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Ordinance No. 4208
AN ORDINANCE OF THE COUNTY OF BUTTE
AMENDING CHAPTER 23B, ENTITLED "WATER WELLS,"
TO DISCONTINUE EXPLORATORY WELLS
AND ALLOW EXPLORATION HOLES OR BORINGS
The Board of Supervisors of the County of Butte ordains as
follows:
Section 1. Section 23B--2 is amended to read as follows:
Section 23B-2. Definitions.
For the purposes of this chapter, the following words and phrases
shall have the meanings respectively ascribed to them by this
section:
(a) Public water system well: A water well constructed or used to
supply water for domestic purposes in systems subject to the
requirements of sections 116275 et seq. of the California
Health and Safety Code (California State Safe Drinking Water
Act), or as amended.
(b) Individual well: A well or water well meeting the definitions
of wells or water wells in chapter II, part I, general A -K
(bulletin 74-81), Water Well Standards, State of California,
except groundwater monitoring wells less than fifteen (15)
feet in depth. This definition includes agricultural wells.
(c) Abandoned well: A well which is a public nuisance or which
has not been used for a period of one (1) year and is not
being properly maintained. For purposes of this definition,
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17 (e)
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21 (g)
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proper maintenance shall include but not be limited to (1)
the prevention of conditions which could impair the quality
of water in the well or in the water -bearing formations
penetrated and (2) marking the well and keeping the
surrounding area clear of brush and debris so that the well)
can be clearly seen. Abandoned wells shall include a well
drilled to secure water but which is a "dry hole" and not to
be used for water. Dry holes not cased, sealed and completed
as an individual well or public water supply well shall be
destroyed under permit prior to abandonment of the site by
the well driller or commencement of a new drill hole.
Abandoned wells shall also include drainage wells which are
no longer being utilized for drainage.
Drainage well: "Drainage well" shall mean any hole or well
dug, drilled, bored or otherwise constructed for the purpose
of disposing of storm drainage water into subsurface strata.
Health officer: The health officer of the County of Butte or
his or her authorized representative.
Pitless adapter: Watertight casing surface seal unit
manufactured for the purpose of providing a leak tight casing.
District: Means a district wholly or in part located within
the boundaries of the county, which is a purveyor of waters
for agricultural, domestic, or municipal use and which has
adopted a resolution of intention to adopt a groundwater
management plan for purposes of implementing the plan and
establishing a groundwater management program pursuant to the
IN
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provisions of Water Code sections 10753.2 et seq.
(h) Groundwater: Means all water beneath the surface of the
ground, whether or not flowing through known and definite
channels.
(i) Property owner: Property owner and address as shown on the
last equalized assessment roll or current public record of
the Butte County Assessor.
(j) Consolidated formation: Hard rock -material strata of
sedimentary; igneous or metamorphic rock.
(k) Engineered pumping capacity: The pumping capacity of a pump
in gallons per minute considering normal operating conditions
and total head loss of an integrated piping/irrigation
system.
(1) Exploration Hole or Boring: An uncased, temporary excavation
whose purpose is the determination of hydrologic conditions
at a site.
Section 2. Section 23B -5d is amended to read as follows:
Section 23B -5d. Exempt wells.
The following wells shall not be subject to sections 23B -5b and
23B -5c, except as noted herein:
(a) A well with an eight -inch or smaller diameter well casing.
(b) The repair or deepening of an existing well which requires a
permit under this chapter, if the engineered pumping capacity
of the pump is not increased.
(c) Replacement of a well that is destroyed in accordance with
this chapter with a well having a pump that has the same
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engineered pumping capacity as the pump for the well that is
destroyed and is drilled within one hundred (100) feet of the
destroyed well.
(d) Limited purpose wells, including:
(1) Frost protection well where the well shall only be
operated during the crop frost seasons. These wells
shall be subject to section 23B -5c and not section 23B
5a;
(2) Well which is only used for fire suppression;
(3) Monitoring and mitigation wells; and
(4) Existing exploratory wells used only for the limited
purpose of determining the presence of sufficient
potable water on parcels not verified as having been
created in compliance with state and local laws. The
purpose of an exploratory well is to facilitate a
determination of whether a parcel can be developed. New
exploratory wells are not permitted, but an exploration
hole or boring may be applied for instead as specified
in section 23B -5f of this chapter.
(e) Public water supply wells located within the public water
supply agency's service area, except that the section 23B -5c
well spacing requirements shall apply to new public water
supply wells as they relate to existing wells located outside
of the public water supply agency's service area.
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ISection 3. Section 23B -5e is amended to read as follows:
ISecti.on 23B -5e. Requirements for existing exploratory wells.
IM
IM
No new exploratory well shall be permitted, but an
exploration hole or boring may be applied for instead as
specified in section 23B -5f of this chapter. The following
subsections shall apply to existing exploratory wells.
No person shall maintain or use an exploratory well for any
purpose other than for determining the availability of an
adequate supply of water to meet the needs for future
parcel development. The restriction on the ability to
maintain and use an exploratory well shall remain in force
until the Land Development Division of the Public Works
Department has performed a parcel clearance review and
cleared the parcel for development. If the Land Development
Division does not clear the parcel for development and
determines it was not created in compliance with all state
and local requirements that were in effect at the time of
parcel creation, the restriction on the ability to maintain
and use an exploratory well shall remain in force until a
Certificate of Compliance is recorded for the parcel.
II(c) No person shall install a pump, a pressure tank, electrical
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service or in any other way develop an exploratory well that
would enable it to be used for other than its intended
purpose.
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]Section 4. Section 23B -5f is added to read as follows:
Section 23B -5f. Requirements for exploration hole or boring.
(a) No person, firm, association, organization, partnership,
joint venture, business trust, corporation, company, federal,
state or local agency, or special district formed under the
laws of this state shall, within the unincorporated area of
the County of Butte, construct any exploration hole or boring
unless an application for authority to construct has first
been approved by the health officer as provided in this
chapter.
II(b) An exploration hole or boring shall be constructed and
destroyed as specified in the conditions attached to the
authority to construct, as well as specified within bulletin
74-90, Water Well Standards, State of California, except
where superseded by state or federal law or modified by
resolution of the board of supervisors.
1(c) Destruction of an exploration hole or boring shall occur on
the same day as its construction. The applicant shall notify
the health officer twenty four (24) hours prior to the
destruction of the exploration hole or boring to allow the
health officer to inspect the site.
Section 5. Section 23B-10 is amended to read as follows:
ISection 23B-10. Violations; penalties.
(a) Any construction, repair or reconstruction of any well or any
destruction of any abandoned well in violation of the
provisions of this chapter shall constitute a misdemeanor
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punishable as prescribed in section 1--7 of this Code;
provided, however, that nothing herein shall be deemed to
abrogate or annul the right to enjoin or abate such violations
by civil action.
(b) Any
violation
of the
provisions of this
chapter
as specified
in
subsection
23B -5e
or subsection 23B
-5f of
this chapter
(c)
IM
shall constitute an infraction and shall be punishable by
imposition of the following fines:
(1) Upon a first conviction, a fine of one thousand dollars
($1000.00);
(2) Upon a second conviction of violating the same chapter
of this Code within the twelve (12) month period
immediately preceding the commission of the current
violation, a fine of three thousand dollars ($3000.00);
(3) Upon a third conviction of violating the same chapter of
this Code within a twelve (12) month period immediately
preceding the commission of the current violation, a
fine of five thousand dollars ($5000.00).
Any violation which may be otherwise charged and punishable
as an infraction pursuant to subsection (b) of this section
may be charged and punishable as a misdemeanor if the
defendant has been convicted of three (3) or more violations
of the same chapter of this Code within the twelve (12) month
period.
Each and every day or portion thereof that a person violates
or continues to violate any such provision of this chapter
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constitutes a separate offense and may be charged and punished
separately without awaiting conviction of any prior
violation.
Section 6. CEQA Exemption.
Adoption of this Ordinance is exempt from the provisions of the
California Environmental. Quality Act (CEQA). The County finds that
this Ordinance is not subject to CEQA pursuant to Sections
15060(c) (2) (the activity will not result in a direct or reasonably
foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment) and
15061(b)(3) (there is no possibility the activity in question may
have a significant effect on the environment). In addition to the
foregoing general exemptions, the following categorical exemptions
apply: Sections 15308 (actions taken as authorized by local
ordinance to assure protection of the environment) and 15321
(action by agency for enforcement of a law, general rule, standard
or objective administered or adopted by the agency, including by
direct referral to the County Counsel as appropriate for judicial
enforcement).
Section 7. Severability.
If any provision of this Ordinance or the application thereof to
any person or circumstances is for any reason held to be invalid
by a court of competent jurisdiction, such provision shall be
deemed severable, and the invalidity thereof shall not affect the
remaining provisions or other applications of the Ordinance which
can be given effect without the invalid provision or application
thereof.
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I 111"PMVIFT; M_
This Ordinance shall take effect thirty (30) days after the date
of its passage. The Clerk of the Board of Supervisors is
authorized and directed to publish this ordinance before the
expiration of fifteen (15) days after its passage. This Ordinance
shall be published once, with the names of the members of the Board
of Supervisors voting for and against it, in a newspaper of general
circulation published in the County of Butte, State of California.
PASSED AND ADOPTED by the Board of Supervisors of -the County of
Butte, State of California, on the 28th day of September, 2021 by
the following vote:
JAYES: Supervisors Lucero, Ritter and Kimmelshue
NOES: Supervisor Teeter and Chair Connelly
ABSENT: None
NOT VOTING: None
-A,a.
Bill Chair
Butte County Board of Supervisors
Andy Pickett, Chief Administrative Officer
and Clerk of the Board
By:
Depui y
I