The quality of public drinking water supplies must be assured. Land-disturbing activities associated with development can increase erosion and sedimentation, which threaten the storage capacity of reservoirs and impair the quality of public drinking water supplies. Stormwater runoff, particularly from impervious surfaces, can introduce toxins, nutrients, and sediments into drinking water supplies, making water treatment more complicated and expensive, and rendering water resources unusable for recreation and other uses. Industrial land uses that involve the manufacture, use, transport, and storage of hazardous or toxic waste materials result in potential risks of contamination of nearby public drinking water supplies. Therefore, land use activities within water supply watersheds must be regulated to ensure that public water supplies remain clean. This chapter establishes standards consistent with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources' Rules for Environmental Planning Criteria for Water Supply Watersheds (Rule 391-3-16-01) to ensure water quality in the watershed system is not compromised by land activities such as grading, septic systems, and accidental release of contaminants. The intent of this chapter is to minimize the transport of pollutants and sediment to the water supply, to maintain the yield of water supply watersheds, and to ensure water can be treated to meet federal and state drinking water standards.

(Ord. 04-003 (part), 2004)

"Buffer" means a natural or enhanced vegetated area with no or limited minor land disturbances, such as trails and picnic areas, located adjacent to water supply reservoirs or perennial streams within water supply watersheds.

"Corridor" means all land within the buffer areas established adjacent to water supply reservoirs or perennial streams within water supply watersheds and within other setback areas specified in this chapter.

"Impervious surface" means a man-made structure or surface that prevents the infiltration of stormwater into the ground below the structure or surface. Examples are buildings, roads, driveways, parking lots, decks, swimming pools, and patios.

"Large water supply watershed" means a watershed containing one hundred square miles or more of land within the drainage basin upstream of a governmentally owned public drinking water supply intake.

"Perennial stream" means a stream that flows throughout the whole year as indicated by a solid blue line on a United States geological survey quadrangle map.

"Reservoir boundary" means the edge of a water supply reservoir defined by its normal pool level.

"Small water supply watershed" means a watershed that contains less than one hundred square miles of land within the drainage basin upstream of a governmentally owned public drinking water supply intake.

"Utility" means public or private water or sewer piping systems, water or sewer pumping stations, electric power lines, fuel pipelines, telephone lines, roads, driveways, bridges, river/lake access facilities, stormwater systems and railroads or other utilities identified by a local government.

"Water supply reservoir" means a governmentally owned impoundment of water for the primary purpose of providing water to one or more governmentally owned public drinking water systems. This excludes the multipurpose reservoirs owned by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

"Water supply watershed" means the area of land upstream of a governmentally owned public drinking water intake.

"Watershed protection map" means a map prepared for the local jurisdiction which identifies water supply watersheds and water supply reservoirs, which are the subjects of this chapter. The watershed protection map also identifies public water supply intake points and perennial streams within the watershed that are upstream of water supply intake points or water supply reservoirs, and the seven-mile radius line from each water intake or water supply reservoir boundary.

(Ord. 04-003 (part), 2004)

This chapter shall apply to all lands within existing and future small water supply watersheds, large water supply watersheds, and to water supply reservoirs and their immediate surroundings, which are located within the city. This chapter is in addition to the requirements of the underlying zoning district. This chapter does not apply to watersheds not used for public drinking water supply.

(Ord. 04-003 (part), 2004)

The following land uses and activities are exempted from compliance with this chapter:

A.

Land uses existing prior to the adoption of this chapter;

B.

Mining activities permitted by the department of natural resources under the Surface Mining Act;

C.

If utilities cannot feasibly be located outside the buffer or setback areas required by this chapter, such utility locations can be exempted from the stream corridor buffer and setback area provisions subject to the following conditions:

1.

The utilities shall be located as far from the stream bank as reasonably possible,

2.

The installation and maintenance of the utilities shall be such to protect the integrity of the buffer and setback areas as best as reasonably possible, and

3.

The utilities shall not impair the quality of the drinking water stream;

D.

Specific forestry and agricultural activities in the stream corridor buffer and setback areas in accordance with the following conditions:

1.

The activity shall be consistent with best management practices established by the Georgia Forestry Commission or the Georgia Department of Agriculture, and

2.

The activity shall not impair the quality of the drinking water stream.

(Ord. 04-003 (part), 2004)

New facilities which handle hazardous materials of the types listed in Section 312 of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 (excluding underground storage tanks) and amounts of ten thousand pounds or more on any one day, and which will locate in a small water supply watershed or within seven miles upstream of a water supply intake or a water supply reservoir of a large water supply watershed, shall perform their operations on impervious surfaces and in conformance with any applicable federal spill prevention requirements and the requirements of any adopted fire prevention code.

(Ord. 04-003 (part), 2004)

The following regulations shall apply to all lands within any large water supply watersheds with a water supply reservoir identified on the watershed protection map:

A.

Maintain a buffer with a minimum width of one hundred feet on both sides of all perennial streams, as measured from the stream banks, within a seven-mile radius upstream of a water supply reservoir boundary;

B.

No impervious surface shall be constructed within a one hundred fifty-foot setback area on both sides of all perennial streams, as measured from the stream banks, within a seven-mile radius upstream of a water supply reservoir boundary;

C.

Septic tanks and septic tank drainfields are prohibited in the required one hundred fifty-foot setback area on both sides of all perennial streams, as measured from the stream banks, within a seven-mile radius upstream of a water supply reservoir boundary.

(Ord. 04-003 (part), 2004)

The following regulations shall apply to all lands within any small water supply watersheds identified on the watershed protection map:

A.

Maintain a buffer with a minimum width of one hundred feet on both sides of all perennial streams, as measured from the stream banks, along all perennial streams within a seven-mile radius upstream of a governmentally owned public drinking water supply intake or water supply reservoir;

B.

No impervious surface shall be constructed within a one hundred fifty-foot setback area on both sides of all perennial streams, as measured from the stream banks, within a seven-mile radius upstream of a governmentally owned public drinking water supply intake or water supply reservoir boundary;

C.

Septic tanks and septic tank drainfields are prohibited in the required one hundred fifty-foot setback area on both sides of all perennial streams, as measured from the stream banks, within a seven-mile radius upstream of a governmentally owned public drinking water supply intake or a water supply reservoir boundary;

D.

Maintain a buffer with a minimum width of fifty feet on both sides of all perennial streams, as measured from the stream banks outside a seven-mile radius upstream of a governmentally owned public drinking water supply intake or water supply reservoir;

E.

No impervious surface shall be constructed within a seventy-five-foot setback area on both sides of all perennial streams, as measured from the stream banks, outside a seven-mile radius upstream of a governmentally owned public drinking water supply intake or water supply reservoir boundary;

F.

Septic tanks and septic tank drainfields are prohibited in the required seventy-five-foot setback area on both sides of all perennial streams, as measured from the stream banks, outside a seven-mile radius upstream of a governmentally owned public drinking water supply intake or a water supply reservoir boundary;

G.

New sanitary landfills are allowed only if they have synthetic liners and leachate collection systems. New hazardous waste treatment or disposal facilities are prohibited;

H.

The impervious surface area, including all public and private structures, utilities, or facilities, of the entire small water supply watershed shall be limited to twenty-five percent, or existing use, whichever is greater.

(Ord. 04-003 (part), 2004)

A buffer shall be maintained for a distance of one hundred fifty feet from any water supply reservoir boundary as measured from the normal pool elevation. All development within the one hundred fifty-foot buffer from any water supply reservoir boundary, and any uses of the reservoir itself, including docks, shall comply with the reservoir management plan adopted by the city and approved by the Georgia DNR, which is adopted by reference as if fully set forth in this chapter.

(Ord. 04-003 (part), 2004)