Water supply

Abandoned artesian well plugging program

Introduction

As of September 30, 2000, the District’s abandoned artesian well plugging program has accomplished the plugging or reconstruction of 3,018 wells. The program is looked upon as a water conservation opportunity and as an outreach mechanism for the District in that it incorporates a cooperative cost-share approach. Additional benefits to the District include water quality and geophysical log data obtained from the wells prior to abandonment, and potential inclusion of certain wells in the District’ groundwater monitoring networks for future monitoring.

In the past, the cost-share guidelines have required that the well owner provide 50 percent of the plugging cost or $600 per well, whichever is less. New guidelines have recently been approved by the Governing Board which shifts a greater share of the financial responsibility for plugging wells from the District to nonresidential well owners in order to increase funding available to resident homeowners and, thus, increase the total number of wells that are plugged.

In essence, the new guidelines provide the same previous $600 cost-share scenario to the owner of a single- or multifamily home (with qualifying homestead exemption), a 50/50 cost-share agreement for single- or multifamily residence with no qualifying homestead exemption, and a 75/25 owner/District cost-share agreement for commercial, industrial, or agricultural property owners and water supply utilities (both public and private). A detailed description of the various cost-share scenarios is presented in the Guidelines and Procedures for this program (below).

Please direct any questions or referrals to Wesley Curtis at (386) 329-4252 or (800) 741-WELL. You may contact him at wcurtis@sjrwmd.com.

Guidelines and procedures

• The District will prepare and maintain an inventory of abandoned artesian wells. The inventory will consist of pertinent well information including, but not limited to, well owner, location, casing diameter, total depth, casing depth, static water level, flow rate, geophysical logs, and water quality.
• When an abandoned artesian well is thought to exist or is reported to the District, the abandoned artesian well plugging project manager will notify the well owner by certified mail of
  • The apparent existence of an abandoned artesian well on the property
  • The rules of the St. Johns River Water Management District and the statutory requirements concerning abandoned artesian wells
  • The provisions of the District’s well plugging program
  • The well owner will be requested to complete a Well Information Form and return the form to the District within 45 days
• If the owner returns the Well Information Form and makes application to participate in the abandoned artesian well plugging program, the District will evaluate the well and act on the owner’s application to participate in the cost-share program.

• If the Well Information Form is not received within 45 days, a second notice will be mailed to the well owner. If no response is received within 14 days or the well owner declines to bring the well into compliance with applicable rules and regulations, the District will determine if the provisions of Chapter 373.209, Florida Statutes (F.S.) or Chapter 40C-3, Florida Administrative Code (F.A.C.) are applicable. If it is determined that the provisions of Chapter 373.209, F.S. or Chapter 40C-3, F.A.C. apply to the well, the District will initiate appropriate enforcement action.
• A written agreement with terms and conditions for sharing the cost of plugging must be agreed upon before any work is performed by the District. The owner will be notified at least 14 days prior to the scheduled plugging date. Upon completion of the work, the District will invoice the well owner for the owner’s share of the well plugging costs. The invoice will be due upon receipt.
• Funding for cooperative cost-share well plugging agreements is based on the following guidelines:
  • General:
    • Funding for cooperative agreements is subject to the availability of District funds. Failure on the part of the District to fund the abandoned artesian well plugging program, or failure of the District and the well owner to reach agreement on the terms and conditions of a cost-share agreement, shall not relieve the well owner of responsibility for bringing a well into compliance with applicable rules and regulations.
    • The District may enter into cooperative agreements with other governmental entities to provide for sharing the costs of plugging wells within the governmental entity’s jurisdiction. For any well plugged pursuant to such agreement, the terms and conditions of the cooperative cost-share agreement with the governmental entity shall apply.
    • Notwithstanding the provisions contained in section 6.A 2, prior to participating in any District cooperative cost share program, a well owner shall pay any outstanding penalties imposed by the District pursuant to Chapter 373.209 and reimburse the District for all costs incurred by the District for enforcement actions related to the subject well.
    • Recognizing that prompt action may be necessary to assure cost-effective administration of the well plugging program, staff may refer items requiring Governing Board approval to the Governing Board’s Building and Facility Committee for consideration.
  • For privately owned wells located on property used as a single- or multifamily residence and on which the well owner has a qualifying homestead exemption, the District may elect to share the cost of plugging subject to the following:
    • If total estimated plugging costs of the agreement are less than or equal to $10,000, the agreement is contingent upon executive director approval and the well owner’s share is 50% of the costs each well or $600 per well, whichever is less.
    • If total estimated plugging costs of agreement range from $10,000 to $20,000, the agreement is contingent upon Governing Board approval and the well owner’s share is 50% of the costs of each well up to a maximum of $600 per well provided, that contractor related plugging costs of each well do not exceed $10,000. If the contractor related plugging costs for a single well exceed $10,000, the owner’s share for that well is $600 plus 50% of the costs over $10,000.
  • For privately owned wells located on property used as a single- or multifamily residence but on which the well owner does not have a qualifying homestead exemption, the District may elect to share the cost of plugging subject to the following:
    • If total estimated plugging costs of the agreement are less than or equal to $10,000, the agreement is contingent upon executive director approval and the well owner’s share is 50% of the costs of each well.
    • If total estimated plugging costs of agreement range from $10,000 to $20,000, agreement is contingent upon Governing Board approval and well owner’s share is 50% of the costs of each well.
  • If a well is located on property owned or controlled by a corporation, property being used for nonresidential uses (including, but not limited to, commercial, industrial, agricultural uses), or property owned or controlled by a utility, and the cost of plugging the well is less than $20,000, the District may elect to fund up to 25% of the cost of plugging the well with the well owner.
  • If a well is located on property owned by a public entity such as a city, county, or other governmental entity (excluding publicly owned utilities), and the cost of plugging the well is less than $20,000, the District may elect to equally share the cost of plugging the well with the governmental entity.
  • Unless specifically approved by the Governing Board, wells with contractor-related plugging costs in excess of $20,000 will not be eligible for inclusion in the abandoned artesian well plugging cost-share program.
  • In the event the District and well owner agree to include a well in the District’s groundwater monitoring network, the District may elect to fully fund the costs of repairing the well provided that the owner grants the District a long-term easement to access the well.

• Wells which are considered an imminent hazard to public health, safety, and welfare; or wells within Water Resource Caution Areas (WRCA); or wells which the District has agreed to plug with cooperative cost-share funds shall be placed first in the priority order of plugging. Consistent with Chapter 373.206, F.S., prioritization of all other wells to be plugged will be based on relative harm to the water resources. Wells which pose a lesser threat to the water resources (i.e., only waste water) will be grouped in the lower priority category but may be moved up in priority during any fiscal year if other contractual well plugging is proceeding in the areas of these wells, making their plugging financially advantageous. The Abandoned Artesian Well Plugging project manager will be responsible for keeping and maintaining a prioritized list of wells to be plugged.

Cost-share guidelines for well plugging agreements

Case I wells on residential property

• Single- or multifamily residence with qualifying homestead exemption:
  • If the total estimated plugging costs of the agreement are less than or equal to $10,000, the agreement is contingent upon executive director approval and the well owner’s share if 50% of the costs of each well or $600 per well, whichever is less.
  • If total estimated plugging costs of agreement range from $10,000 to $20,000, the agreement is contingent upon Governing Board approval, and the well owner’s share is 50% of the costs of each well up to a maximum of $600 per well provided that contractor related plugging costs of each well do not exceed $10,000. If the contractor related plugging costs for a single well exceed $10,000, the owner’s share for that well is $600 plus 50% of the costs over $10,000.
• Single- or multifamily residence with no qualifying homestead exemption:
  • If total estimated plugging costs of the agreement are less than or equal to $10,000, the agreement is contingent upon executive director approval and the well owner’s share is 50% of the costs of each well.
  • If total estimated plugging costs of agreement range from $10,000 to $20,000, the agreement is contingent upon Governing Board approval and the well owner’s share is 50% of the costs of each well.
  • If the total estimated plugging costs exceed $10,000, the agreement is subject to Governing Board approval and terms and conditions of a cooperative cost-share agreement will be negotiated on a case-by-case basis.

Case II wells on non-residential property including, but not limited to: commercial, industrial, agricultural uses, and including utilities (public or private)

• If the total estimated plugging costs of the agreement are less than or equal to $10,000, the agreement is contingent upon executive director approval and the well owner’s share is 75% of the costs of each well.
• If total estimated plugging costs of agreement range from $10,000 to $20,000, the agreement is contingent upon Governing Board approval and the well owner’s share is 75% of the costs of each well.
• If the total estimated plugging costs exceed $20,000, the agreement is subject to Governing Board approval, and terms and conditions of a cooperative cost-share agreement will be negotiated on a case-by-case basis.

Case III Wells on public sector/government property (not expressly used for utility purposes) or wells under cooperative cost-share agreements with federal, state or local government agencies

• If total estimated plugging costs of the agreement are less than or equal to $10,000, the agreement is contingent upon executive director approval and the well owner’s share is 50% of the costs of each well.
• If total estimated plugging costs of agreement range from $10,000 to $20,000, the agreement is contingent upon Governing Board approval and the well owner’s share is 50% of the costs of each well.
• If the total estimated plugging costs exceed $20,000, the agreement is subject to Governing Board approval and terms and conditions of a cooperative cost-share agreement will be negotiated on a case-by-case basis.