Arizona Administrative Code › Title 12 - NATURAL RESOURCES › Chapter 15 - Department of Water Resources › Article 13 - WELL SPACING REQUIREMENTS; REPLACEMENT WELLS IN APPROXIMATELY THE SAME LOCATION › Section R12-15-1306 - Well Spacing Requirements - Applications for Water Exchange Permits under A.R.S. Section 45-1041

Current through Register Vol. 30, No. 28, July 12, 2024
A. The
				director shall not approve an application for a water exchange permit filed
				under A.R.S. §
									45-1041
				by a person other than a city, town, private water company or irrigation
				district if the director determines that any new or increased pumping by the
				applicant from a well or wells within an active management area pursuant to the
				water exchange will cause unreasonably increasing damage to surrounding land or
				other water users under subsection (B) of this Section.
B. The director shall determine that new or
				increased pumping by the applicant from a well or wells within an active
				management area will cause unreasonably increasing damage to surrounding land
				or other water users if any of the following apply:
1. Except as provided in subsection (C) of
				this Section, the director determines that the probable impact of the new or
				increased pumping on any well of record in existence as of the date of receipt
				of the application will exceed 10 feet of additional drawdown after the first
				five years of the pumping. To assist the director in making a determination
				under this subsection, the applicant may submit a hydrological study
				delineating those areas surrounding the proposed well or wells in which the
				projected impacts of the new or increased pumping on water levels will exceed
				10 feet of additional drawdown after the first five years of the pumping. The
				director may require the applicant to submit such a hydrological study if the
				director determines that the study will assist the director in making a
				determination under this subsection;
2. The director determines that the new or
				increased pumping will occur in an area of known land subsidence and the
				pumping will likely cause unreasonably increasing damage from additional
				regional land subsidence. To assist the director in making a determination
				under this subsection, the applicant may submit a hydrological study, which may
				include a geophysical evaluation, demonstrating the impact of the new or
				increased pumping on regional land subsidence. The director may require the
				applicant to submit such a hydrological study if the director determines that
				the study will assist the director in making a determination under this
				subsection; or
3. Except as
				provided in subsection (D) of this Section, the director determines, after
				consulting with ADEQ, that the new or increased pumping will likely cause the
				migration of contaminated groundwater from a remedial action site to a well of
				record in existence as of the date of receipt of the application, resulting in
				a degradation of the quality of the water withdrawn from the well of record so
				that the water will no longer be usable for the purpose for which it is
				currently being used without additional treatment, and that the damage to the
				owner of the well of record will not be prevented or adequately mitigated
				through the implementation of a program regulated under Title 49 of the Arizona
				Revised Statutes, or a program regulated by EPA or DOD. To assist the director
				in making a determination under this subsection, the applicant may submit with
				the application a hydrological study demonstrating whether the new or increased
				pumping will have the effect described in this subsection. If the applicant
				does not submit such a hydrological study with the application, the director
				may require the applicant to submit the study if the director determines that
				the study will assist the director in making a determination under this
				subsection.