Shasta County Municipal Code Ch. 8.56 Water Wells

The purpose of this chapter is to protect the health, safety and welfare of the people of the county by regulating the construction, repair and reconstruction of wells and the destruction of abandoned wells and wells causing a nuisance, so that water obtained from wells will be suitable for its intended and actual use and the groundwater of the county will not be polluted or contaminated.

(Prior code § 3770)

The following words and terms have the meaning indicated, unless the context in which a word or term is used requires another meaning:

"Agricultural well" or "stock well" means a well used to supply water solely for irrigation or other nondomestic agricultural purposes.

"Contamination" means any physical, chemical, biological or radiological substance or matter in water which impairs the quality of water so as to create or threaten to create a public health hazard through poisoning or the spread of disease.

"Individual domestic well" means a well used to supply the drinking water needs of an individual residence or commercial establishment.

"Industrial well" is a well used to supply water to an individual industry for nondomestic use.

"Pollution" means any alteration of water quality which unreasonably affects the beneficial use of a water source or the facilities which serve such a beneficial use. Pollution may include contamination.

"Public water system well" means a well used to supply water for domestic purposes in systems subject to Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 4010) of Part 1 of Division 5 of the Health and Safety Code.

"Repair" or "reconstruction" means the deepening of a well or the reperforation or replacement of a well casing.

Well. A.

"Well" means any artificial excavation constructed by any method for the purpose of extracting water from or injecting water into the underground.

"Well" does not include: (1) any oil or gas well or any geothermal well constructed under the jurisdiction of the Department of Conservation, except those wells converted to use as water wells; or (2) wells used solely to dewater excavation during construction; or (3) any hand-dug well not deeper than twenty feet and not penetrating the first impervious stratum below the surface.

(Prior code § 3772)

No person shall construct, repair, reconstruct, destroy or abandon any well within the unincorporated area of the county unless a permit has first been obtained from the health officer.

(Prior code § 3771)

A. Applications for permits shall be filed with the department of public health on forms approved by the health officer and will only be accepted from well drillers licensed by the state.

B. No application shall be accepted as complete unless and until any required fee, as set by resolution of the board of supervisors, is paid.

(Prior code § 3771)

Prior to the issuance of a permit, the contractor or applicant shall post security with the health officer in the form of a cash deposit or bond guaranteeing compliance with the chapter and the permit. The amount of the security required by the health officer to remedy improper work shall not exceed twice the total estimated cost of the work. Each well-drilling contractor in the county shall post security with the department of public health in the amount of one thousand dollars for each of the first ten wells he drills. After inspection of these ten wells, the health officer may permit a cash or general performance bond of one thousand dollars to be posted by the contractor to secure his compliance with this chapter and other applicable laws and in lieu of individual security for each well.

(Prior code § 3774)

All permits issued under this chapter are subject to compliance with the standards provided in this chapter, but these standards may be modified by the health officer in individual cases if he finds that the modified standards will accomplish the purposes of this chapter. Permits may be conditioned upon compliance with any other requirement found by the health officer to be necessary in individual cases to accomplish the purposes of this chapter.

(Prior code § 3775)

Standards for the construction, repair, reconstruction, abandonment and destruction of wells in the county are set forth in Chapter II of the Department of Water Resources Bulletin No. 74-81, "Water Well Standards," and are adopted herein by reference, with the following modifications:

A. The minimum well depth shall be fifty feet except in those areas where the only available groundwater is at a depth less than fifty feet. In such cases wells may be permitted at a depth sufficient to develop an adequate water supply.

B. The following minimum distances from potential sources of contamination and pollution apply to all wells:

1. Sewer, septic tank or pit privy: fifty feet;

2. Any structure or facility designed to allow sewage to percolate into the ground: one hundred feet.

C. The following regulations apply to prevent saline degradation:

1. Within the Redding groundwater basin, the health officer may establish limitations on the depth of any well if, in his opinion, there is the possibility of saline degradation because of the proximity to the Chico formation.

2. Any well encountering water with a saline taste and a specific electrical conductance above one thousand five hundred micromhos per centimeter shall be sealed by grouting to a level where a four-hour pumping test will produce water of acceptable quality.

3. Any well penetrating the Chico formation and pumping water from the aquifers above the Chico formation shall have the annular space surrounding the casing sealed with an acceptable grout seal, including bentonite, to a point ten feet above the point of contact with the formation.

4. Any well intended to draw water from the Chico formation in an area where the water may be of acceptable quality shall be caged and the annular space surrounding the casing shall be sealed with a grout seal, including bentonite, to a point ten feet below the point of contact with the formation.

5. Any abandoned well containing water with a specific electrical conductance above one thousand five hundred micromhos per centimeter shall be sealed so that no such water escapes from the formation.

D. An outer casing or conductor casing is not an acceptable substitute for a seal. Temporary casing shall be removed before the well is deemed to be completed unless incorporation of the conductor casing in the sealing material is approved by the health officer or his designee prior to the sealing of the well.

E. When a well is destroyed in a residential area, in addition to other well destruction requirements, a hole shall be excavated around the well casing to a depth of at least eleven feet below the ground surface and the well casing removed to within six inches of the bottom of the excavation.

(Prior code § 3776)

A. No annular seal shall be installed or placed for any well except in the presence and with the approval of the health officer or his designee. However, if the health officer requires that the division of environmental health be notified a reasonable period of time before a well is proposed to be sealed and the health officer or his designee fails to appear at the well site at the time designated for sealing the well, then the well may be sealed without the presence of the health officer of his designee. Any requirement for notice established by the health officer pursuant to this subsection shall be included on the face of or by attachment to every well permit.

B. No well shall be operated or deemed to be destroyed until the work is complete, as provided in this section. No work is complete or deemed to be complete unless and until: (1) the permittee has given written notice to the health officer that the work is ready for final inspection; and (2) the final inspection is made or waived by the health officer or his designee.

(Prior code § 3777)

A. A well subject to this chapter which is constructed, repaired, modified, operated, abandoned or destroyed contrary to the provisions of this chapter is declared to be a public nuisance. If a violation of this chapter occurs, the health officer shall issue a stop order directing that the violation cease immediately. The order shall state the nature of the violation and that it is deemed to be a nuisance and shall contain references to applicable provisions of law or conditions of approval upon which the health officer based his determination. The order may include a statement of any corrective action necessary to abate the condition.

B. The order shall: (1) direct that the condition constituting the violation be abated within ten days after the notice is posted; and (2) state that in the event the owner fails to abate the condition, the health officer may abate the condition at the owner's cost as provided in this chapter. If the health officer determines that the work has proceeded without a required permit, the order shall so state and shall direct that application for the permit be immediately made to the department of public health.

C. The order shall be prominently posted at the site of the work and shall be sent by registered or certified mail to the owner of the site, as determined from the latest assessment roll, and by regular mail to any well driller engineer, contractor or equipment operator known to the health officer to have done the work or caused it to be done.

D. If the health officer determines that the work is being performed under the authorization of or pursuant to approval by a public agency, other than the county, which has jurisdiction to regulate the work, he shall refer the matter to the agency concerned.

E. If the owner abates the condition or causes it to be abated or applies for a permit within ten days of the posting of the stop order and to the satisfaction of the health officer, he may rescind the stop order by posting and mailing a notice of rescission of stop order in the manner provided in subsections A through D of this section.

(Prior code § 3778)

A. If a condition referred to in a stop order is not abated within ten days of the posting of the order, the board of supervisors may hold a hearing to determine whether the condition should be abated by the county and whether the cost of such abatement shall be specially assessed against the parcel of land where the work occurred which caused the condition. Notice of the purpose, date, time and place of the hearing shall be sent by registered or certified mail to the owner of the parcel and by regular mail to all other persons to whom the stop order was mailed. The notice shall be given no less than five days before the hearing.

B. At the hearing the owner or his agent may appear and present evidence and reasons why the condition should not be abated by the county and why the cost of such abatement should not be specially assessed against the parcel.

C. At the conclusion of the hearing, the board may order the condition abated by the health officer and may order the cost of such abatement to be specially assessed against the parcel.

(Prior code § 3779)

A. The health officer may order and cause the immediate abatement of any condition without notice if he finds that the public health, safety or welfare are immediately threatened or endangered by the condition and the circumstances require abatement before the owner can be notified of the condition, or if so notified, before abatement can be accomplished by the owner.

B. A complete report shall be rendered by the health officer to the board of supervisors at its next regular meeting. The board may hold a hearing under the provisions of Section 8.56.100 to determine whether the cost of such emergency abatement should be specially assessed against the parcel where the work occurred which caused the condition.

(Prior code § 3780)

A. If the board of supervisors determines after the hearing that the cost of abatement performed under Sections 8.56.100 and 8.56.110 or both, shall be specially assessed against the parcel, the assessment shall be collected at the same time and in the same manner as county taxes are collected, and shall be subject to the same penalties and the same procedure and sale in case of delinquency as provided for county taxes.

B. All law applicable to the levy, collection and enforcement of county taxes shall be applicable to such special assessment, except that if any real property to which such cost of abatement relates has been transferred or conveyed to a bona fide purchaser for value, or if a lien of a bona fide encumbrance for value has been created and attaches thereon, prior to the date on which the first installment of such taxes would become delinquent, then the cost of abatement shall not result in a lien against the property but instead shall be transferred to the unsecured roll for collection.

(Prior code § 3781)

A violation of any regulatory or prohibitory provision of this chapter is a misdemeanor.

(Prior code § 3782)