BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
Senator Wieckowski, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: SB 995
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|Author: |Pavley |
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|Version: |2/10/2016 |Hearing |4/20/2016 |
| | |Date: | |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant:|Rachel Machi Wagoner |
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SUBJECT: Well standards
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1) Requires the Department of Water Resources (DWR) to
investigate and survey conditions of damage to quality of
underground waters that are, or may be, caused by improperly
constructed, abandoned, or defective wells.
2) Requires DWR to report to the appropriate California regional
water quality control board its recommendations for minimum
standards for well construction in any particular locality in
which it deems regulation necessary to protection of quality
of underground water.
This bill requires DWR to update standards for water wells,
monitoring wells, and cathodic protection wells. Specifically
requires:
1) By January 1, 2019, DWR update well standards (Bulletins
74-81 and 74-90) based on existing knowledge.
2) DWR create an advisory panel that will identify gaps in
existing knowledge of well construction, maintenance, and
destruction.
3) DWR conduct research as needed to address the knowledge gaps.
At the end of the review process, the advisory panel will
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make recommendations for updates in well standards.
4) By January 1, 2022, DWR submit updated well standards to the
State Water Resources Control Board for adoption in the model
well ordinance.
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Background
On average, California's groundwater provides approximately
30-46% of the state's total water supply and serves as a
critical buffer against drought. During dry years, groundwater
may be used to meet nearly all of a community's water needs.
Some communities do not have access to surface water sources and
depend completely on groundwater sources to meet their needs.
Water wells are constructed by drilling through soil and/or rock
layers and into an underground aquifer. Wells contain an outer
casing (e.g., a steel or PVC pipe) that maintains the well
opening. At the bottom of the well and inside the casing is a
pump that extracts water from the surrounding aquifer and pushes
it to the surface. The top of a well is sealed to prevent
contaminants from entering into the well casing or space outside
the casing. In some cases, a well may penetrate one aquifer in
order to reach a deeper aquifer.
There are four categories of water wells that are used in
California. The most common category is simply called "water
wells" or sometimes "production wells." These wells are built to
extract water for human consumption, irrigation, or other
purposes. Wells built to collect water samples and monitor
groundwater levels are called "monitoring wells." "Cathodic
protection wells" are built to protect metallic objects buried
in the ground from corrosion. Finally, "geothermal heat exchange
wells" (GHEWs) are built to transfer heat to and from the soil
as part of an HVAC system.
In the past, the Department of Water Resources (DWR) has been
responsible for developing standards for the construction,
maintenance, and destruction of all types of water wells. These
standards are necessary in order to protect groundwater from
contamination. If improperly built, maintained or destroyed,
water wells can act as a conduit for contaminants.
California's well standards were first developed in 1968 and
published as Bulletin 74. At the time they included only water
wells; monitoring wells were included in that category.
Standards for cathodic protection wells were published in 1973
as Bulletin 74-1. Bulletin 74 was revised in 1981 as Bulletin
74-81.
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Bulletin 74-81 was subsequently revised during the 1980s,
resulting in a supplement called Bulletin 74-90. Cathodic
protection well standards were incorporated in Bulletin 74-90,
replacing Bulletin 74-1. Monitoring wells are presented
separately from water wells, pursuant to SB 1817 (Morgan,
Chapter 1373, Statutes of 1986) which amended the Water Code to
explicitly list monitoring wells as a separate category of
wells. When combined, Bulletin 74-81 and 74-90 represent the
current minimum well standards for California.
Bulletin 74-81 was updated through a procedure established by AB
3127 (Areias, Chapter 1152, Statutes of 1986). AB 3127 (see
Water Code §13801) established a deadline for the State Water
Resources Control Board (Water Board) to adopt a model well
ordinance and a later deadline for counties, cities, and water
agencies to adopt the Water Board's model well ordinance. The
Water Board contracted with DWR to review and update Bulletin
74-81.
In 1996, the Legislature passed and the Governor signed AB 2334
(Cortese, Chapter 581, Statutes of 1996) which requires DWR to
develop and submit to the Water Board a report containing
recommended standards for GHEWs. DWR issued a Draft of
Standards for GHEWs in 1999, with the ultimate goal of creating
one bulletin (Bulletin 74-99) to cover all four types of wells
(water wells, monitoring wells, cathodic protection wells and
geothermal heat exchange wells). However, due to delays,
Bulletin 74-99 was never formalized and the GHEW standards
remain as a Draft. Recently, DWR has been working through a
review of the Draft 1999 GHEW standards and is nearly finished.
Because the GHEWs standards are almost finalized, this bill does
not include GHEWs.
Since Bulletin 74-90 was published in 1990, new advances in
drilling materials and techniques have emerged. Here are a few
examples of new developments in well drilling that have prompted
the demand for updated well standards:
1) Greater recognition that the protocols for sealing abandoned
wells were inadequate. Newer techniques utilize high tech
explosives and other materials to permanently seal a well.
2) Research in Nebraska looked at the efficacy of several types
of grout that are used to seal the gap between the soil and a
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well casing. Many of them did not perform up to
expectations, raising questions about current well standards.
3) Greater understanding of the sensitivity of well casing
materials (e.g., PVC) to temperature fluctuations, which has
implications for the efficacy of well casing seals.
Comments
1) Purpose of Bill. According to the author, "Water well
standards are critical to preventing contamination of good
quality groundwater. Current water well standards were
developed in the 1980s and last updated in 1990. Since then,
advances in drilling techniques and new well materials have
emerged making the current standards critically out of date.
Furthermore, all water well standards - especially those
developed nearly 40 years ago - need to be evaluated to make
sure they are still accurate."
Furthermore, the author stated, "Updating well standards is
essential given the ongoing implementation of the Sustainable
Groundwater Management Act (SGMA). DWR recognizes the current
standards are insufficient: In the draft Strategic Plan for
SGMA implementation, DWR called for an update to well
standards (Action 2.5). Moreover, the state's reliance on
groundwater during the drought further underscores the
urgency of this issue."
Supporters have noted that "it is not acceptable that these
[water well] standards, which have the capacity to cause
serious impacts upon groundwater basins throughout the state,
to go un-updated for over 20 years."
2) Geothermal heat exchange well (GHEW) standards are not
included in this bill. DWR, in collaboration with the Water
Board, is nearly finished with a review of the Draft 1999
GHEW standards. According to the author, this bill does not
include GHEWs in order to avoid forcing DWR to start the
review process over.
DOUBLE REFERRAL:
This measure was heard in Senate Natural Resources and Water
Committee on March 29, 2016, and passed out of committee with a
vote of 9-0.
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SOURCE: California Groundwater Association
SUPPORT:
Clean Water Action of California
Community Water Center
East Bay Municipal Utility District
Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability
Santa Clara Valley Water District
Sierra Club of California
OPPOSITION:
None received
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