Appendix 4812. Definitions.

For the purposes of this Article, unless the context otherwise requires:

"Active well" means a water well that has operated for at least eight (8) hours during a calendar year, a monitoring well from which data has been collected at least once during the past two (2) years, or a cathodic protection well maintained and utilized for its intended purpose.

"Abandoned well" means an abandoned well is any of the following:

(1)

A water well used less than eight (8) hours in any twelve-month (12) period.

(2)

A monitoring well from which no monitoring data has been taken for a period of two (2) years.

(3)

A well which is in such a state of disrepair that it cannot be made functional for its original use or any other use regulated by this Article within six (6) months or such other shorter or longer period as determined by the Director depending on well condition and risk to the aquifer.

(4)

An engineering test hole after twenty-four (24) hours has elapsed after construction and testing work has been completed on the site.

(5)

A cathodic protection well which is no longer used for its intended purpose.

(6)

A water well for which annual reports of well usage pursuant to Section 4826 have not been submitted.

"Acre-foot" means the volume of water necessary to cover one (1) acre to a depth of one (1) foot; equal to forty-three thousand five hundred sixty (43,560) cubic feet or three hundred twenty-five thousand eight hundred eighty-one (325,851) gallons.

"Agency" means Ventura County Public Works Agency.

"Aquitard" means a confining bed and/or formation composed of rock or sediment that retards but does not prevent the flow of water to or from an adjacent aquifer and that does not readily yield water to wells or springs but stores groundwater.

"Aquifer" means a body of rock or sediment that is sufficiently porous and permeable to store, transmit, and yield significant or economic quantities of groundwater to wells and springs.

"Applicant" means the well owner or the well owner's authorized representative.

"Artesian pressure" means hydrostatic pressure of artesian water, often expressed in terms of pounds per square inch, or the height, in feet above land surface, of a column of water that would be supported by the pressure and which pressure may cause water to flow from the well.

"Basin" means a groundwater basin or subbasin identified and defined in the latest State of California Department of Water Resources (DWR) Bulletin No. 118.

"Backup well" or "standby well" means a well that is not the primary well, but is a well used to provide supplemental water when the primary well is out of service or not fully functional. The backup well shall not be used to initiate any new use or increased use of groundwater, and must meet the minimum requirements for an active status well.

"Can't locate well" means classification assigned to a well which the owner cannot locate.

"Can't locate report well" means classification assigned to a well for which the owner has conducted a well search according to the County's Well Location Procedures, and submitted a report documenting the search efforts and results.

"Cathodic protection well" means any artificial excavation in excess of fifty (50) feet constructed by any method for the purpose of installing equipment or facilities for the protection electrically of metallic equipment in contact with the ground, commonly referred to as cathodic protection. (Water Code Section 13711)

"Certificate of exemption" means a certificate prepared by the County documenting that a well condition inspection has been conducted by a registered inspector and a well condition inspection report has been prepared and deemed satisfactory by the County.

"Community water supply well" means any water well which provides water for community or public water systems as defined in Section 116.275, subdivision (i), of the Health and Safety Code.

"Completion operation" means any of the following work conducted after excavation:

(1)

Placement of a well casing.

(2)

Gravel packing.

(3)

Sealing.

(4)

Perforation of a well casing.

(5)

Any other work listed on a permit issued pursuant to this article as being a required part of a completion operation.

"Confined aquifer" means an aquifer that is bounded above and below by formations of distinctly lower permeability than that of the aquifer itself, or an aquifer containing confined groundwater.

"Contaminant" means any substance or property preventing the use or reducing the usability of water for ordinary purposes such as drinking, preparing food, bathing, washing, recreation, and cooling, or any solute or cause of change in physical properties that renders water unfit for a given use.

"County inspector" means a person authorized by the Agency to inspect permitted work pursuant to Section 4822.

"Destroy" means to fill a well (including both interior and annular spaces if the well is cased) completely in such a manner that it will not produce water or act as a conduit for the transmission of water between any water-bearing formations penetrated.

"De minimis extractor" means a person who extracts, for domestic purposes, two-acre-feet or less per year.

"Director" means the Director of the Ventura County Public Works Agency or his or her duly authorized representative.

"Domestic well" means a water well used to supply water for the domestic needs of an individual residence or a system of four (4) or fewer service connections.

"Engineering test hole" means an uncased excavation used to determine the engineering, geologic, and/or chemical properties of subsurface materials by seismic investigation, direct observation, or any other means.

"Exempt well" means an abandoned well for which a well condition inspection report has been conducted and a certificate of exemption has been approved by the County of Ventura.

"Flowmeter" means a manufactured instrument for accurately measuring and recording the volume of water pumped from a well or wells.

"Good state of repair" means a well whose condition is adequate to perform its intended function without allowing contaminants to migrate between zones of water bearing sediments where one or more zones contain water of different quality and where the well has a physical barrier that prevents surface water contaminants from entering groundwater.

"Groundwater" means water beneath the surface of the earth within a zone below the water table in which the soil is completely saturated with water, but does not include water that flows in known and definite channels.

"Groundwater basin" means an alluvial aquifer or a stacked series of alluvial aquifers with reasonably well-defined boundaries in a lateral direction and having a definable bottom.

"Inspect" means to personally witness, record, and certify work pursuant to a condition or conditions of a valid permit.

"Modify or repair" means to replace a well's casing in a manner which involves removal or partial removal of the old casing, to re-perforate the well, to install a seal, to change the depth of the well, or to install a liner.

"Monitoring well" means any artificial excavation by any method for the purpose of monitoring fluctuations in groundwater levels, quality of underground waters, or the concentration of contaminants in underground waters. (Water Code Section 13712)

"Non-compliant well" means an abandoned well for which the owner does not repair and reuse, destroy or obtain a certificate of exemption.

"Owner of a well" means the person who is assessed as the owner of the well by the County Assessor or, if the well is not separately assessed, the person who owns the land upon which the well is located as shown on the latest equalized assessment roll of the County Assessor.

"Person" means an individual, corporation, company, association, partnership, limited liability company, municipality, public utility, or other public body or institution. (Health and Safety Code Section 116275 (g))

"Pollution (of water)" means the alteration of the physical, chemical, or biological properties of water by the introduction of any substance into water that adversely affects any beneficial use of water.

"Possesses" means to be in actual possession of the well or to have a legal right to the possession thereof.

"Registered inspector" means a Civil Engineer or a Professional Geologist possessing a current license in the State of California and approved by the Agency. Registered inspectors are required to inspect drilling and sealing operations for engineering test holes and monitoring wells and for the determinations in connection with a certificate of exemption. A technician trained and experienced in drilling and sealing operations who is working under the direct supervision of one of the aforementioned professionals may be deemed qualified to perform required inspection(s) provided one of the aforementioned professionals reviews the well condition inspection report and assumes responsibility for the accuracy and completeness of the work by signing the well condition inspection report.

"Replacement well" means a new well that replaces a well but does not increase the former well's capacity. Well capacity means the name plate performance rating for the existing well equipment or the well's documented historical production.

"Unconfined aquifer" means an aquifer which is not bounded on top by an aquitard and the upper surface of which is the water table.

"Unsaturated zone" means the zone below the land surface in which pore space contains both water and air.

"Well" or "Water well" means any artificial excavation constructed by any method for the purpose of extracting water from, or injecting water into, the underground. This definition shall not include: (a) oil and gas wells or geothermal wells constructed under the jurisdiction of the State of California Department of Conservation, except those wells converted to use as water wells; or (b) wells used for the purpose of (1) dewatering excavation during construction, or (2) stabilizing hillsides or earth embankments. (Water Code Section 13710). Includes replacement, backup or standby wells.

"Well condition inspection report" means a report documenting the integrity of a well and its associated components pursuant to Section 4817.

"Well field" means two (2) or more water wells located in close proximity or area, and that extract groundwater.

"Wellhead protection area" means the surface and subsurface area surrounding a water well or well field that supplies a public water system through which contaminants are reasonably likely to migrate toward the water well or well field.

"Well completion report" means a required, confidential report detailing the construction, alteration, abandonment, or destruction of any water well, cathodic protection well, groundwater monitoring well, or geothermal heat exchange well. The reports were called water well drillers' reports prior to 1991 and are often referred to as "driller's logs." The report requirements are described in Water Code Section 13751.

(Ord. No. 4468, § 1, 12-16-2014)