8/14/2019 Te c h n i c A

1/4

This documentwas prepared tocomply with therequirements of Section 373.207,Florida Statutes

(1991). It is thefifteenth annualreport on theinventory of abandonedartesian wells inthe St. Johns RiverWaterManagementDistrict and onthe work plan forcontrolling orplugginginventoried wells.

This report coversthe fiscal yearOctober 1, 1997,throughSeptember 30,1998.

In general terms, the process of permanentlyplugging an abandoned well involves a sitevisit and well inventory, includinginstallation of a temporary plug wherepossible, correspondence to formalizeparticipation, geophysical logging of thewell, and permanent well abandonment by a

Overview

An artesian well is a well that has beendrilled into a rock formation that containswater confined under pressure (an artesianaquifer; Figure 1). An abandoned artesianwell is one that has no present or futurebeneficial use. It also may:

Not have a properlyfunctioning valve or flowcontrol

Not meet current wellconstruction standards

Be discharging salt water intoa drinking water aquifer

Free-flowing abandoned artesianwells can potentially waste manymillions of gallons per day of ourwater resource. Non-flowingabandoned wells may also presenta threat to the resource by providinga conduit for migration ofcontaminated runoff directly intosources of drinking water. The goalof the St. Johns River WaterManagement Districts (SJRWMD)abandoned artesian well pluggingprogram is to assure the continuedavailability and quality ofgroundwater resources by detecting,evaluating, and controllingabandoned artesian wells. Theprogram seeks, and is designed toactively encourage, publicparticipation in detecting problemwells. Control and remediation ofabandoned wells is achieved bysharing plugging costs with othergovernmental entities and wellowners.

Abandoned A rtes ian Well Plug ging P rog ram

1998St . Johns R iver Water Management District

Technical Fact Sheet SJ2001-FS3

Figure 1. This well schematic illustrates severalproblems which may be associated with abandonedartesian wells, including (A) uncontrolled (continuous)flow at the surface, (B) leakage below the surface intothe surficial and intermediate aquifers, and (C) intra-aquifer flow in the artesian aquifer where water of lesser quality moves upward and contaminates thefreshwater in the upper portion of the same aquifer.

A

B

C

8/14/2019 Te c h n i c A

2/4

2

licensed well driller under contract toSJRWMD. All steps in this process areessentially ongoing, with new wells beinginventoried as existing wells are beinggeophysically logged and other wells arebeing plugged by pumping cement into theentire well bore. The program providesdirect intervention to halt and/or preventthe waste of water resources.

In addition to water conservation, otherbenefits derived from the program include

Bunnell

Gainesville

Ocala

83 00 00 W

30 00 00 N

Legend

County boundary

District boundary

County seat

Water body

A T L A

N T I C

O C E A N

N AS S AU

DUVALCLAY

ST JOHNS

PUTNAMALACHUA

MARION

LAKE

FLAGLERVOLUSIA

SEMINOLEORANGE

OSCEOLA

BREVARD

INDIAN RIVER

N a s s

a uRiver

S t M a r y s R i v e r

Newnans Lake

Orange Lake Crescent

Lake

Lake George

Lake Woodruff Lake Weir

Lake Monroe

Lake Harney

Lake Harris

Lake Apopka

Lake Poinsett

Lake Washington

Blue Cypress Lake

O c k l a

w a h a R i v e r

I N D I A

N R

I V E R

OKEECHOBEE

POLK

81 00 00 W 80 00 00 W

29 00 00 N

Lake Winder

BAKER

N

Fernandina Beach

Jacksonville

Macclenny

BRADFORD

StarkeGreen CoveSprings

Palatka

St Augustine

Tavares

De Land

Lake Jesup

Sanford

TitusvilleOrlando

Kissimmee

Bartow

Okeechobee

Vero Beach

57 9

00 1

0 12

1 30

36

27 37

6 19

55 61

234 34

643 67

30

2580 15

24

123266 364

114333 482

102 242

2318 9

927 55

1330 51

1

0 3216

Uncontrolled wells

Approximate scale in miles

Wellsplugged/ repairedby owner

Wellsplugged/ repairedthrough cost-share program

S T J

O H N S R I V E R

10 0

Figure 2. Distribution of uncontrolled and unplugged or repaired abandoned artesian wells in the St. Johns River Water Management District as of September 30, 1998

8/14/2019 Te c h n i c A

3/4

1998 Result s

In fiscal year 199798, a totalof 128 wells were plugged orrepaired, saving an estimatedmaximum potential flow of34.91 million gallons per day(mgd) of water (Table 1).

Plugging or repairing wellsthrough the SJRWMD programhas saved an estimatedmaximum potential flow of368 mgd of water from 1976through September 1998.

Total contractual costs for thewell plugging program infiscal year 199798 were$266,503, or $2,082 per well(based on 128 wells).

Reimbursement revenue fromcounty and individual cost-share cooperators accountedfor $112,902 of the totalcontractual costs of wellplugging (Table 2).

As of September 30, 1998, thecumulative number of artesian wells identifiedunder the abandoned artesian well pluggingprogram was 2,893 (Figure 2). Of this total, 414need to be permanently controlled, 1,450 havebeen permanently plugged or repaired throughthe SJRWMD cost-share program, and 1,029have been plugged or repaired by the wellowners. A summary of the wells which are onthe District inventory of wells underinvestigation to be permanently abandoned ispresented in Table 3. These wells have beentemporarily controlled whenever possible.

3

public outreach, hydrogeologic datacollected as part of our well inventoryprocess, and the public health and welfareperspective of not allowing these wells to gounnoticed and unattended. The programprovides a direct economic incentive forreporting and plugging these wells. Withoutthis program, a great many abandoned wellswould not be properly addressed, as theycan be partially concealed and forgotten.

Table 1. Wells plugged or repaired by the St. Johns River Water ManagementDistrict during fiscal year 199798

COOPERATOR (reimbursement percentage)

TOTAL COST

COOPERATOR COST

Clay County (50) $ 7,884 $ 3,942Indian River County (50) 32,459 16,229Brevard County (50) 16,586 8,293JEA (Jacksonville Electric Authority) (75) 49,966 37,474Seminole County (50) 67,095 32,547Individual (various) 24,732 14,417SJRWMD (100) 67,781 NA

Total $ 266,503 $112,902

Table 2. Cost-share funding during fiscal year 199798, bycooperator

County Number of Wells Number of WellsPlugged Repaired

Alachua 0 0Baker 0 0Bradford 0 0Brevard 27 9.26Clay 13 1 2.22Duval 10 1 5.71Flagler 0 0Indian River 16 9.54Lake 0 0Marion 1 0.19Nassau 0 0Okeechobee 0 0Orange 5 0.24Osceola 0 0Polk 0 0Putnam 0 0.18St. Johns 3 2.10

Seminole 47 1 5.46Volusia 2 1 0

Total 124 4 34.91

Note: Blank cells indicate zero. Any mathematical inaccurancy is due to rounding down.

Total EstimatedMaximum Potential

Flow (mgd)

8/14/2019 Te c h n i c A

4/4

4

The program isresponsible for plugging a

substantial number of wells each year. At thesame time, significant numbers of newabandoned artesian wells continue to be

reported. Two factors contribute to the increasein abandoned wells: Florida's pattern of rapidlychanging land use, and water well obsolescence.Changes in land use, specifically the large-scaleconversion of agricultural lands to other uses,are often accompanied by the improper abandonment of water wells. Water wellobsolescence typically results from the corrosionof metallic well casings. Both factors can beexpected to continue in the foreseeable future,making it likely that it will be necessary for SJRWMD to continue programs to controlabandoned wells.

End note: The number of wells and the flowcalculations presented in these annual reportsmay not correlate between years. Anydiscrepancies are related to (1) improvements inestimating flow rates (more wells have beenmeasured) or (2) minor corrections to thedatabase.

For additional information or specific data, contactthe following:

St. Johns River Water Management DistrictP.O. Box 1429 Palatka, FL 32178-1429

Internet site: http://sjr.state.fl.us(800) 741-WELL (9355)

SUMM ARY

May 2001

The primary goal of Floridas watermanagement districts is the protection of water resources.Their mission is to managewater resources to ensure the continuedavailability of those resources, whilemaximizing environmental and economicbenefits.This is accomplished throughregulation of consumptive uses; providingassistance to federal, state and localgovernments; operation and maintenance of control works; land acquisition andmanagement; and applied research.

County

Number ofWells in

Inventory

Note: Total actual flow from these wells isestimated at approximately 4 mgd.

Alachua 2Baker 0Bradford 0Brevard 114Clay 2Duval 6Flagler 1

Indian River 36Lake 9Marion 13Nassau 5Okeechobee 0Orange 23Osceola 0Polk 1Putnam 25St. Johns 30Seminole 123Volusia 24Total 414

Table 3. Inventory of wells under investigation to be permanentlyabandoned as of September 30, 1998