GROUNDWATER PROTECTION & MANAGEMENT

GROUNDWATER PROTECTION & MANAGEMENT
VIRGINIA EASTERN SHORE

DRAFT FOR INTERNAL EPA REVIEW ONLYÄ Ä
NOVEMBER 10, 1995

Background:

In August 1992 EPA Region III received a petiition from the Bi-County Ad Hoc Citizens Committee on Oversight, to designate aquifiers underlying Accomack and Northampton Counties in Virginia as a "sole source aquifier" pursuant to Section 1424(e) of the Safe Drinking Water Act.

Section 1424(e) provides the Adminiistrator of EPA
the ability to: 1) determine, "that an area has an aquifer which is the sole or principal drinking water source for the area which, if contaminated, would create a significant hazard to public health"; and 2) review projects planned for the Sole Source Aquifier Area that will receive federal assistance to determine whether these projects could contaminate the aquifier. Based on the review, no committment of federal financial assistance may be made for projects "which the Administrator determines may contaminate such aquifier".

A revised petition was submitted to EPA in July 1993 and Region III determined that the petition satisfied the initial requirements of the designation process. A public hearing was held in January 1994 to seek public comment on the petition to designate the area as a sole source aquifier.

In July 1995 the EPA Chesapeake Bay Program Office provided comments to the Region III Water Division on the petition to designate the area. The Chesapeake Bay Program Office had been requested, in November 1994 by the Accomack©Northampton Planning District Commission, as a result of the 1994 Chesapeake Bay Region International Countryside Stewardship Exchange. EPA's CBPO was asked to provide assistance to the Eastern Shore of Virginia Groundwater Study Committee to continue its mission to recommend strategies to protect and manage the ground water resources of the Eastern Shore of Virginia and to implement the adopted Groundwater Supply Protection and Managemennt Plan for the Eastern Shore of Virginia.

In addition EPA's CBPO was also requested to provide assistance with the development of a Route 13 Corridor Plan. Route 13, the Ocean Highway, generally follows the ridgeline of the Virginia Eastern Shore and is the approximate drainage divide between the CChesapeake Bay and the AAtlantic Ocean. The study is proposed to include options for by-passes and limited access, as well as consider land use, economic, and environmental concerns. Studies done recently identify portions of the Route 13 corridor, referred to as the "spine", as sensitive groundwater recharge areas.



After consultation between the Water Division and the Chesapeake Bay Program Office, and local and Commonwealth government officials, and a review of the documents related to the proposed Sole Source Aquifier Designation: Columbia & Yorktown-Eastover Multiaquifier System, the following assumptions were identified.

1. Based on the petition from the Bi-County Ad Hoc Citizens Committee on Oversight, analysis of technical data and puublic comment, there is ample juustification to designate the groundwater system of a portion of the Columbia and Yorktown-Eastover formations in Accomack and Northampton Counties, Virginia as a sole source aquifier. EPA's legislative requirements to support such a designation have been completed with the exception of the Administrator's publishing notice of the sole source aquifier determination in the Federal Register.

2. Local, regional, and Commonwealth government agencies, and the Virginia Water Control Board agree that the ground water is the only source of supply for domestic, industrial, and agricultural water use within the Virginia Eastern Shore. Local planning and elected officials have been concerned for a number of years about the quality and availability of ground water.

In 1976, in recognition of the importance of this resource, and in response to some evidence of localized ground water contamination in Accomack County, the Virginia State Water Control Board designated the Eastern Shore of Virginia a "Ground Water Management Area". Designation requires that all water users that withdraw in excess of 10,000 gallons per day are subject to a state permit process.

3. A "Ground Water Supply Protection and Management Plan for the Eastern Shore of Virgina" was completed and adopted in 1992 by the Eastern Shore of Virginia Ground Water Study Committee. The plan, which was funded by EPA, the Virginia Council on the Environment's Coastal resources Management Program and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, summarizes available information on water withdrawls, land use threats, and current control mechanisms. Recommendations were proposed to develop a comprehensive ground water protection and supply management plan which will maintain an adequate supply of water and sustain high water quality for the future needs of the region. The plan indicates that "grond water resource protection and managemennt of the Eastern Shore of Virginia requires the involvement and cooperation of many levels of government as well as a committment from the private sector".

Twenty three recommendations were adopted to implement the plan including:
* Adoption of Overlay Protection Zoning Districts
* Permitting of large agricultural water withdrawls
* Protection of open space in the spine recharge area
* Encourage agricultural Nuutrient Management Plans
* Formation of a water supply district or water authority


The Accomack-Northampton Planning District Commission requested EPA technical and financial assistance in the implemenntation of recommendations related to wellhead protection, ground water modeling, a data base, and Geographic Information System capability. EPA's Chesapeake bay Program Office issued a report on "Potential Sources of Funding and Technical Assistance for Ground Water Protection & MManagement" in October 1995.

4. There are different perceptions among local government officials, Commonwelath of Virginia officials, and local residents, regarding the need for, and effectiveness of, federal sole source aquifier designation to help protect and manage the ground water resources of the area. The results of the public hearing, comment period, and interviews reveal the following.

a. All governments and interests agree that the ground water resources of the Virginia Eastern Shore should be protected and managed.

b. Some governments, organizations, and individuals are concerned about issues such as the overuse of the ground water resource, salt water intruusion, water level declines, expenditures on a new water system for the Town of Cape Chharles, well interference, failure of voluntary efforts, local committments to implement the Ground Water Plan, and contaminannt sources of various types. The majority of the written and oral comments received by EPA were in favor of federal sole source aquifier designation

c. Some governments, organizations, and individuals do not see the need for additional measures beyond Commonwealth or local government ground water protection efforts. They do not believe that ther are problems which warrant this action and have concerns about federal involvement in local land use decision©making. Accomack and Northampton County, the Accomack©Northampton Planning District Commission, and the Commonwealth of Virginia do not support federal sole source aquifier designation.

d. Most government and private sector representatives believe that sole source aquifier designation is a weak alternative for ground water protection and management. This perception is based on local research of other designated areas and the fact that designation will only impact federal projects.

e. There is local government and Commonwealth of Virginia concern that federal sole source desingation could have a negative impact on development in the area. Concerns related to a fear that increased involvement by the federal government in the review and approval of development projects would be a dis©incentive to developers.


f. Some governments, organizations, and individuals expressed interest in learning more about the designation process and how it would affect development, examining other ground water protection and management alternatives (ie. well head protection), and the relationship of Virginia Eastern Shore efforts to Maryland ground water protection and management.

g. There is a need to complete the analysis and determination of the petition submitted by the Bi©County Ad Hoc Citizens Committee on Oversight for sole source designation of the Virginia Eastern Shore aquifiers to comply with the provisions and proceedures of the Safe Water Drinking Act. There is also a need to ensure that EPA's actions within this region are unified and consistent with the policies and directives of the Chesapeake Bay Program.