Chapter 200. Water Withdrawal Reporting
9VAC25-200-10. Definitions.
The following words and terms, when used in this chapter, shall have the following meaning unless the text clearly indicates otherwise:
"Board" means the State Water Control Board.
"Crop" means a living or once-living plant or part of it which is or could be harvested for value. The term includes conventional farm crops, hay, pasture, nursery and forest crops. Permanent turf and landscapings are not crops and are subject to the 10,000 gallons per day reporting threshold.
"Daily average withdrawal" shall be calculated by dividing the total quantity of water withdrawn in each calendar month by the number of days in that month.
"Gage" means a device or methodology for measuring cumulative volume of water withdrawn. For users subject to the Virginia Department of Health Waterworks Regulations, the gage shall satisfy the provisions of those regulations and shall produce volume determinations within ± 10% of truth. For all other users, the gage shall be consistent with sound generally-accepted engineering practice and shall produce volume determinations within ± 10% of truth.
"Person" means the Commonwealth or any of its political subdivisions; or an individual, corporation, partnership, association, authority, interstate body, or a state; or an agency, municipality, commission, or political subdivision of a state.
"User" means any person making a withdrawal of surface water or groundwater from an original source (e.g., a river, stream, lake, aquifer, or reservoir fed by any such water body), regardless of whether the user himself uses the water thus withdrawn or transfers it to another for use. The purchase of water from a waterworks by a customer of it does not constitute a withdrawal.
"VPDES" means the Virginia Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, which is the Virginia system for the issuance of permits pursuant to the Permit Regulation (9VAC25-31-10), the State Water Control Law and § 402 of the Clean Water Act (33 USC § 1342), authorizing the discharge of pollutants from a point source to surface waters.
Statutory Authority
§§ 62.1-44.15 and 62.1-44.38 of the Code of Virginia.
Historical Notes
Derived from VR680-15-01 § 1, eff. December 5, 1990; amended, Virginia Register Volume 35, Issue 5, eff. November 28, 2018.
9VAC25-200-20. Purpose and authority.
This chapter requires the reporting of water withdrawal information to the board for its use in preparing plans and programs for the management of water resources of the Commonwealth pursuant to § 62.1-44.38 of the Code of Virginia. The data are used by the board in formulating water supply plans, for consideration by the General Assembly and in delineating surface water management areas and are available to local governments and private interests to assist them in their own water supply planning.
Statutory Authority
§§ 62.1-44.15(10) and 62.1-44.38 of the Code of Virginia.
Historical Notes
Derived from VR680-15-01 § 2, eff. December 5, 1990.
9VAC25-200-30. Applicability and exemptions.
A. Applicability.
1. Except as stated in this section, this chapter applies to every user withdrawing groundwater or surface water in Virginia including the Potomac River abutting Virginia whose average daily withdrawal during any single month exceeds 10,000 gallons per day. Reportable withdrawals include, but are not limited to, those for public water supply, manufacturing, mining, commercial, institutional, livestock watering, artificial fish culture, and steam-electric power generation uses.
2. This chapter applies to every user withdrawing ground or surface water for the purpose of irrigating crops whose withdrawal exceeds 1 million gallons in any single month. Such users need not report withdrawals from ponds collecting diffuse surface water and not situated on a perennial stream as defined on U.S. Geological Survey 7.5-minute series topographic maps, unless the ponds are dug ponds which intercept the groundwater table and hence contain groundwater.
B. Exemptions.
1. This chapter does not apply to:
a. Users reporting under the provisions of the Groundwater Act the information here required, provided the withdrawal is gaged in accordance with this chapter;
b. Drydock fillings;
c. Withdrawals from mines or quarries made for the sole purpose of dewatering the mine or quarry, provided that the water withdrawn is not put to other beneficial uses such as, but not limited to, washing or cooling; and
d. Withdrawals made for the sole purpose of hydroelectric power generation, provided that the water withdrawn is not put to other beneficial uses and that none of it is consumptively used.
2. Users subject to the Virginia Department of Health Waterworks Regulations shall annually report to the board the source and location of water withdrawals and the type of use information required here. They may provide the monthly withdrawal data required here by reference to reports filed with the Virginia Department of Health.
3. Industrial VPDES permittees shall annually report to the board the source and location of water withdrawals and the type of use information required here. They may provide the monthly withdrawal data required here by reference to VPDES discharge monitoring reports filed with the department provided that:
a. The wastewater return flow to the receiving natural water body is gaged and the total monthly volume is reported on the discharge monitoring reports;
b. There is no substantial temporal lag between natural water withdrawal and wastewater return;
c. Augmentation of the withdrawal (e.g., by collected surface run-off or infiltration/inflow) and diminution of the withdrawal (e.g., by consumption in product or evaporation) are either shown to be negligible or are separately reported pursuant to this chapter as adjustments to the wastewater return flow; and
d. The monthly wastewater return flow, adjusted as necessary in accordance with subdivision 3 c of subsection B, is volumetrically equivalent to monthly withdrawal within a tolerance of ± 10%.
Statutory Authority
§§ 62.1-44.15(10) and 62.1-44.38 of the Code of Virginia.
Historical Notes
Derived from VR680-15-01 § 3, eff. December 5, 1990; amended, Virginia Register Volume 39, Issue 5, eff. November 23, 2022.
9VAC25-200-40. Measuring and reporting requirements.
A. Measuring. Every nonexempt user other than crop irrigators shall have installed and shall operate a gaging device or methodology before commencing withdrawal and shall operate the device or methodology routinely thereafter. The gaging device or methodology shall measure the cumulative volume of water withdrawn at or near the source of withdrawal, or at the water treatment plant. Nonexempt crop irrigators shall comply with these measuring provisions by January 31, 1991, or before commencing withdrawal, whichever is later.
B. Reporting. Every nonexempt user shall file with the board by January 31 of each year a reporting form, as prescribed by the board, completed insofar as it pertains to his withdrawal for the calendar year preceding. The information reported shall include the user's name, address, sources and locations of withdrawal, cumulative volume of water withdrawn each month of the calendar year, maximum day withdrawal and the month in which it occurred, and method of withdrawal measurement.
Nonexempt crop irrigators shall comply with these reporting provisions by January 31, 1992, or before commencing withdrawal, whichever is later.
Statutory Authority
§§ 62.1-44.15(10) and 62.1-44.38 of the Code of Virginia.
Historical Notes
Derived from VR680-15-01 § 4, eff. December 5, 1990.
9VAC25-200-50. Gage maintenance and records retention requirements.
Every user shall:
1. Ensure the reliability of the gaging device or methodology;
2. Retain all records of water withdrawal and gage calibration for a period of three years; and
3. Make such records available to the board upon request. The board encourages users to confer with the board staff before installing gaging devices or methodologies.
Statutory Authority
§§ 62.1-44.15(10) and 62.1-44.38 of the Code of Virginia.
Historical Notes
Derived from VR680-15-01 § 5, eff. December 5, 1990.
Forms (9VAC25-200)
Annual Water Withdrawal Reporting Form OWS-3N Instructions (eff. 12/2018)