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2003 SESSION

032924420
SENATE BILL NO. 1245
Offered January 9, 2003
A BILL to amend and reenact §§ 62.1-44.36 and 62.1-44.38 of the Code of Virginia, relating to the formulation of water resources policies by the State Water Control Board.
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Patrons-- Edwards, Puckett and Whipple
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Referred to Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources
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Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That §§ 62.1-44.36 and 62.1-44.38 of the Code of Virginia are amended and reenacted as follows:

§ 62.1-44.36. Responsibility of State Water Control Board; formulation of policy.

Being cognizant of the crucial importance of the Commonwealth's water resources to the health and welfare of the people of Virginia, and of the need of a water supply to assure further industrial growth and economic prosperity for the Commonwealth, and recognizing the necessity for continuous cooperative planning and effective state-level guidance in the use of water resources, the State Water Control Board is assigned the responsibility for planning the development, conservation and utilization of Virginia's water resources.

The Board shall continue the study of existing water resources of this Commonwealth, means and methods of conserving and augmenting such water resources, and existing and contemplated uses and needs of water for all purposes. Based upon these studies and such policies as have been initiated by the Division of Water Resources, and after an opportunity has been given to all concerned state agencies and political subdivisions to be heard, the Board shall formulate a coordinated policy and plan for the use and control of all the water resources of the Commonwealth and issue a statement thereof. In formulating the Commonwealth's water resources policy and plan, the Board shall, among other things, take into consideration but not be limited to the following principles and policies:

(1) 1. The policy of the Commonwealth is that the water resources of this state belong collectively to the people of the Commonwealth, and the Commonwealth is responsible for maintaining these water resources for the maximum physical and economic benefit of the people, while sustaining a safe yield and support for existing uses, including support for aquatic life;

2. Nothing in this section shall impair the right of landowners or riparian landowners from exercising the right to suppress nuisance, abate pollution, or seek a remedy to protect the right of reasonable use of water on or adjacent to their property;

3. Existing water rights are to be protected and preserved subject to the principle that all of the state waters belong to the public for use by the people for beneficial purposes without waste;

(2) 4. Adequate and safe supplies should be preserved and protected for human consumption, while conserving maximum supplies for other beneficial uses, including the maintenance of aquatic life. When proposed uses of water are in mutually exclusive conflict or when available supplies of water are insufficient for all who desire to use them, preference shall be given to human consumption purposes over all other uses;

(3)5. It is in the public interest that integration and coordination of uses of water and augmentation of existing supplies for all beneficial purposes be achieved for the maximum economic development thereof for the benefit of the Commonwealth as a whole;

(4)6. In considering the benefits to be derived from drainage, consideration shall also be given to possible harmful effects upon ground water supplies and protection of wildlife;

(5)7. The maintenance of stream flows sufficient to support aquatic life and to minimize pollution shall be fostered and encouraged;

(6)8. Watershed development policies shall be favored, whenever possible, for the preservation of balanced multiple uses, and project construction and planning with those ends in view shall be encouraged; and

(7)9. Due regard shall be given in the planning and development of water recreation facilities to safeguard against pollution.

The statement of water resource policy shall be revised from time to time whenever the Board shall determine it to be in the public interest.

The initial statement of state water resource policy and any subsequent revisions thereof shall be furnished by the Board to all state agencies and to all political subdivisions of the Commonwealth.

§ 62.1-44.38. Plans and programs; registration of certain data by water users; advisory committees; committee membership for federal, state, and local agencies; water supply planning assistance.

A. The Board shall prepare plans and programs for the management of the water resources of this Commonwealth in such a manner as to encourage, promote and secure the maximum beneficial use and control thereof. These plans and programs shall be prepared for each major river basin of this Commonwealth, and appropriate subbasins therein, including specifically the Potomac-Shenandoah River Basin, the Rappahannock River Basin, the York River Basin, the James River Basin, the Chowan River Basin, the Roanoke River Basin, the New River Basin, the Tennessee-Big Sandy River Basin, and for those areas in the Tidewater and elsewhere in the Commonwealth not within these major river basins. Reports for each basin shall be published by the Board.

Local governments in adjacent watershed units shall work together to develop regional watershed plans and shall include in their planning process representatives of the community, agriculture, business and environmental interests to assist in the development of these plans.

B. In preparing the statewide plan and river basin plan and program reports enumerated in subsection A of this section, the Board shall (i) estimate , after consideration of the principles and policies described in § 62.1-44.36, develop guidelines and criteria for inclusion in the state water plan. These shall include at a minimum: (i) projected water need over a 25-year planning horizon; (ii) demand management and supply alternatives; (iii) conservation measures during nondrought as well as drought periods; (iv) provisions for the protection of ground water, headwaters and estuaries; (v) estimates of the current water withdrawals from all surface and ground water sources and use for agriculture, industry, domestic use, and other significant categories of water users; (ii) project (vi) projections of ground water and surface water withdrawals and use by agriculture, industry, domestic water use, and other significant categories of water users; (iii) (vii) an estimate, for each major river and stream, of the natural seasonal flow patterns for streams and minimum instream flows necessary to maintain (a) these patterns during normal and drought conditions to maintain , (b) water quality, and avoid permanent damage to (c) aquatic life in streams, bays, and estuaries; (iv) evaluate (viii) evaluation, to the extent practicable, of the ability of existing subsurface and surface waters to meet current and future water uses, including minimum instream flows, during drought conditions; (v) evaluate(ix) evaluation, in cooperation with the Virginia Department of Health and local water supply managers, of the current and future capability of public water systems to provide adequate quantity and quality of water; (vi) identify (x) identification of water management problems and alternative water management plans to address such problems; and (vii) evaluate (xi) evaluation of hydrologic, environmental, economic, social, legal, jurisdictional, and other aspects of each alternative management strategy identified.

C. The Department of Environmental Quality shall develop comprehensive ground water management plans for ground water present in discrete aquifers that occupy more than one regional watershed. It shall also provide for meaningful public participation in the development of the comprehensive ground water management plans. The Board shall incorporate the regional watershed management plans and its aquifer plans into its comprehensive state water plan.

D. The state comprehensive water plan shall ensure a safe yield in all waters of the state. The plan shall ensure that conservation measures shall be implemented by waterworks and localities before further water withdrawals are allowed.

E. The Board may, by regulation, require each water user withdrawing surface or subsurface water or both during each year to register, by a date to be established by the Board, water withdrawal and use data for the previous year including the estimated average daily withdrawal, maximum daily withdrawal, sources of water withdrawn, and volume of wastewater discharge, provided that the withdrawal exceeds one million gallons in any single month for use for crop irrigation, or that the daily average during any single month exceeds 10,000 gallons per day for all other users.

D. F. The Board shall establish advisory committees to assist it in the formulation of such plans or programs and in formulating recommendations called for in subsection E of this section. In this connection, the Board may include committee membership for branches or agencies of the federal government, branches or agencies of the Commonwealth, branches or agencies of the government of any state in a river basin located within that state and Virginia, the political subdivisions of the Commonwealth, and all persons and corporations interested in or directly affected by any proposed or existing plan or program.

E. G. The Board shall prepare plans or programs and shall include in reports prepared under subsection A of this section recommended actions to be considered by the General Assembly, the agencies of the Commonwealth and local political subdivisions, the agencies of the federal government, or any other persons that the Board may deem necessary or desirable for the accomplishment of plans or programs prepared under subsection B of this section.

F. H. In addition to the preparation of plans called for in subsection A of this section, the Board, upon written request of a political subdivision of the Commonwealth, shall provide water supply planning assistance to such political subdivision, to include assistance in preparing drought management strategies, water conservation programs, evaluation of alternative water sources, state enabling legislation to facilitate a specific situation, applications for federal grants or permits, or other such planning activities to facilitate intergovernmental cooperation and coordination.

I. For the purposes of this chapter the Board shall define the term "safe yield."