Georgetown, Del., June 24, 2008: Sussex County leaders are taking new steps to protect the county’s precious drinking water supply.

County Council, at its Tuesday, June 24, 2008, meeting, approved a new ordinance that will establish various land use rules for properties within areas identified by Delaware environmental officials as integral to the local water supply. Known as the Source Water Protection Ordinance, the State-mandated measure is aimed at protecting public drinking water supplies within the unincorporated portions of Sussex County.

The purpose of the ordinance is to reduce the risk of contamination on lands identified as excellent groundwater recharge areas or as wellhead protection areas, which cover the underground sources containing the millions of gallons of public drinking water used throughout the county each day.

“This is an important step in protecting not just the public’s health, but also in guaranteeing the safety of one of our most important natural resources,” County Administrator David B. Baker said. “This works to protect Sussex County’s drinking water supply for our residents today, and for future Sussex Countians to come, while balancing private property rights, too.”

The ordinance, for instance, establishes limits on structures within safe zones that range in size from a 20-foot radius to a 100-foot radius around wells that supply public drinking water. Within wellhead protection and excellent recharge areas, meantime, there would be restrictions on how much impervious surface could cover the ground. The measure also calls for land developers to take certain mitigating steps, such as installing systems to recapture rainwater, on projects with a high degree of impervious cover.

The ordinance takes effect in 90 days, and will apply only to new properties and new construction. It does not impose any new requirements or restrictions on residential wells serving individual households or wells used for agricultural purposes.

County Council’s adoption of the new Source Water Protection Ordinance puts the County in compliance with a State mandate that local governments of 2,000 residents or more protect public drinking water supplies.

The County’s approval of the new ordinance follows a lengthy process to develop groundwater protections, and allows the County to check off one of the proposed ordinances it must adopt as part of the 2007 Comprehensive Plan Update, also adopted Tuesday. With input from a community advisory panel, staff refined the source water measure over the last 18 months before bringing the ordinance to Council and the public during a March hearing.

As part of the approval, the County also will enter into a memorandum of understanding with the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control to maintain up-to-date maps of identified excellent recharge and wellhead protection areas. The agreement also will call on DNREC to notify the County of all new permitted wells so staff can accurately determine their location during building permit applications and/or other approval processes.

Council President Finley B. Jones Jr. said he was pleased to have the ordinance adopted. “There was a lot of hard work put into this, both by staff and the committee. I think they’ve developed something that Sussex Countians can live with,” President Jones said. “For all their efforts, I thank them.”

A copy of the adopted ordinance is available online at sussexcountyde.gov.

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