Compilation of Rules and Regulations of the State of Georgia › Department 391 - RULES OF GEORGIA DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES › Chapter 391-3 - ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION › Subject 391-3-2 - GROUNDWATER USE › Rule 391-3-2-.02 - Definitions

Current through Rules and Regulations filed through June 27,
				2024
All terms used in this Chapter shall be interpreted in
				  accordance with the definitions set forth in the Ground Water Use Act,
				  (O.C.G.A. 12-5-90
et seq.
),
				  and as otherwise herein defined:
(a)
				"Aquifer" means a geologic formation, group of such formations, or a part of
				such a formation that is water bearing. An aquifer may consist of a stratum or
				zone of rock below the surface of the earth capable of containing and producing
				water as from a well. (Authority O.C.G.A. Section
				12-5-92(1))
(b) "Consumptive use" means any use of water
				withdrawn from the ground other than "nonconsumptive use" as herein
				defined.
(c) "Nonconsumptive use"
				means the use of water withdrawn from the ground water system or aquifer in
				such a manner that it is returned to the ground water system or aquifer from
				which it was withdrawn without substantial diminution in quantity or
				substantial impairment in quality at or near the point from which it was
				withdrawn.
(d) "Farm use" means
				irrigation of any land used for general farming, forage, aquaculture, pasture,
				turf production, orchards, or tree and ornamental nurseries; provisions for
				water supply for farm animals, poultry farming, or any other activity conducted
				in the course of a farming operation. Farm use shall also include the
				processing of perishable agricultural products and the irrigation of
				recreational turf except in Chatham, Effingham, Bryan, and Glynn counties where
				irrigation of recreational turf shall not be considered a farm use. (Authority
				O.C.G.A. Section
				12-5-92, paragraph 5.1)
(e) "Division" means the Environmental
				Protection Division of the Department of Natural Resources.
(f) "Drawdown" means the extent to which the
				ground water level is being lowered when a well is being pumped or when the
				water is discharging from a flowing well, and is the difference, in feet,
				between the static water level and pumping level.
(g) "Geologic Information" means the
				information relative to the origin, history of the rock, which includes a
				description of the lithology, age, stratigraphic sequence, structural
				relationship, areal distribution and thickness of the rock at or be low the
				surface of the earth, and which is obtained by examination of the rock exposed
				at the ground surface and from well cuttings, well cores, and geophysical
				logging from drilled wells.
(h)
				"Hydrologic information" means information related to water standing or moving
				in porous media and includes hydraulic conductivity, transmissivity, porosity,
				storage coefficient, specific capacity, chemical quality of the water,
				potentiometric surface, water recharge of the rock at or below the surface of
				the earth, water levels, drawdown, and radius of influence of the cone of
				depression in areas of ground water withdrawal, and which is obtained by
				pumping tests, flowmeter, laboratory tests, water surface measurements,
				observation wells, and accepted mathematical formulas.
(i) "Pumping level" means the distance, in
				feet, from the land surface or other permanent specified datum, preferably the
				top of the casing to the water surface (water level) in the well when water is
				being pumped from the well.
(j)
				"Rock" means the material that forms the essential part of the earth's solid
				crust, and includes loose, incoherent masses, such as a bed of sand, gravel,
				clay or volcanic ash, as well as firm, hard, solid masses of granite,
				metamorphics, sandstone, limestone, and shale.
(k) "Specific conductance" means the water's
				capacity to convey an electric current and is related to the total
				concentration of the ionized substances in the water and the temperature at
				which the measurement is made and is generally reported as micromhos/cm or
				microSiemens/cm.
(l) "Static water
				level" means the distance, in feet, from the land surface or other permanent
				specified datum, preferably the top of the casing, to the water level in a well
				or to the pressure head (shut-in head) after the flow is shut off from a
				flowing well, when no water is being pumped from the well and the water level
				has reached equilibrium.
(m) "Water
				table" means the surface of an unconfined water body at which the pressure is
				atmospheric. It is defined by the levels at which water stands in wells that
				penetrate the water body far enough to hold standing water.
(n) "Monthly average withdrawal" means the
				total amount of water pumped by a water source or water system in any one month
				of the same year in which the "annual average withdrawal" is measured, divided
				by the number of days in that month. This amount is expressed in gallons per
				day (gpd).
(o) "Annual average
				withdrawal" means the total yearly amount of water pumped by a water source or
				water system divided by the number of days in that year. This amount is
				expressed in gallons per day (gpd).
(p) "Maximum day withdrawal" means the
				highest total amount of water pumped by a water source or water system in a
				24-hour period. This amount is expressed in gallons per day (gpd).
(q) "Design pumping capacity" means the
				actual rate that a well pump will produce water at the time the well pump was
				installed. This rate will vary with the horsepower of the pump motor, total
				dynamic head, and size of discharge pipe.
(r) "Chemigation" means the injection of
				chemicals, fertilizers, fungicides, herbicides, insecticides, or nematicides
				into irrigation water.
(s)
				"Unaccounted for Water" (UAW) means the difference between the total amount of
				water pumped into the water system from the source(s) and the amount of metered
				water use by the customers of the water system expressed as a percentage of the
				total water pumped into the system. UAW generally includes system leakage and
				unmetered uses such as fire fighting, flushing, broken water mains,
				etc.
Ga. Laws 1972, p. 976
et seq.
, as amended by Ga. Laws 1973, p. 1273
et
				  seq.
Effective June 3, 1974. O.C.G.A. Secs.
				  12-5-90,
				  12-5-91
				  .