Ground Water Regulatory Program
Overview of Program Responsibilities
The Ground Water Regulatory Program is responsible for implementation
and support of regulatory programs affecting ground water and wells. The
basis for prevention of ground water contamination is the rule that
establishes Florida’s ground water standards, Chapter 62-520, FAC.,
which also provides ground water permitting and monitoring
requirements in support of these standards. The permitting programs of
the DEP District offices incorporate these requirements into facility
construction and operating permits.
Additional ground water rules include Chapter 62-528, F.A.C., which
regulates disposal through underground injection wells, Chapter 62-521,
F.A.C, which establishes a statewide wellhead protection program, and
Chapter 62-524, F.A.C., which provides guidelines for construction of
new drinking water wells in areas of delineated ground water
contamination. Two additional rules, Chapter 62-531, F.A.C. and Chapter
62-532, F.A.C. provide oversight of water well contractors and water
well permitting.
The following rules form the basis for DEP’s Ground Water
Regulatory Program:
Programs Administered by the Ground Water
Regulatory Program
Underground Injection Control Program
(UIC)
The Department of Environmental Protection's Underground Injection
Control (UIC) program consists of a team of geologists and engineers
dedicated to protecting the State of Florida's underground sources of
drinking water (USDW) while maintaining the lawful option of disposal of
appropriately treated fluids via underground injection wells. The UIC
program also is dedicated to preventing degradation of the quality of
other aquifers adjacent to the injection zone.
Ground Water Delineation Program
In 1988, the Florida Legislature directed the DEP to implement the
Delineated Areas Program for potable water well construction and water
testing standards within areas of known ground water contamination under
Chapter 62-524, F.A.C. This action was taken to protect public health
and ground water resources, and to promote the cost-effective
remediation of contaminated potable water supplies. The rule provides
guidelines for the construction of new drinking water wells in areas of
delineated ground water contamination.
Source Water Assessment and Protection Program (SWAPP)
In 1996 the federal Safe Drinking Water Act was amended to include
the Source Water Assessment and Protection Program (SWAPP). SWAPP
required each state to assess all public water systems and identify
potential sources of contamination that might affect the source waters
supplying those systems. Florida’s Source Water Assessment approach was
approved by Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 4 on April 1,
2000. The Florida assessment is Geographic Information System based and
is designed to be repeated every year. Assessment results are
reported to the public water systems and summary reports are posted at
the SWAPP internet website at
www.dep.state.fl.us/swapp.
Wellhead Protection Program
The Department of Environmental Protection implements the wellhead rule
to provide the most stringent protection to the ground water in close
proximity to potable water wells.
Water Well
Contractors Information and Violations Clearinghouse
The statewide Water Well Contractor Violation Clearinghouse (WWCVC)
was established by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection in
conjunction with the water management districts as required by ss
373.335, Florida Statutes. The WWCVC is a database designed to allow the
water management districts to easily access information on all Florida
licensed water well contractors.
Florida Unique Well Identifier Program (FLUWID)
This program's goal is to simplify water well identification and
exchange of information between state agencies concerned with well
construction data, well location and groundwater quality. The program
involves tagging wells with a unique alphanumeric code called the FLUWID
Well ID (Example: ABC1234).
2012 State of Florida