Kan. Admin. Regs. § 5-4-4

Current through Register Vol. 43, No. 24, June 13, 2024

Section 5-4-4 - Well spacing

(a) The spacing between wells shall be sufficient to prevent direct impairment between wells located in a common source of supply or hydraulically connected sources of supply and to protect the public interest. Except as set forth in subsection (b), the following guidelines shall be used to determine the spacing required between wells permitted by the chief engineer in a common source of supply, unless it is determined by the chief engineer in any specific instance that the spacing guidelines set forth in this regulation are insufficient to prevent direct impairment or are not necessary to prevent direct impairment.

(b) Whenever an applicant proposes to divert water from a source of supply in a location where there is a significant hydraulic connection between the proposed source of supply and another source or sources of supply, the chief engineer shall determine the spacing necessary to prevent impairment and to protect the public interest on a case by case basis.

(c) Except as set forth in subsection (e) below, each well that is described in an application for a permit to appropriate water for beneficial use or for a term permit, excluding any domestic or temporary well, shall meet the minimum spacing requirements set out in paragraphs (1) and (2) below.

(1) The minimum distance from the well which is the subject of the application to all other senior authorized non-domestic and non-temporary wells in the same aquifer or a hydraulically connected aquifer shall be:

(A) four miles between wells whose common source of supply is the confined Dakota aquifer system;

(B) one-half mile between wells whose common source of supply is the unconfined Dakota aquifer system; and

(C) 1320 feet for wells whose common source of supply is any other aquifer.

(2) In addition to meeting the minimum spacing requirements of paragraph (1) above, the minimum distance from the well which is the subject of the application to all domestic wells, except where the domestic well owner has given the applicant written permission to reduce the spacing interval, shall be:

(A) one-half mile for wells whose common source of supply is the confined Dakota aquifer system;

(B) 1320 feet for wells whose common source of supply is the unconfined Dakota aquifer system; and

(C) 660 feet for wells whose common source of supply is any other aquifer.

(d) Except as provided in subsection (e), the location of a well or wells on an application to change the point of diversion under an existing water right shall either:

(1) meet the spacing requirements in paragraphs (c)(1) and (c)(2) above; or

(2) not decrease the distance to other wells or authorized well locations by more than 300 feet.

(e) This regulation shall not apply if the chief engineer has adopted another regulation, or issued an order pursuant to K.S.A. 82a-1036et seq., specifying a different well spacing for the source of supply in which the proposed point of diversion is located.

(f) In the case of a battery of wells, the distance shall be measured from the geographic center of the points of diversion comprising the battery.

(g) If the proposed point of diversion does not meet the well spacing requirements in this regulation, the applicant shall be notified by the chief engineer in writing prior to dismissal that the requirements have not been met. The applicant shall then have 15 days to request time in which to submit additional information. Upon written request, the applicant shall be given a specified reasonable amount of time by the chief engineer to submit an engineering or similar type of hydrologic analysis to show that the spacing can be decreased without impairing existing rights or prejudicially and unreasonably affecting the public interest. The burden shall be on the applicant to make such a showing to the satisfaction of the chief engineer.

Kan. Admin. Regs. § 5-4-4

Authorized by K.S.A. 82a-706a; implementing K.S.A. 1993 Supp. 82a-711; effective May 31, 1994.