West Virginia Code of State Rules › Agency 64 - Health › Title 64 - LEGISLATIVE RULE WEST VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN RESOURCES › Series 64-03 - Public Water Systems › Section 64-3-14 - Source Water Protection Program

Current through Register Vol. XLI, No. 28, July 12, 2024
14.1. This rule establishes a statewide
				program for development and implementation of source water protection and
				planning. This program is intended to protect water supply sources from
				contamination due to substances entering the groundwater or surface water
				bodies which are used as water supply sources by public water systems and
				public water utilities.
14.2. The
				requirements specified in this rule are minimum requirements and shall not
				prevent a public water utility or a public water system from taking additional
				steps to protect its wells, springs, wellfields, or surface water
				intakes.
14.3. Each existing public
				water utility which draws and treats water from a surface water supply source
				or a surface water influenced groundwater supply source shall submit to the
				commissioner an updated or completed source water protection plan for each of
				its public water system plants to protect its public water supplies from
				contamination. The schedule for submission of the source water protection plans
				is set forth in section 16 of this rule.
14.4. The West Virginia Source Water
				Protection Program consists of two types of delineations for the West Virginia
				waterways. These are a broad Watershed Delineation Area (WSDA) and a detailed
				Zone of Critical Concern (ZCC) delineation.
14.4.1. The WSDA includes the entire
				watershed area upstream from a public water utility intake structure, up to the
				boundary of the state borders, a topographic boundary and is the perimeter of
				the catchment area that provides water to the water supply intake. This
				delineation will use available hydrologic unit codes (HUC) based on the
				watershed network established by the United States Geological Survey (USGS).
				The WSDA is an area where a general inventory can be performed by the Public
				Water System. A more detailed inventory and management plan may be warranted
				based upon the type and number of existing potential sources of significant
				contamination (PSSC).
14.4.2. The
				ZCCis a corridor along the streams, lakes, and reservoirs within the WSDA that
				warrants a more detailed inventory and management of potential sources of
				significant contamination due to its proximity to the source water intake and
				to the susceptibility to potential contaminants.
14.4.2.a. ZCC delineations consist of the
				following:
14.4.2.a.1. Free flowing streams
				within the WSDA using the following configuration:
14.4.2.a.1.A. Width along the source stream
				is 1,000 feet from each bank of the principal stream and 500 feet from each
				bank of all tributaries draining into the principal stream.
14.4.2.a.1.A.1. For purposes of this rule,
				these terms have the following definitions:
14.4.2.a.1.A.1.(a).
bank
means the sides of a river or stream between which the water normally
				flows;
14.4.2.a.1.A.1.(b). the
principal stream
is defined as the stream where the source
				water intake for the public water utility is located; and
14.4.2.a.1.A.1.(c).
tributaries
are all other waterways flowing into the principal
				stream.
14.4.2.a.1.B. Length along the source stream
				is determined based on a five-hour time-of-travel using an estimated 90 percent
				high flow rate that is equaled or exceeded on 10 percent of the days during the
				period of record or up to the next upstream intake, where it is available. If
				high flow rate data is not available through a mathematical model to calculate
				flow time, then a five-mph flow rate is used.
14.4.2.a.2. Reservoirs or lakes within the
				WSDA using the following standards:
14.4.2.a.2.A. Width-1000 feet from each bank
				of the reservoir and 500 feet from each bank of the tributaries draining into
				the reservoir or lake.
14.4.2.a.2.B. Length along the source stream
				feeding into the reservoir or lake. The free flow stream segment will be
				delineated following the free flow stream procedure. If a lake or reservoir is
				encountered within the five-hour time-of-travel, the following delineation will
				take place: If the length of the lake or reservoir is less than or equal to the
				five-hour calculated time-of-travel distance from the intake, then the entire
				water body will be included. If the length of the lake or reservoir is greater
				than the calculated five-hour time-of-travel distance from the intake, then the
				section of water body within the five-hour time-of-travel distance will be used
				to establish the ZCC.
14.4.2.a.3. Ohio River Delineation-The Ohio
				River will use a tiered delineation system consisting of two protection zones
				for each Ohio River surface intake consisting of the following: Zone 1 --Zone
				of Critical Concern --The area adjacent to the Ohio River from one-quarter mile
				downstream of the intake to a distance of 25 miles (equivalent to a five-hour
				time-of-travel) upstream or the next upstream intake. The lateral extent of
				this zone extends one-quarter mile on both sides of the river and major
				tributaries. Zone 2 --Source Water --The entire portion of the Ohio River Basin
				upstream of the surface intake. This is equivalent to the West Virginia WSDA
				for the West Virginia waterways.
14.4.3. Conjunctive delineations will consist
				of the following for public surface water influenced groundwater supply
				sources:
14.4.3.a. The commissioner will
				determine whether a conjunctive delineation is required on a case by case
				basis;
14.4.3.b. The criteria that
				the state will use will be based on identification between selected parameters
				in the wells and in surface water in the nearby streams. Using this
				information, the commissioner will develop a statewide guidance standard for
				the designation; and
14.4.3.c. If a
				public water supply has been determined to be under the influence of surface
				water and its WHPA intersects the surface water body, then this system will be
				required to do a modified (full or partial) surface delineation in addition to
				the ground water delineation.