Tracy Municipal Code Art. 1 General Provisions

The Council hereby declares that the people of the City of Tracy have an inalienable right to demand the protection of the ground waters and that the Council has the responsibility to protect these waters for the enjoyment, health, safety, and welfare of the people. The Council further declares that the people of the City of Tracy have a primary interest in the location, construction, maintenance, and destruction of water wells, cathodic protection wells, test wells, and geophysical wells that directly affects the quality and potability of underground waters.

(Prior code § 5-32.010)

For the purposes of this chapter, unless otherwise apparent from the context, certain words and phrases used in this chapter are defined as follows:

"Abandoned well" means any 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.

"Agricultural well" means any water well used to supply water for irrigation, livestock operations, or other agricultural purposes but not including any uses of domestic water.

"Air-conditioning wells" means wells constructed to return to the ground, in a closed system, well water which has been used as a coolant in air-conditioning processes.

"Cathodic protection well" means any artificial excavation in excess of fifty (50') feet deep constructed by any means 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).

"Contamination" means an impairment of the quality of the waters by waste to a degree which creates a hazard to the public health through poisoning or through the spread of disease. "Contamination" shall include any equivalent effect resulting from the disposal of waste, whether or not waters of the City are affected.

"Destruction of well" means to restore as nearly as practicable those conditions which existed prior to the construction of the well.

"Disposal well" means a hole dug, bored, or drilled into any known aquifers in which are deposited matters or substances which, by reason of temperature or content, may be deleterious to ground water.

"Director of Environmental Health" means the Director of the San Joaquin County Department of Environmental Health.

"Geophysical well" means a well used for testing or logging strata or to obtain data from the underground.

"Environmental Health Department" means the San Joaquin County Department of Environmental Health.

"Individual domestic water well" means any water well used to supply water for the domestic needs of an individual residence or duplex.

"Industrial well" means any water well used to supply industry on an individual basis.

"Injection or recharge well" means any well constructed to introduce water into the underground as a means of replenishing ground water basins.

"Person" means any natural person, individual, firm, partnership, company, corporation, association, joint venture, joint stock company, organization, club, company, business trust, lessee, agent, servant, officer, employee, or unincorporated association or the representative of same.

"Pollution" means an alteration of the quality of the waters by waste to a degree which unreasonably affects:

(1) The value of such water for beneficial uses; or

(2) Facilities which serve such beneficial uses.

"Pollution" may include "contamination".

"Public domestic water supply well" means any water well used to supply domestic water to more than one individual parcel of property or any water supply which services any premises which contains a temporary or permanent resort, hotel, apartment house, triplex, motel, institution, labor camp, trailer park, gas station, cafe, school, subdivision, or any commercial establishment.

"Pump contractor" means any person or company licensed by the Contractors License Law of the State, as provided in Division 3 of Chapter 9 of the Business and Professions Code of the State, to install, service, or repair a pump.

"Recharge well". (See "Injection or recharge well" of this section.)

"Sanitary hazards" means inadequacies, actual or potential, which may permit the entrance of pollutants, contaminants, or pathogenic organisms into the water, thereby impairing the water quality or rendering it injurious to the public health.

"Seal, annular". "Annular seal" means the cement grout between the conductor casing or bore and the casing.

"Seal, sanitary". "Sanitary seal" means a grout, mastic, or mechanical device used to make a watertight joint between the pump and casing or the concrete base.

"Seal, surface". "Surface seal" means a monolithically poured concrete platform constructed around the top of the well casing on thoroughly compacted earth.

"Test well". (See "Geophysical well" of this section.)

"Waters of the City" means any water, surface or underground, including saline waters, within the boundaries of the City.

"Water quality" is a term used to describe the chemical, physical, and biological characteristics of water in respect to its suitability for a particular purpose. The same water may be of good quality for one purpose or use, and bad or poor for another, depending upon its characteristics and the requirements for the particular use.

"Well contractor" means any person or company licensed by the Contractors License Law of the State, as provided in division 3 of chapter 9 of the Business and Professions Code of the State.

"Well pit" means an excavation in which the well head or top of the well casing is installed below the ground surface.

"Well" or "water well" means any artificial excavation constructed by any method for the purpose of extracting or recharging ground water or the testing or logging of stratum to obtain data from the underground. This definition shall not include:

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

(2) Wells used for the purpose of:

(i) Dewatering excavations during construction; or

(ii) Stabilizing hillsides or earth embankments.

(Ord. 1111 § 4 Exh. A (part), 2007; prior code § 5-8.102)

The provisions of this chapter shall apply to all territory lying within the City, except that all wells owned by the City and used in connection with the provisions of this chapter. However, nothing set forth in this chapter shall prevent such City wells from being subject to the jurisdiction of the State under the Pure Water Law as set forth in Division 5 of Part I of Chapter 7 of the Health and Safety Code of the State.

(Prior code § 5-8.103)

In all areas of the City where poor quality water could infiltrate good quality ground water due to well construction, special requirements will be set to protect the good quality water.

(Prior code § 5-8.104)