Jefferson County: Well drilling could be restricted

Port Townsend, WA - 3/6/02 - Jefferson County Water Resource Specialist David Christensen outlined a plan for addressing potential seawater intrusion of wells for the county commissioners Monday.

The plan is a response to an order by the Western Washington Growth Management Hearings Board that the county identify areas susceptible to seawater intrusion and develop a plan to limit the threat.

The plan designates any land within 1,000 feet of marine coastlines as Critical Seawater Intrusion Zones. Wells would be prohibited from within 100 feet of the zones, or 1,100 feet from the shoreline.

The county commissioners plan to appoint a citizens task force to review and refine the proposal. The new regulations would then go through the usual public hearing process for adoption into the county's Unified Development Code.

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