Part II. Declaration of Groundwater Management Areas
9VAC25-610-70. Criteria for consideration of a groundwater management area.
The board upon its own motion, or in its discretion, upon receipt of a petition by any county, city or town within the area in question, may initiate a groundwater management area proceeding, whenever in its judgment there is reason to believe that any one of the four following conditions exist:
1. Groundwater levels in the area are declining or are expected to decline excessively;
2. The wells of two or more groundwater users within the area are interfering or may be reasonably expected to interfere substantially with one another;
3. The available groundwater supply has been or may be overdrawn; or
4. The groundwater in the area has been or may become polluted.
Statutory Authority
§ 62.1-256 of the Code of Virginia.
Historical Notes
Derived from VR680-13-07 § 2.1, eff. September 22, 1993; amended, Virginia Register Volume 30, Issue 5, eff. January 1, 2014.
9VAC25-610-80. Declaration of groundwater management areas.
A. If the board finds that any of the conditions listed in 9VAC25-610-70 exist, and further determines that the public welfare, safety and health require that regulatory efforts be initiated, the board shall declare the area in question a groundwater management area, by regulation.
B. Such regulations shall be promulgated in accordance with the agency's Public Participation Guidelines (9VAC25-11) and the Administrative Process Act (§ 2.2-4000 et seq. of the Code of Virginia).
C. The regulation shall define the boundaries of the groundwater management area and identify the aquifers to be included in the groundwater management area. Any number of aquifers that either wholly or partially overlie one another may be included within the same groundwater management area.
D. After adoption the department shall mail by postal or electronic delivery a copy of the regulation to the mayor or chairman of the governing body of each county, city or town within which any part of the groundwater management area lies.
Statutory Authority
§ 62.1-256 of the Code of Virginia.
Historical Notes
Derived from VR680-13-07 § 2.2, eff. September 22, 1993; amended, Virginia Register Volume 30, Issue 5, eff. January 1, 2014; Volume 39, Issue 5, eff. November 23, 2022.