Agenda - Planning Commission - 10/03/1995

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rews AUGUST 1995 AMERICAN PLANNING ASSOCIATION Zoning for , Wellhead prOtection By Sanjay Jeer, A/cv, with Jim Schwab Estimates by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) show that roughly half the n~ttion's population depends on groundwater for its drinkin~water needs. In some states, such as Florida, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Mexico,. and Virginia, more than 90 percdnt ofho. useholds depend on groundwater for drinking w~ter supplies. The threat of groundwater contamination has led to several federal, state, and local initiatives. At the feder~ level, the 1986 amendments to the Federal Safe Drinking Water Act mandated wellhead protection. To date, 40 statei have received EPA approval for such programs. Most state st{ategies rely on local governments to manage wells and wellhead protection areas. Local government initiatiies for wellhead protection rely heavily on land-use and zonifig controls, subdivision controls, and building codes. To help ltate, regional, and local governments develop wellheail protection programs and zoning ordinances, EPA has given a grant to the American Planning Association to publish a Plani~ing Advisory Service Report that summarizes the practice ofw~llhead protection and provides examples of wellhead protecti~on ordinances. The project also includes guidance on writing ~,ellhead protection ordinances and a general education poste}. A-PA has scheduled the PAS Report for completion by the!end of the year. This issue of Zoning News provides a summary of the part of the report detailing zoning ordinance provisions. Purpose and Intent ~ A wellhead protection area, ,defined in the 1986 amendments to the Federal Safe Drinking '~g4'ater Act, is "the surface and subsurface area surrounding acwater well or wellfield, supplying a public water system, througli which contaminants are re,on- ably l,kely to move toward an~ reach such water well or wellfield." These wellhead protection areas would include the wellheads or well fields, recharge are, that are conduits for and susceptible to groundwater cofitamination, and other areas that could contribute to contamina~tion through surface stormwater. The ordinances specify and colatrol permitted and prohibited land uses, performance standards, boundaries, and other zoning administrative requirements. They also identify existing hazardous and chemical pollut.ants. A typical wellhead protec- tion district is often implemenied through an overlay district that is delineated after a comprehensive hydrogeologic study. The provisions listed be[ow~re basic components for most wellhead protection ordinances. In deciding whether to include any of these provisions, you should consider whether they are permitted under state enabling}legislation. Not all provisions d~scussed here are apphcable to all states. Moreover, some states enabhng leg~slauon allows such[prov~smns to be part of the health or building codes instea~ of the zoning code, especially those that pertain to continuou~ compliance, monitoring, and emergency response, Often, communities have general code provisions with similar intent that could be referenced in the wellhead provisions of the ordinance. Typically, such provisions are found in groundwater or aquifer protection standards. Although it may be necessary to amend those general provisions for wellhead protection, cross-referencing such provisions in the wellhead section of the ordinance may be sufficient. The public purpose of a wellhead protection ordinance is the pr6tection of public health, safety, and welfare. For instance, the wellhead management protection plan for Norway, Maine, States: The purpose of the Wellhead Protection Ordinance is to protect the public, municipal water supply of the Town of Norway from land uses which pose a threat to the quality and quantity of the groundwater being extracted from the Norway municipal well(s). ,.-%~- ~ - -. Sample Water , ... ladle Map Public ' ~ [ Supply Well ~ ~ ~o~ ~ '-~', x,:,.. ,, ~ ~ ~ 1004% - ',. '--?z' .... / · · 958 Obsewation Well wilh Zone of Contribution Water Table Elevation to Public Supply Weft ...." Water Table Contour ~ Bit,lion of Ground Water Flow Many communities may also have special circumstances that constitute important justification for the ordinance. One such circumstance would be a community's reliance on an aquifer as its sole source of drinking water. Brookings County, South Dakota, establishes its sole source aquifer claim with the following statement of purpose: The Brookings County Planning Commission and Board of County Commissioners recognize (1) that residents of Brookings County rely exclusively on groundwater for ~ safe drinking water supply and (2) that certain land uses in Brookings County can contaminate groundwater, particularly in shallow/surficlal aquifers. The purpose of the Aquifer Protection Overlay District is to protect public health and safety by minimizing contamination of the shallow/surficial aquifers of Brookings County. It is the intent to accomplish this, as much as possible, by public education and securing punic cooperation. It is also wise to be clear about specific separate purposes for the immediate area surrounding wellheads and the recharge area (or zone of influence) if these have separate zoning districts, as is the case in Dayton, Ohio. Dayton has designated a Well Head