A. Notwithstanding the county's authority to issue permits for wells, upon connection of a property to the Porterville municipal water system, a private well providing service to said property shall be abandoned, or if more than the subject parcel receives water from the well, the connection from the property to the well shall be abandoned. Parcels five (5) acres in size or greater are exempt from this requirement. If a well serves both a structure and a commercial agricultural crop, the structure shall be disconnected from the well, but the well can remain in order to provide irrigation water in a manner consistent with other chapters of this code.
B. Where a property owner is already connected to Porterville municipal water service and maintains an existing and active well as of the date this chapter is approved, the property owner may continue the beneficial use of the well until:
1. Well failure or lack of performance for greater than twelve (12) months results in a permanently inactive well, as defined in the Health And Safety Code; or
2. The property owner obtains a building permit for improvements, construction, or remodeling at a cost of twenty one thousand five hundred sixty nine dollars ($21,569.00) or more within a two (2) year period. This valuation is to be adjusted, by resolution, each year to reflect changes in the cost of construction as indicated in the "Engineering News Record".
C. Abandonment of wells shall be completed in conformance with the standards adopted by the department of water resources and the state water resources control board, in accordance with the California Water Code. (Ord. 1832, 5-17-2016)