New Regulation for the drilling of wells and use of groundwater in Costa Rica
On Friday, September 10, the new Regulation for the drilling of wells and use of groundwater was published , which is already in force. Below, we share the most important aspects of the regulation.
Regulation for the authorization of a well
- The WATER DIRECTORATE assumes the role of single window for drilling procedures and will give a hearing to SENARA and the AYA. This means that it will no longer be necessary to go to SENARA for the registration of wells, but rather that everything will be done under the procedure instructed by the WATER DIRECTORATE.
- The regulation defines the powers of each of the institutions involved:
- The AYA is only responsible for ruling on the impact of an eventual drilling towards the water sources operated by the AYA or the ASADAS under its control.
- The WATER DIRECTORATE is responsible for resolving the drilling permit for exploratory purposes. In addition, it is responsible for analyzing and defining the interference between wells and bodies of water and issuing a recommendation to MINAE on the granting of the concession.
- SENARA, once the well has been drilled, is responsible for deciding on its final conditions (depth, diameter, casing, sanitary seals) in relation to the characterization of the aquifer.
- It is established that, for wells in the condominium self-supply modality, drilling must be carried out within the condominium and in a common area.
- The drilling procedure will be carried out in conjunction with the concession request, so from that moment on, the amount of water to be requested and its uses must be clear.
- The drilling request can only be made by the owner or possessor of the land.
- The term for granting the drilling permit is 7 business days.
- The drilling site may be located within a maximum margin of +20 meters from the authorized point.
- The drilling must be carried out within a month after the permit is granted, the extension of this period must be requested 10 days in advance.
- Both the drilling report and the pumping test must be submitted within 10 days of drilling:
- If the concession is for population use or condominium self-supply, the pumping test must last 72 hours.
- For any other use, the test will be up to 24 hours. The wording implies that the period may be shorter.
- It is established that the protection radius of 40 meters of the wells must not go beyond the boundaries of the property. Therefore, no well may be drilled within 40 meters of the property limits.
- Saline Intrusion: The WATER DIRECTORATE will no longer request saline intrusion studies for any well that is less than 1 km from the sea. But if, based on various technical criteria, it concludes that there is a risk of saline intrusion, it will request the concessionaire to submit quarterly water quality reports. Said duty would be notified in the resolution granting the concession.
- After all the studies are presented and the edicts are published, the WATER DIRECTORATE has one month to resolve the authorization of the well.
- The concession process for the use of water will begin only when the WATER DIRECTORATE considers the well enabled.
- A concession request for a property other than the one where the drilling is located is allowed: in the event that the property where the drilling is located does not correspond to that of the exploitation, authorization from the owner of the land where the water will be collected must be provided. . This does not apply when the request is for the supply of water for human consumption by the population.
- It is established that the Water Directorate must issue the project granting the concession for the signature of MINAE, within a period of one month after the technical recommendation is issued. However, no deadline is set for the issuance of this technical recommendation.
- MINAE has a legal term to approve the concession of one month after receiving the draft resolution from the WATER DIRECTORATE.