Angler Utility Partner Development
The Virginia Department of Health, Office of Drinking Water is the regulatory agency for the permitting, development and operation of community water supplies in Virginia. They should be consulted about the feasibility of the Angler proposal.
http://www.vdh.virginia.gov
“The Office of Drinking Water
provides Technical Information to all facets of the drinking water community
including but not limited to the consumers of drinking water and the
owners of waterworks that provide drinking water. Information is available
regarding: Drought Information, Water Conservation, Source Water Assessment,
Waterworks Regulations, Listing of Waterworks and Owners, Certified
Laboratory List, Waterworks Security, Capacity Development, How to Collect
a Bacteriological Sample, and Consumer Confidence Report.“
Nowhere in the Office’s 2005 report
to the governor, The Efficacy of Virginia’s Capacity Development Strategy,
are groundwater resources, recharge, capacity or recovery mentioned.
The focus of the agency appears to be on the regulatory and monitoring
end of permitted waterworks so counsel and advice on the long term capability
of water wells as a source for community drinking water will most like
be needed to be obtained from such as the USGS as noted below.
Questions that might be asked of
ODW:
Are records available that indicate
the sustainability of wells as long term water supplies for a community?
Are those records available by geographic
region, specifically the piedmont region and more so geologic conditions
expected to be encountered in Culpeper County and other Triassic Basins
communities?
Production wells are required to undergo
drawdown and stabilization testing to determine probable yields.
Can ODW provide information and counsel on how initial capacity estimates
based on those tests relate to results of testing after 1, 5, 10 and
20 years of well operations?
Do well yields historically decline
from initial production testing results and what percentage of decline
can be expected?
Can the Office of Drinking Water categorically state to this locality that based on the representative’s knowledge of the historical records of waterworks under their purview that the three wells, as proposed by Angler for the community waterworks will be able to provide a safe, adequate and proper water supply for at least 15-20 years into the future.
If not, then what suggestions would ODW have for the community to provide a safe , adequate and proper waterworks for the community of 15-20,000 residences/facilities that is projected to be served by this partnership.
What impact would ODW expect this project to have on existing water wells in the community?
Would ODW be willing to suggest a potential cost for the construction and operation of a waterworks projected to serve a community of 15-20,000 homes.
Can OWD estimate the probable annual operation and maintenance costs of a waterworks system serving 15-20,000 homes?
Would ODW project what additional treatment costs are likely to be incurred as new and more stringent EPA regulations for waterworks are established.
Is ODW aware of any proposed regulatory
actions affecting the testing, treatment, monitoring and maintenance
of waterworks that are likely to come to pass often this project has
been constructed and ownership transferred to the proposed operator?
USGS, resources
The USGS maintains the most detailed sites for of information related to ground water resources that I have found. http://water.usgs.gov/
The site has more information that one can reasonably expect to digest in a short period of time.
http://va.water.usgs.gov/ is dedicated to water resources in Virginia and provides a great amount of regional and local information that all stakeholders should be aware of.