13.04.680 Prohibition of water wells within a certain portion of the City of Sacramento.
A. Purpose. Certain chemicals have been found in the ground water at and immediately west of McClellan Air Force Base in Sacramento City and County. These chemicals may constitute a hazard to the health, safety and well being of the residents of the city of Sacramento. The United States Government, without admitting any liability, has recognized the need to take corrective measures. To date there are insufficient data to indicate the existence of a hazard to health, safety and well being from the use of wells for industrial and irrigation purposes only.
Pursuant to a comprehensive and long range plan, the United States Government has installed certain monitoring wells and certain extraction wells at appropriate places on and west of McClellan Air Force Base. This ground water monitoring and extraction/treatment program will benefit the residents of the area hereinafter described. The pumping of water from the water wells west and southwest of McClellan Air Force Base impairs the ability of the United States Government to adequately monitor and contain the spread of the aforesaid chemicals. The prohibitions and requirements set forth in this section provide effective control over potential points of human exposure to possibility of ground water contamination. Therefore, it is necessary to the health, safety and well being of the residents of the City of Sacramento that the city council enact the prohibitions and requirements set forth in this section.
B. Definitions. The following definitions shall apply for purposes of this section:
"Public agency" means any public agency of the state including, but not limited to, cities, counties, districts, agencies and authorities.
"Water purveyor" means a public agency authorized by law to provide water for domestic or irrigation purposes to the general public.
"Domestic" means all residential uses of water, except industrial, irrigation and agricultural.
"Irrigation" means all uses of water for irrigating food and forage crops and ornamental vegetation and watering of farm animals.
C. Prohibition Area. This section shall apply to, and the term "prohibition area" as used in this section shall mean, that portion of the city from McClellan Air Force Base west along Ascot Avenue, south on Dry Creek Road, southeast along Marysville Boulevard, east on Bell Avenue, then south on Raley Boulevard to Interstate 80 and east to McClellan.
D. New Wells Prohibited. From and after such time as water from the City of Sacramento is made available for domestic, industrial, and irrigation purposes within the prohibition area no permit shall be issued for and no person shall dig or drill a new water well within the prohibition area.
E. Closure of Existing Water Wells. Within ninety (90) days following such time as both (1) water for domestic, industrial, and irrigation purposes is made available by the city to a property within the prohibition area and (2) the United States Government tenders to the city on behalf of the owner of the property an amount of money equal to the total cost of connection to the public water main and closure of any existing water wells, whichever is later in time, the owner of such property shall do one of the following:
(1) Abandon all such water wells on the property in accordance with regulations established by the Sacramento County Environmental Management Department.
(2) If the owner of such property elects not to close the water well, such owner shall cause the well to be severed from any buildings so that the water from such well may not be used for domestic purposes and shall further cause to be installed such back flow prevention devices as may be required by the appropriate health authorities. In such cases no person shall thereafter use the water from such well for domestic purposes and no person shall thereafter allow or cause such a well to be connected to any building so that water could be drawn from such well for domestic purposes.
(3) In the event the owner of such property elects not to close the water well as set forth in subsection (2), above, the owner shall thereafter be responsible for all costs, including, but not limited to, maintenance, repair, replacement, improvement and testing of any required back flow prevention devices and for all costs required for testing or monitoring the well, it being the expressed intent that the offer of the United States Government to pay any costs is a one time only offer and all continuing costs and costs thereafter arising are the responsibility of the property owner and not the United States Government.
F. Availability of Water. For purposes of this section, water for domestic and irrigation purposes shall be deemed available to a property if a public water main has been installed in the public right-of-way nearest the property and the water main is usable.
G. Cost of Connection and Closure. The cost of connection to a public water main and the cost of closure of an existing well shall include all labor, material and engineering cost necessary to accomplish the same together with all fee and permit costs. In addition, the cost of connection to a public water main shall include the cost of a water line of sufficient size to provide an adequate water supply to the property for domestic, and if applicable, industrial and irrigation purposes. It is intended that the cost of all work necessary to accomplish the connection and, if appropriate, well closure shall be borne by the United States Government and such work shall be accomplished without cost to the property owners. It is further intended that no property owner be required to have a connection that provides a lesser quantity of water, measured on a monthly basis, than an existing facility. To these ends, the department shall determine the cost and sufficiency of service size in accordance with department procedures. All work shall be accomplished by the department or its licensed contractor(s).
H. Exemptions. This section shall not apply to monitoring or testing wells operated by the United States Government or a public agency. (Ord. 2001-033 § 1)
