2. Purpose and Intent

Purpose:
To set forth the goals and objectives to be achieved through this ordinance.

Key Issues:

Notes:
In addition to stating public health, welfare, and safety concerns, include any special circumstances that are of particular importance to the community (e.g., the well or wellfield being the only source of public drinking water for the community?. The goals and objectives should be clearly stated and quantifiable, if possible. It is also necessary to make it clear if the ordinance applies to both public and private wells.

The purpose of the Wellhead Protection Ordinance is to protect the public, municipal water supply for the town of Norway from land uses which pose a threat to the quality and quantity of the groundwater being extracted from the Norway municipal well(s).
[Town of Norway, Maine, Wellhead Protection Management Plan, October 1993]

Provide separate purpose and intent statements for the resource or protection areas being addressed in the ordinance, such as the immediate area surrounding wells, or wellfields and the recharge area (or zone of influence) if there are separate zoning district for each zone. For example, the City of Dayton, Ohio, has one zoning district (Well Head Operation District) for the actual location of wellfields, and an overlay zoning district (Well Field Protection Overlay District) for the recharge area.

The WO Well Head Operation District is designed to safeguard the public health, safety, and welfare of citizens and institutions that are customers of the Dayton Water system by regulating the land use and the storage, handling, use and/or production of Regulated Substances within the zone of influence. The intent of this designation is to protect the community's potable water supply against contamination. This district will be mapped on property owned by the city at the location of any presently city-owned and operated or designated future or proposed public water supply well, recharge lagoon, or other related water facility as part of the Cit of Dayton Master Plan for Water supply and Treatment.
[City of Dayton, Ohio, zoning Ordinance, Section 150.600, 1988]

The WP Well field Protection Overlay District is designed to safeguard the public health, safety, and welfare of citizens and institutions that are customers of the Dayton Water system by regulating the land use and the storage, handling, use, and/or production of Regulated substances within the zone described as the land area adjacent to the existing and proposed municipal water wellfields, within the city, not included within the WQ Well Field Operation District, which lies within the one(1) year capture area, including a one thousand (1,000) foot strip of land outside of the direct recharge area in locations where the direct recharge area within the one(1) year capture area impinges on the aquifer boundary. The intent of this designation is to protect the community's potable water supply against contamination.
[City of Dayton, Ohio, zoning Ordinance, Section 150.610, 1988]

If there are other natural resources and geologic features (e.g. a carbonate geologic formation, lakes, and lake watershed that discharge to groundwater) that merit protection, identify them in this part of the ordinance when defining intent. Similarly, include any known threats and constraints, such as conditions inhibiting recharge capacity, land subsidence, and sinkholes.

In addition to the general goals listed in the statements of Purpose and Community Development Objectives, it is the purpose of this Article to protect a uniquely sensitive and valuable groundwater resource area, defined by a carbonate geologic formation identified in the East Marlborough township Comprehensive Plan, against land development patterns that would deplete the groundwater supply through excess demand, threaten its quality through wastewater pollution, inhibit the recharge capability of the area through exorbitant impervious surface areas, and increase the dangers of land subsidence and sinkholes.

The GP, Groundwater Protection District, shall be deemed an overlay on the application zoning district, and shall be shown on the East Marlborough Township Groundwater Protection Overlay Map. In the GP Overlay District, the following regulation shall apply, unless superseded by a more stringent regulation of the base zoning district.
[City of East Marlborough Township, Pennsylvania, Zoning Ordinance, Section 1201A, 1979]

If the aquifer or groundwater is not the only (sole ) source of water supply, but a significant source of supply of the community's water needs, indicate that fact in the statement of intent.

(Note that a federal provision contained in the Safe Drinking Water Act provides for Sole source Aquifer (SSA) designation if at least 50 percent of the water delivered to the service area is dependent on reserves drawn from the SSA, provided there are no other alternative viable water sources that could supply at least 50 percent of the required water to be delivered to the service area. To qualify for such a designation and protection under the act, a community must petition EPA and meet the requirements of the Sole Source Aquifer Program. The designation permits EPA to conduct a limited review of federal financially assisted projects to determine their potential contamination threat.)

The purpose of this regulation is to safeguard public health by reducing risks of contamination of public water supply in the Town of Cheshire. Over 80 percent of Cheshire residents are served by public water supply wells which draw upon stratified drift aquifers that lie within the town boundaries, and the other 20 percent rely on private wells. In recognition of the fact that these aquifers are vulnerable to contamination from land-use activities, and that protection of Cheshire's groundwater resources is vial to ensure an adequate supply of safe, potable water, this section establishes Aquifer Protection Zones and prescribes land-use regulation within the zones.
[Town of Cheshire, Connecticut, zoning Ordinance, Section 47.1, January 1994]

The Brookings County Planning Commission and Board of County Commissioners recognize (1) that resident of Brookings county rely exclusively on groundwater for a safe drinking water supply and (2) that certain land uses in Brookings County can contaminate groundwater, particularly in shallow/surficial aquifers.

The purpose of the Aquifer Protection Overlay District is to protect public health and safety by minimizing contamination of the shallow/surficial aquifers of Brookings county. It is the intent to accomplish this, as much as possible, by public education and securing public cooperation.

Appropriate land-use regulations will be imposed, however, which are in addition to these imposed in the underlying zoning districts or in other county regulations. It is not the intent to grandfather in existing land uses which pose a serious threat to public health through potential contamination of public water supply wellhead areas.
[Brookings County, South Dakota, Zoning Ordinance, Section 1106, 1989]

Promote the idea of shared responsibility for groundwater protection between the business and commercial uses, residential needs, and local government authority. And seek regulatory and nonregulatory approaches to groundwater resource protection.

It is the purpose of this ordinance to promote the public health, safety, and general welfare and to minimize public and private losses due to contamination of the public water supply, to maximize groundwater protection pollution abatement control procedures, and minimize land-use restrictions that:

  1. Protect human life and health;
  2. Minimize expenditure of public money for costly pollution remediation projects;
  3. Minimize regulations on land use (for those activities that are not a threat to public water supplies);
  4. Minimize business interruptions;
  5. Minimize damage to public facilities and utilities such as water mains, sewer lines, and treatment facilities;
  6. Insure that the public is provided with safe potable water supply now and for future generation'
  7. Protect the natural resources of the State.
[City of Rockdale, Texas, General Ordinance, Section 3, 1991]

The intent and purpose of this ordinance is to safeguard the public health, safety, and welfare of the people of Volusia County, Florida, by providing for regulation of the storage, handling, use, or production of hazardous substances within zones of protection surrounding potable water supply wellfields, thereby protecting the potable water supply from contamination and other areas of Volusia County as provided herein.
[Volusia county, Florida, Zoning Ordinance, Section 701.00. draft]

This is an example of a detailed description to be used in a statement of purpose or intent.

  1. The aquifer lying under the area described in (the study of) McAllister aquifer is one of the most important sources of drinking water in Thurston County. Approximately 47,000 persons in the cities of Olympia and Lacey obtain their drinking water from springs fed by this aquifer. This aquifer is capable of providing water to twice these numbers and will be the major source of drinking water in Thurston county well into the future.
  2. This aquifer consists primarily of course sands and gravels, with approximately five to ten percent less permeable glacial till. These coarse sands and gravels allow relatively rapid infiltration and transmission of water and have high percolation rates. These soils are also generally poor at binding, trapping, and filtering contaminants. Consequently, they have low potential to treat and retain pollutants.
[Thurston County, Washington, Resolution No. H3-90. 1990]

Reprinted with permission from A Guide to Wellhead Protection, PAS Report No. 457/458 (Chicago: American Planning Association, August 1995), Appendix D.

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Wellhead Protection Program Guidance Document Contents
Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality