SB 995: Well standards.

Existing law requires the Department of Water Resources to investigate and survey conditions of damage to quality of underground waters that are, or may be, caused by improperly constructed, abandoned, or defective wells. Existing law requires the department to report to the appropriate California regional water quality control board its recommendations for minimum standards for well construction in any particular locality in which it deems regulation necessary to protection of quality of underground water.

This bill, on or before January 1, 2019, would require the department to update well standards for water wells, monitoring wells, and cathodic protection wells based on existing knowledge and to submit these standards to the State Water Resources Control Board.

Existing law requires the state board to adopt a model water well, cathodic protection well, and monitoring well drilling and abandonment ordinance implementing prescribed standards of the department.

This bill would require the state board to revise the model ordinance upon the receipt of the standards from the department.