HD69 - State Water Commission


Executive Summary:
I. INTRODUCTION

The State Water Commission is a legislatively mandated fifteen-member panel (Va. Code § 9-145.5 et seq.) which is to perform the following functions:

1. Study all aspects of water supply and allocation problems in the Commonwealth, whether these problems be of a quantitative or qualitative nature;

2. Coordinate the legislative recommendations of all other state entities having responsibilities with respect to water supply and allocation issues; and

3. Report annually its findings and recommendations to the Governor and the General Assembly.

During the course of the year the Commission experienced a change in its membership. The two citizen members, Mr. George W. Williams and Mr. Louis R. Jones who served the Commission ably for a number of years, were replaced by Dr. Sandra Batie and Mr. Aubrey Watts. The Commission also lost a legislative member when Senator Wiley Mitchell retired from the Virginia Senate. Senator Mitchell's service on the Commission was distinguished by his commitment to the development of a state water resources policy.

II. BACKGROUND

Virginia has been characterized as a "water rich" state, but unprecedented growth and the expanding number of competing interests have placed greater demands on Virginia water resources. In 1973 the General Assembly recognized the threat to Virginia's groundwater supply from large-scale industrial withdrawals in the southeast region of the state and enacted the Groundwater Act. For the first time state government played a significant role in the allocation of water resources. The Act declared as public policy:

". . . that the right to reasonable control of all groundwater resources within this Commonwealth belongs to the public and that in order to conserve, protect and beneficially utilize the groundwater of this Commonwealth and to ensure the preservation of the public welfare, safety and health, it is essential that provisions be made for control of groundwater resources." (§62.1-44.84)

Under the law the State Water Control Board (SWCB) was authorized to establish administrative controls over groundwater use within those geographic areas which may be experiencing (i) a declining groundwater level or artesian pressure, (ii) an overdrawn groundwater supply, (iii) groundwater pollution or (iv) interference among well users. A landowner within such a designated area cannot initiate or expand his groundwater use without permission from the state in the form of a permit.

Although the legislatures authorized a measure of state control over groundwater use, the General Assembly has been reluctant to assert state control over the allocation of Virginia's surface waters. Because of the well-established doctrine of riparian rights, it has been left to the courts to define and enforce water rights.

The State Water Commission has, over the years, examined various approaches for resolving water supply and allocation problems, including the imposition of an administrative statewide permit system and the adoption of a special decision-making process for resolving questions of interbasin transfer. While many of the Commission's recommendations have resulted in the expansion of the state water supply planning activities, efforts to develop a state water supply and allocation policy have been largely unsuccessful. This year the Commission approached the water supply and allocation issue from a somewhat different perspective. Rather than attempting to formulate a comprehensive water management policy, the Commission chose to look at the narrower question of how to effectively protect Virginia instream flow levels while at the same time satisfying the needs of offstream and instream users.