To be eligible for consideration to receive money from the
drought protection fund, the agricultural permit holder must possess an auction
certificate from the Division. To acquire this auction certificate, the
agricultural permit holder shall submit to the Division, before any further
consideration, documentary evidence including, but not necessarily limited to,
the following information:
(a)
Location within the affected areas. The geographic area for eligible permits is
defined as follows:
(1) Surface-water
permits.
(i) Watersheds within the Flint
River Basin as designated by the Director at the time of drought
declaration.
(2)
Ground-water permits.
(i) Areas designated by
the Director at the time of drought declaration. Such areas shall be in or
within 3 miles adjacent to the Flint River or its tributaries where geologic
studies indicate that Floridan aquifer ground-water withdrawals in such areas
may directly decrease stream flow in the Flint River or its
tributaries.
(b) The Agricultural Permit or the Permit
Number;
A copy of the agricultural ground water or surface water
permit or its associated permit number must be provided to the Division. The
agricultural Permittee must have previously applied to the Division for a
surface water or groundwater withdrawal permit prior to December 1, 1999, and
must have already received a surface water or groundwater withdrawal permit
from the Division prior to December 1, 2000.
(1) If the Director fails to act on a permit
application by December 1, 2000, which was received by the Division prior to
December 1, 1999, the time for receipt of a permit shall be extended until such
time as the Director makes a decision on that application.
(2) If the Director's decision is to deny the
permit and that decision is reversed on appeal, the date of receipt of a permit
shall be deemed to be the date of the Director's decision.
(c) The latitude-longitude location of the
permitted surface water or groundwater point of withdrawal;
The existence of the withdrawal location must be validated by
a representative of the Division using Global Positioning System (GPS) or
equivalent technology capable of determining latitude/longitude to within 5
meter accuracy. Such validation shall occur when the Division
representative;
(1) visits the
physical location of the point of water withdrawal,
(2) verifies that the specific water
withdrawal actually exists,
(3)
takes GPS or equivalent readings of the geographic location of the point of
withdrawal, and
(4) establishes the
connection between that specific validated withdrawal location and a particular
agricultural permit number.
(d) The irrigated acreage associated with
that specific point of agricultural water withdrawal; and Division
representatives, in conjunction with the permit holder, shall determine the
amount of irrigated acreage irrigated by a fixed irrigation system and
associated with that particular permitted groundwater or surface water point of
water withdrawal. Sufficient documentation for the calculation of irrigated
field acreage may include, but is not limited to, aerial photos, digital
delineation or any other additional process. If a single well or surface-water
pump supplies multiple irrigation systems, the acreage irrigated by individual
fixed irrigation systems may be removed from irrigation in accordance with
391-3-28-.07.
(e) Previous Irrigation Usage.
The agricultural Permittee shall have installed an approved
flow meter consistent with the provisions of the Water Quality Act O.C.G.A.
12-5-20
et seq.
and the Groundwater Use Act O.C.G.A.
12-5-90
et seq.
and demonstrate previous usage within the previous three years of the
irrigation system delineated above, on the same acres of land that the
Permittee agrees not to irrigate in that given year. Evidence of previous
irrigation may include, but not be limited to, the following:
(1) Farm receipts dating the installation of
the irrigation system,
(2)
Existence of center pivot signature on past aerial photos,
(3) Flow-meter data, or
(4) Other methods acceptable to the Division.
Holders of permitted surface-water and ground-water
withdrawals within the geographic area for eligible permits, and who can
provide the documentary evidence listed above for those withdrawals, shall be
issued an auction certificate.
Notes
Ga. Comp. R.
& Regs. R.
391-3-28-.05
O.C.G.A. ยง
12-5-540
et
seq.
Original Rule entitled
"Severe Drought Declaration" adopted. F. Jan. 20,
2006; eff. Feb. 9,
2006.
Repealed: New Rule entitled "Eligibility" adopted. F.
June 23, 2006; eff.
July 13, 2006.
Amended: F. May 18,
2015; eff. April 3,
2015, as specified by the
Agency.
