Virginia Administrative Code › Title 9 - ENVIRONMENT › Agency 25 - STATE WATER CONTROL BOARD › Chapter 920 - GENERAL PERMIT FOR THE USE OF IRRIGATION WITHDRAWALS FROM THE SURFICIAL AQUIFER GREATER THAN 300,000 GALLONS IN ANY ONE MONTH › Section 9VAC25-920-100 - General permit

Current through Register Vol. 40, No. 24, July 15, 2024
An owner whose application is accepted by the department will
				  receive coverage under the following permit and shall comply with the
				  requirements in the permit and be subject to all requirements of 9VAC25-610 and
				  the Ground Water Management Act of 1992.
Effective date: November 9, 2022.
Expiration date: November 9, 2037.
GENERAL PERMIT FOR THE USE OF IRRIGATION WITHDRAWALS FROM THE
				  SURFICIAL AQUIFER GREATER THAN 300,000 GALLONS IN ANY ONE MONTH
Pursuant to § 62.1-256 of the Ground Water Management
				  Act of 1992 (§ 62.1-254 et seq. of the Code of Virginia) and Groundwater
				  Withdrawal Regulations (9VAC25-610), the State Water Control Board hereby
				  authorizes the permittee to withdraw and use groundwater in accordance with
				  this permit.
The authorized withdrawals shall be in accordance with the
				  information submitted with the application, this cover page, Part I - Operating
				  Conditions, and Part II - Conditions Applicable to All Groundwater Withdrawal
				  Permits, as set forth in this general permit.
PART
				I.
Operating Conditions.
A. Authorized withdrawal. The withdrawal of
				groundwater shall be limited to the wells identified in the groundwater
				withdrawal application submitted in accordance with 9VAC25-920-90.
B. Reporting.
1. Water withdrawn from each well shall be
				recorded monthly at the end of each month, and reported to the department
				annually, in paper or electronic format, on a form provided by the department,
				by July 10 for the respective previous 12 months. Records of water use shall be
				maintained by the Permittee in accordance with Part II F 1 through F 4 of this
				general permit.
2. The permittee
				shall report any amount in excess of the permitted withdrawal limit by the
				fifth day of the month following the month when such a withdrawal occurred.
				Failure to report may result in compliance or enforcement activities.
C. Water conservation and
				management plan.
1. The permittee shall
				conduct an annual water audit quantifying the flows of the water in the system
				to understand its usage, reduce losses, and improve water conservation. The
				audit shall include:
a. Documentation of an
				annual review of the amount of water used compared with the expected need of
				the system to ensure that the water system uses the minimum amount of water
				necessary;
b. A list of any new
				water saving equipment, procedures, or improvements installed or water saving
				processes implemented during the previous year;
c. Documentation of implementation and
				evaluation of a leak detection and repair process, including documented
				quarterly visual monitoring during withdrawal periods where the permittee will
				locate and correct system leaks; and
d. A Groundwater Withdrawal Water
				Conservation and Management Audit Form, completed in its entirety, provided by
				the department.
2.
				Results of the annual audit shall be maintained onsite and available to the
				department upon request.
3. When a
				drought emergency is declared by the Commonwealth of Virginia in the
				permittee's Virginia Drought Evaluation Region or in accordance with a county
				or locality drought management ordinance, the permittee shall implement either
				the provisions directed by the Commonwealth or the drought management
				ordinance, whichever is the most restrictive. The permittee shall be
				responsible for determining when drought emergencies are declared. The
				permittee shall retain records documenting that mandatory conservation measures
				were implemented during declared drought emergencies.
D. Mitigation plan. In cases where the area
				of impact does not remain on the property owned by the applicant or existing
				groundwater withdrawers will be included in the area of impact, the applicant
				shall provide and implement a plan to mitigate all adverse impacts on existing
				groundwater users. Approvable mitigation plans shall, at a minimum, contain the
				following features and implementation of the mitigation plan shall be included
				as enforceable permit conditions:
1. The
				rebuttable presumption that water level declines that cause adverse impacts to
				existing wells within the area of impact are due to the proposed
				withdrawal;
2. A commitment by the
				applicant to mitigate undisputed adverse impacts due to the proposed withdrawal
				in a timely fashion;
3. A speedy,
				nonexclusive, low-cost process to fairly resolve disputed claims for mitigation
				between the applicant and any claimant; and
4. The requirement that the claimant provide
				documentation that the claimant is the owner of the well; documentation that
				the well was constructed and operated prior to the initiation of the
				applicant's withdrawal; the depth of the well, the pump, and screens and any
				other construction information that the claimant possesses; the location of the
				well with enough specificity that it can be located in the field; the historic
				yield of the well, if available; historic water levels for the well, if
				available; and the reasons the claimant believes that the applicant's
				withdrawals have caused an adverse impact on the well.
E. Property rights. The issuance of coverage
				under this general permit does not convey property rights in either real or
				personal property or exclusive privileges, nor does it authorize injury to
				private property, an invasion of personal property rights, or an infringement
				of federal, state, or local laws or regulations. The fact that an owner obtains
				coverage under this general permit shall not constitute a defense in a civil
				action involving private rights.
F.
				Well tags. Each well that is included in the coverage under this general permit
				shall have affixed to the well casing, in a prominent place, a permanent well
				identification plate that records, at a minimum, the DEQ well identification
				number, the groundwater withdrawal permit number, the total depth of the well,
				and the screened intervals in the well. Such well identification plates shall
				be in a format specified by the department and are available from the
				department.
G. Well abandonment.
				The permittee shall permanently abandon out-of-service wells in accordance with
				the Virginia Department of Health regulations and shall submit documentation to
				the Department of Environmental Quality within 30 calendar days of abandonment.
				At least two weeks prior to the scheduled abandonment, the permittee shall
				notify the department of the scheduled abandonment date.