Request for the Designation of a
Groundwater Management Area
Groundwater Management Area
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NOTE: This is the original resolution for the designation of the Northern Neck and Middle
Peninsula as a Ground Water Management Area. It was authored by Dr. Lynton Land and
submitted to the Board of Supervisors of Northumberland County, Virginia.
WHEREAS the Virginia Administrative Code (9VAC25-610-20) states "The Groundwater
Management Act of 1992 recognizes and declares that the right to reasonable control of all
ground water resources within the Commonwealth belongs to the public and that in order to
conserve, protect and beneficially utilize the ground water resource and to ensure the public
welfare, safety and health, provisions for management and control of ground water resources
are
essential. " and
WHEREAS water levels in the only two deep monitoring wells in the Northern Neck at
Kilmarnock (USGS # 374249076230101 - Attachment #1) and Montross (USGS #
380538076490801 - Attachment #2) have declined in excess of one foot per year since 1967
when record-keeping began, Condition #1 for establishment of a Groundwater Management
Area
has been met (9VAC25-610-70 - 1. Ground water levels in the area are declining or are
expected
to decline excessively), and
WHEREAS the United States Geological Survey has stated (Scientific Investigations Report
2007-5250 "Private Domestic-Well Characteristics and the Distribution of Domestic Withdrawals
among Aquifers in the Virginia Coastal Plain") that . . . withdrawals represent an essentially
permanent removal of water from the regional flow system." (p. 45, our emphasis),
Responsibility
#6 of 9VAC25-390-20 (6. Assure that ground water withdrawals do not, on the average, exceed
recharge) is being violated, and
WHEREAS the absence or minimal nature of recharge as documented by the United States
Geological Survey meets Condition #3 for establishment of a Groundwater Management Area
(9VAC25-610-70 - 3. The available ground water supply has been or may be overdrawn)
because
withdrawal of water from an aquifer without equivalent recharge must lead to aquifer depletion,
ultimately overdrawing the available water, and
WHEREAS the continued withdrawal of potable groundwater will ultimately lead to saline
intrusion from deeper units, polluting the water so that it is no longer potable, Condition #4 for
establishment of a Groundwater Management Area has been met (9VAC25-610-70 - 4. The
ground water in the area has been or may become polluted), and
WHEREAS no significant hydrologic boundaries exist in the aquifers beneath the Coastal Plain
at the northernmost extent of the existing Groundwater Management Area, and
WHEREAS the 2006 Northumberland County Comprehensive Plan states "The protection of the
artesian aquifers against excessive usage is a matter that should be given high priority in future
planning." (p. 1:47), and
WHEREAS "The board . . . upon receipt of a petition by any county, city or town within the area
in question, may initiate a ground water management area proceeding, whenever in its
judgment
there is reason to believe that any one of . . . four . . . conditions exist:" (9VAC25-610-70), and
WHEREAS there is reason to believe that at least three of four Conditions listed in
9VAC25-610-70 exist, it is therefore required " . . . that regulatory efforts be initiated," and that
". . . the board shall declare the area in question a ground water management area, by
regulation.
(9VAC25-610-80).
BE IT RESOLVED that the Board of Supervisors of Northumberland County formally requests
that the existing Coastal Plain Groundwater Management Area be extended northward to the
Virginia-Maryland line so as to incorporate the entire Virginia coastal plain and include all ten
counties that constitute the Middle Peninsula and Northern Neck. As per 9VAC25-610-80 we
define the western boundary of the extension to include most of Caroline County and all of King
George County, the northern boundary to be the State Line, the eastern boundary to be the
western shoreline of Chesapeake Bay and the southern boundary to be the northern boundary
of
the existing Groundwater Management Area. Further, we define all aquifers, whether or not they
contain potable water, between the land surface and the basement to be subject to
management.
Peninsula as a Ground Water Management Area. It was authored by Dr. Lynton Land and
submitted to the Board of Supervisors of Northumberland County, Virginia.
WHEREAS the Virginia Administrative Code (9VAC25-610-20) states "The Groundwater
Management Act of 1992 recognizes and declares that the right to reasonable control of all
ground water resources within the Commonwealth belongs to the public and that in order to
conserve, protect and beneficially utilize the ground water resource and to ensure the public
welfare, safety and health, provisions for management and control of ground water resources
are
essential. " and
WHEREAS water levels in the only two deep monitoring wells in the Northern Neck at
Kilmarnock (USGS # 374249076230101 - Attachment #1) and Montross (USGS #
380538076490801 - Attachment #2) have declined in excess of one foot per year since 1967
when record-keeping began, Condition #1 for establishment of a Groundwater Management
Area
has been met (9VAC25-610-70 - 1. Ground water levels in the area are declining or are
expected
to decline excessively), and
WHEREAS the United States Geological Survey has stated (Scientific Investigations Report
2007-5250 "Private Domestic-Well Characteristics and the Distribution of Domestic Withdrawals
among Aquifers in the Virginia Coastal Plain") that . . . withdrawals represent an essentially
permanent removal of water from the regional flow system." (p. 45, our emphasis),
Responsibility
#6 of 9VAC25-390-20 (6. Assure that ground water withdrawals do not, on the average, exceed
recharge) is being violated, and
WHEREAS the absence or minimal nature of recharge as documented by the United States
Geological Survey meets Condition #3 for establishment of a Groundwater Management Area
(9VAC25-610-70 - 3. The available ground water supply has been or may be overdrawn)
because
withdrawal of water from an aquifer without equivalent recharge must lead to aquifer depletion,
ultimately overdrawing the available water, and
WHEREAS the continued withdrawal of potable groundwater will ultimately lead to saline
intrusion from deeper units, polluting the water so that it is no longer potable, Condition #4 for
establishment of a Groundwater Management Area has been met (9VAC25-610-70 - 4. The
ground water in the area has been or may become polluted), and
WHEREAS no significant hydrologic boundaries exist in the aquifers beneath the Coastal Plain
at the northernmost extent of the existing Groundwater Management Area, and
WHEREAS the 2006 Northumberland County Comprehensive Plan states "The protection of the
artesian aquifers against excessive usage is a matter that should be given high priority in future
planning." (p. 1:47), and
WHEREAS "The board . . . upon receipt of a petition by any county, city or town within the area
in question, may initiate a ground water management area proceeding, whenever in its
judgment
there is reason to believe that any one of . . . four . . . conditions exist:" (9VAC25-610-70), and
WHEREAS there is reason to believe that at least three of four Conditions listed in
9VAC25-610-70 exist, it is therefore required " . . . that regulatory efforts be initiated," and that
". . . the board shall declare the area in question a ground water management area, by
regulation.
(9VAC25-610-80).
BE IT RESOLVED that the Board of Supervisors of Northumberland County formally requests
that the existing Coastal Plain Groundwater Management Area be extended northward to the
Virginia-Maryland line so as to incorporate the entire Virginia coastal plain and include all ten
counties that constitute the Middle Peninsula and Northern Neck. As per 9VAC25-610-80 we
define the western boundary of the extension to include most of Caroline County and all of King
George County, the northern boundary to be the State Line, the eastern boundary to be the
western shoreline of Chesapeake Bay and the southern boundary to be the northern boundary
of
the existing Groundwater Management Area. Further, we define all aquifers, whether or not they
contain potable water, between the land surface and the basement to be subject to
management.
GroundwaterVirginia