Supervisors agree on well ordinance
Changes made to meet new regulations
The Tulare County Board of Supervisors agreed Tuesday to introduce and waive the first reading of an ordinance repealing and replacing Chapter 13 of Part IV of the ordinance code of Tulare County, pertaining to construction of wells.
Nilsa Gonzalez, the environmental health director for Tulare County, said the county’s well ordinance was enacted on Oct. 12, 1974 and most recently revised on Nov. 30, 1997. She said the county is “definitely due for an update.”
She said updating the ordinance would allow the county to meet current industry practices, which would also help the county continue protecting the health and safety of county residents from contaminants.
In 2014, Gonzalez said the Tulare County Board of Supervisors directed the Environmental Health Department to revise the well ordinance to reflect best industry practices and to comprehensively seek input from stakeholders and the community throughout the process.
She said the Agricultural Policy Advisory Committee, Community Water Center and the Water Commission provided extensive feedback that significantly shaped the development of the proposed new well ordinance. She noted that in 2016, three separate outreach meetings were held in the communities of Monson-sultana, Strathmore and Pixley at which she said Environmental Health staff presented and directly received feedback on the draft well ordinance from community members and well drillers.
Overall, she said over 150 comments were collected throughout the process, resulting in a well ordinance that strongly reflects both local concerns and best industry practices.
“We wanted to make sure we had a broad perspective and had many eyes looking at the ordinance,” Gonzalez said, adding that she wanted the update in the ordinance to reflect not only current well construction and destruction requirements, but also to be in compliance with state and federal environmental laws.
Gonzalez said some of the major changes to the well ordinance include the following:
modified minimum annular seal requirement for all wells.
shortened the application submittal period for emergency wells.
added two new setbacks for underground storage tanks and surface water.
extended well casing in flood zones.
standardized surface pad requirements.
changed well destruction excavation requirements.
require new wells to connect to a public water system that is willing and able.
Additionally, Gonzalez said sections of the ordinance that dealt with confidentiality of wellcompletion reports were removed due to Senate Bill 83, which she said made such information public access. Gonzalez said she also extended the validity of a permit from six months to a year.
District Five Supervisor Mike Ennis said one thing he would like to see in the ordinance is something about prohibiting people from establishing wells and growing crops on land that have never been used for farming.
“We need to fall back and take a look at what we are doing with the future of this Valley,” Ennis said, adding that he would like to have the county’s agricultural community weigh in on the issue as well. “We can’t continue to drill wells and put crops in production that never been there before.”
Supervisor Chairman Pete Vander Poel said he appreciated the inclusion of “all of our partners on this,” and believes it had a positive effect on the well construction ordinance.
“A lot of work went into this, thanks to everyone for their participation,” District 3 Supervisor Amy Shuklian added.
However, District One Supervisor Kuyler Crocker had a concern with regard to the added section in the ordinance that defines an abandoned well as a well that has not been in use for one year.
“I would like to see
the abandoned period longer,” Crocker said.
Gonzalez said once a well has been identified as abandoned a property owner can have it listed as inactive, but would have to pay a fee.
Edward Needham, with the Tulare County Farm Bureau, said the farm bureau is 100 percent behind changes made to the ordinance.
Kristin Dobbin, with the Community Water Center, said the Visaliabased nonprofit organization also stands behind the ordinance.
In addition to waiving the first reading of the ordinance, the board of supervisors agreed to set the second reading for the ordinance for Aug. 1, 2017 and directed the clerk of the board to publish a summary of the ordinance at least five days before the second reading as required by law.
The board also agreed to waive the second reading on Aug. 1 and adopt an ordinance repealing and replacing Chapter 13 of Part IV of the ordinance code of Tulare County, pertaining to construction of wells and directed the clerk of the board to publish the ordinance summary within 15 days after adoption as required by law.