WATER  

An adequate supply of water is vital for economic development, industry, energy use, population growth and distribution, agriculture, fish and wildlife, transportation, and waste disposal. Population growth depends upon certain natural resources of which water is the most important.  The ability of the County's underground reservoirs to accept recharge from precipitation and subsequently release this water to streams and wells, determines the location and quantity of water available for use.    

Ground water is the basic source of water for residents of Kent County although some limited surface waters are capable of utilization as future suppliers of water.  The major water table aquifer is found in the Pleistocene deposits that cover most of the County.  The major artesian aquifers are the Rancocas, Piney Point, Cheswold, and Frederica aquifers with minor artesian aquifers found in the Miocene deposits in the southern part of the County above and below the Frederica aquifer.   

About half of the households in the County rely upon individual on-lot wells for their water supply.  The abundance of water from shallow aquifers makes it easy and relatively inexpensive to obtain water.  This has greatly influenced the dispersion of residential units across the County.  Despite the ease of obtaining water, problems and inconveniences are associated with individual systems including lack of treatment, high mineral content, inadequate system maintenance, and occasional infiltration of pollutants (chemical spills, leaking underground storage tanks, agricultural practices, and leachate from septic tanks).   

In contrast to the shallow-aquifer extraction favored by individual on-lot well operators, municipal systems have sought to tap deeper aquifers, principally because of expected high yields, inherently high water quality, and assurance against contamination from ground-level sources.  With the exception of the coastal region, water supplies underlying the County are generally plentiful; however, there are limitations on obtaining sufficient quantities where local extraction rates are high. The extensive tapping of the Piney Point aquifer, for example, by the City of Dover, the Dover Air Force Base, and the Camden-Wyoming Sewer and Water Authority, has meant the near-complete utilization of this source.  Other deep aquifers or shallower aquifers will yield water supplies that will likely need some form of water treatment.   

Management of the State's water resources is vested in the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC).  DNREC is charged with issuing permits for construction of any water facility or the construction, installation, replacement, or modification of any equipment that is intended to withdraw ground water or surface water.  The State's program establishes limits on withdrawal; provides for allocation of water among uses of common suppliers; provides for compensation in the form of new wells or free hook-up and supply (limited to three years) where domestic supplies have been reallocated; and encourages mitigating land development practices where ground water recharge is threatened.  Water quality is monitored by DNREC to detect and assess contamination of water supply sources and by the Department of Health and Social Services, Division of Public Health, to detect contamination of public water supplies.   

Growth in accordance with the General Land Use Plan will necessitate additional water facilities.  The configuration of the Land Use Plan, concentrating most development in and around existing urban areas lends itself well to providing public water systems for virtually all urban development in the future.  Individual well systems will still be required in rural areas; however, the problems and inconveniences associated with the individual wells provide adequate justification for planned development of public water systems where urban densities are planned.  The probability that the majority of homes in the County will receive water supplies from shallow aquifers (either through on-lot or central system wells) through the planning period underscores the need for sound land use planning and controls to protect well fields and aquifer recharge areas form potential contamination. 

 2001 Base Line Information 

            According to the State of Delaware “Source Water Assessment Plan (1999)”, Kent County contains 158 Community Public Water Systems (CPWS) which consists of Publicly-owned purveyors, Investor-owned purveyors, and Privately-owned purveyors, and serves approximately 66,513 citizens; 47 Non-Transient Non-Community Public Water Systems (NTNCPWS) which consists of Schools/Day care facilities and Office/Factories which serves approximately 6,239 citizens; and 45 Transient Non-Community Public Water Systems (TPWS) which consists of Restaurants, Stores, Hotels, and Recreation areas, and serves approximately 6,417 people.  This equates to 239 public wells within Kent County that serves approximately 79,169 citizens.  If the current population for Kent County is estimated at around 126,000 people, one can assume 46,831 draw their drinking water from private individual wells on their property.  These wells may draw water from confined, unconfined, or semi-confined aquifers.  In Kent County, each well has a wellhead classification of Class A through Class C that defines pumpage rates (gallons per day), geologic and hydrologic consistency, and aquifer type. 

Recommendations   

·        The County, in cooperation with municipalities and private water suppliers, should work with DNREC and DDA to develop a comprehensive water supply management program including the reallocation of water resources and the protection of wellhead and aquifer recharge areas.  As one of the major consumers of groundwater, the agricultural community, represented by DDA, should be a participant in the development of any groundwater management strategy.  

·        Solicit DNREC to provide Kent County specific water information to include but not limited to:  locations and potential of ground water re-charge areas; public and private water draw data for gallons per day; long range consumption rates and aquifer recharge rates; wellhead protection and aquifer protection areas.  This information should be utilized to develop a Water Protection Overlay Zone that would require specific building criteria (i.e. density) to protect Kent County’s drinking water.