State of California," with the following exceptions:

A. The health officer may adopt rules and regulations more stringent than state requirements to be applicable in all of the unincorporated area of Lassen County.

B. Every new, repaired or modified community water supply well or domestic water well, after construction, modification or repair and before being placed into service, shall be thoroughly cleaned of all foreign substance and shall be thoroughly disinfected. Procedures delineated in Appendix "C" of aforementioned Department of Water Resources Bulletin No. 74-81, or equivalent, are required. See Section 7.28.190 of this chapter.

C. The completed well shall have a method of access acceptable to the health department to allow for disinfection such as a sounding tube or easily removable well cap.

D. Casing vents shall be installed when deemed necessary by the health department.

E. Approved backflow prevention devices shall be installed on all wells where herbicide, pesticide, fertilizer systems or industrial chemical applications are interconnected with the water systems to prevent accidental backflow or back siphonage into the well.

F. Well pits shall not be used unless the finished casing extends at least twelve inches above the upper edge of the pit. Well installations using pitless adaptors are the preferred method of construction. The casing of wells using pitless adapters shall extend at least twelve inches above finished grade to prevent contamination from surface water and to provide access to the well.

(Ord. 488 § 1, 1988; Ord. 488-A § 2, 1988)

The health officer may, at any and all reasonable times, enter any and all places, property, enclosures and structures for the purpose of making examinations and investigations to determine whether any provision of this chapter is being violated. The health officer may require that each completion, modification, repair or destruction operation be inspected prior to any further work. The health officer shall require that the permittee or his authorized agent give notice of expected excavation time and completion operation times. If this schedule cannot be reasonably maintained, immediate notification of the health officer is to be made with a new schedule of times for the above.

(Ord. 488 § 1, 1988; Ord. 488-A § 2, 1988)

Any person who has drilled, dug, excavated or bored a well shall, upon completion of the well, submit to the health officer within thirty days an accurate and complete log to include:

A. A detailed record of the boundaries, character, size, distribution and color of all lithologic units penetrated;

B. Type of well casing;

C. Location of perforations and sealing zones; and

D. Any other data deemed necessary by the health officer;

E. The health officer may require all domestic water supply wells to be tested for chemical and bacterial analysis by a state of California "approved" commercial laboratory. In areas where insufficient subsurface information is available, the health officer may require inspection of the well log prior to any completion of operation. Submittal of a copy of the "Water Well Drillers Report," completed in accordance with Section 13751 of the California Water Code and including all the items set out in this section, will satisfy this requirement.

(Ord. 488 § 1, 1988; Ord. 488-A § 2, 1988)

A. The owner of an abandoned well must, within thirty days, destroy it in accordance with the standards contained in Section 7.28.100 of this chapter.

B. The owner of a well, the use of which has been or is soon to be discontinued, must apply to the county, in writing, declaring his intention to use the well again for its original or other approved purpose. The county shall review such a declaration and grant an exemption from the requirement that it be destroyed; provided, no undue hazard to health or safety is created by the continued existence of the well. Such an exemption must be applied for every five years and may be terminated for cause by Lassen County at any time.

(Ord. 488 § 1, 1988; Ord. 488-A § 2, 1988)

In the event a well subject to the provisions of this chapter is being constructed, repaired, modified, destroyed or abandoned contrary to the terms of this chapter, the health officer may order the work stopped by posting a stop order at the well site. No further work shall be done after the posting of the stop work order until such time as the stop order is removed by the health officer.

(Ord. 488 § 1, 1988; Ord. 488-A § 2, 1988)

In the event a well subject to this chapter is constructed, repaired, modified, destroyed, abandoned or operated contrary to the terms of this chapter or a permit issued for such well pursuant to this chapter, the health officer may mail written notice, postage prepaid, to the owner of the land as shown upon the most recent equalized assessment roll, or the permittee at his address listed upon the permit, which notice shall state the manner in which the well is in violation, what corrective measures must be taken, the time within which such corrections must be made and that if the land owner or permittee fails to make corrections within the period provided, the corrections may be made by Lassen County and the land owner or permittee shall be liable for the costs thereof.

(Ord. 488 § 1, 1988; Ord. 488-A § 2, 1988)

If the corrections listed in the notice given pursuant to Section 7.28.150 are not made as required in such notice, the health officer may cause the condition to be abated and the cost thereof shall be a charge against the person notified.

(Ord. 488 § 1, 1988; Ord. 488-A § 2, 1988)

Any person who does any work for which a permit is required by this chapter and who fails to apply for and pay the fee for a permit within five working days after notice from the health officer to do so, or who otherwise violates any other provision of this chapter shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by fine not exceeding five hundred dollars or by imprisonment not exceeding six months, or by both such fine and imprisonment and such person shall be deemed guilty of a separate offense for each and every day or portion thereof during which any such violation is committed, continued or permitted and shall be subject to the same punishment as for the original offense.

(Ord. 488 § 1, 1988; Ord. 488-A § 2, 1988)

No person, firm, corporation, governmental agency or any other legal entity shall provide water for purposes other than the use originally set forth on the well permit application, unless a written permit has first been obtained from the health officer of the county, as provided in this chapter. The health officer may require repair, modification and additional well information to determine whether to approve or deny the permit application to change the use of the well.

(Ord. 488 § 1, 1988; Ord. 488-A § 2, 1988)

Wells are disinfected to eliminate pathogenic organisms as well as organisms that can grow in wells and thereby cause clogging and affect the quality of water produced.

Disinfection involves seven steps:

1. To the well is added enough chlorine to impart a 50mg/l (parts per million) chlorine solution. See Table 1 of this section.

2. The pump column, or drop pipe, shall be washed with the chlorine solution as it is lowered into the well.

3. After it has been placed into position, the pump shall be turned on and off several times. Repeat this procedure several times at one-hour intervals.

4. The well shall be allowed to stand without pumping for a twenty-four hour period.

5. The chlorinated well water shall then be pumped to waste until the presence of chlorine is no longer detectable. Chlorine test kits are inexpensive and readily available. This chlorinated waste water is not to be disposed of into septic systems.

Flush all inside faucets, bath shower, dishwasher and washing machine lines to prevent skin and eye irritation, bleaching of hair or damage to household items.

6. A bacteriological sample shall be taken and submitted to a state of California certified laboratory for examination.

7. If the laboratory analysis shows the water is not free of bacterial contamination, the disinfection process shall be repeated. If repeated efforts fail to disinfect the well, a more detailed investigation shall be undertaken.

TABLE 1. CHLORINE COMPOUND REQUIRED TO DOSE 100 FEET (30 METERS) OF WATER-FILLED CASING AT 50 MILLIGRAMS PER LITER

(Ord. 488 Att. A, 1988)