Water Wells

WATER, WELLHEAD, AND CROSS CONNECTION POLICY

This article sets forth the policy of the Sandy Pointe Lake Homeowners Association’s policy providing limitations for the location of potential sources of contamination or the placement of water wells.

Section 1. The intent of this policy is to establish control over the location of future potential sources of contamination within Sandy Pointe Lake, extraterritorial jurisdiction of Sandy Pointe Lake’s drinking water system, so as to prevent or minimize any hazard to the safety of Sandy Pointe Lake’s’ drinking water.

Section 2. For purposes of this policy, “water well” shall mean any excavation that is drilled, cored, bored, washed, driven, dug, jetted, or otherwise constructed for the purpose of exploring for ground water, monitoring ground water, utilizing the geothermal properties of the ground or extracting water from or injecting water into the underground water. Water well shall not include any excavation made for obtaining or prospecting for oil, natural gas, minerals, or products mined or quarried or inserting media to re-pressure oil or natural gas bearing formations.

Section 3. It shall be unlawful and subject to fine and penalty for any person or entity to place, maintain, construct, or replace any of the following structures or conduct any of the following activities within the distance specified below from an existing municipal water well:

Section 4. The construction of a “Water Well” within the corporate limits of Sandy Pointe Lake Development shall not be started unless a permit approved by the Association’s Board of Directors has been obtained.

Section 5. The Association’s Board of Directors, may consider allowing placement of water wells, as defined by Nebraska Regulations governing public water supply systems (Title 179, NAC2) and Nebraska Regulations governing water well construction, pump installation and water well abandonment standards (Title 178, NAC12) as amended from time to time, closer to a municipal water well than the limitations set forth in Section 3 hereof. Closer placement shall be allowed only under the following conditions:

(a) An application must first be filed with the Association’s Board of Directors showing the type of water well to be installed, the materials used, the operation of the proposed unit, and the person responsible for the actual installation of the water well. Preference, for approval, will be given to installations that do not disturb any water bearing strata.

(b) The Association’s Board of Directors shall refer the application to its engineer for evaluation and report. The estimated cost of the engineer’s fees must be paid at the time of filing the application. Any additional costs, which are reasonably incurred by the engineer in making their examination and report, shall be paid by the applicant, in addition to any previously paid estimated costs.

(c) Under no circumstances, no installation shall be made without the approval of both the Association’s Board of Directors and the Department of Health of the State of Nebraska.

Section 6. Water wells in existence and use, as of the effective date of this policy, shall continue to be permitted unless such continued existence or use presents a hazard to the quality of the drinking water available for public use to the Sandy Pointe Lake Homeowners Association’s drinking water. The owner of any water well shall have the burden of establishing the existence and use of such well at the time of the effective date of this policy.

Section 7. Any person found violating any provision of this Policy shall be subject to a fine, not to exceed $10,000.00. The continuation of the violation of this Policy shall be deemed an additional violation for every 24 hours of such continued violation. In addition, the Association’s Board of Directors may obtain injunctive relief, and sue for damages and remediation, and pursue any other remedy available to it under the laws of the State of Nebraska or other authority having jurisdiction over such matters.

Section 8. All policies or part of policies in conflict herewith are hereby repealed.

Section 9. There shall be no physical cross connections between any private water system, holding tank, reservoir, sewer, drain, conduit, tank, pump, plumbing fixture, heat exchanger, or other mechanical equipment or device which contains, or may contain contaminated water, sewage or other waste, liquid or gas of unknown or unsafe quality which may be capable of imparting contamination or pollution to the potable water supply as a result of backflow ( due to either backpressure or backsiphonage ), and the water system of the Association unless such connection is protected by a back-flow prevention device approved deemed appropriate by the Association under the Rules and Regulations of the State Health Department and installed at the user’s expense. The Association, through the licensed operator of its water system, shall conduct an on-going cross-connection control program consisting of cross connection detection by means of consumer survey, assessment of apparent hazards presented by cross connections detected through surveys, and the requirement of backflow prevention devices to be installed and maintained by consumers where necessary, in the Association’s judgment, in order to protect the public against potential hazards to the water supply. The program may also include containment through the use of backflow prevention devices installed at appropriate locations throughout the water system where feasible and desirable, within budget constraints, in the judgment of the Association. Compliance with the program shall be enforced by requiring, as a condition of continued water service, the prompt return of consumer surveys as often as deemed necessary, but no less often than every five years, the correct installation and maintenance of any backflow prevention devices required by the Association, and annual written certification of testing by a state-licensed backflow prevention device tester of required devices having test ports. Failure or refusal to comply with program requirements may be treated by the Association in the same manner as unpaid water accounts, with disconnection as a penalty. Representatives of the Association shall have the right at all reasonable hours to enter the consumer’s premises for the purpose of inspection and enforcement of these provisions.