The Vermont Statutes Online

Title 10 : Conservation and Development

Chapter 041 : Regulation of Stream Flow

Subchapter 004 : Surface Water Withdrawals and Interbasin Transfers

• § 1042. Registration and reporting; exceptions

  (a) Registration. Beginning on January 1, 2023, any person withdrawing 10,000 gallons or more of surface water within a 24-hour period or 150,000 gallons or more of surface water over any 30-day period shall register with the Secretary:

  (1) the location of each withdrawal, including each impacted surface water;

  (2) the frequency and rate of each withdrawal;

  (3) a description of the use or uses of the water to be withdrawn;

  (4) the capacity of the system to be used for the withdrawal; and

  (5) a schedule for the withdrawal.

  (b) Report. Beginning on January 1, 2023, a person that is required to register a surface water withdrawal pursuant to subsection (a) of this section shall file an annual report with the Secretary. Reports shall be filed annually by January 15 of the following year. The report shall be made on a form provided by the Secretary and shall include all of the following information:

  (1) the total amount of water withdrawn each month;

  (2) the location of each withdrawal, including each impacted surface water;

  (3) the daily maximum withdrawal for each month;

  (4) the date of daily maximum withdrawal; and

  (5) any other information required by the Secretary.

  (c) Methods of reporting withdrawals. The following methods shall be used to report the amounts of withdrawn surface water required to be reported under subsection (b) of this section:

  (1) For withdrawals of between 10,000 and 50,000 gallons of surface water within a 24-hour period or 150,000 gallons or more of surface water over any 30-day period, the person shall either provide an estimate of total volume withdrawn or provide meter data. The report shall describe how any estimate was calculated.

  (2) For withdrawals of 50,000 gallons or more of surface water within a 24-hour period or 1,500,000 gallons or more of surface water over any 30-day period, the person shall provide meter data or measured data by a technically appropriate method approved by the Secretary.

  (d) Exceptions. The following withdrawals shall not be subject to the requirements of subsection (a) or (b) of this section:

  (1) surface water withdrawals for fire suppression or other public emergency response purposes;

  (2) surface water withdrawals required to report under subchapter 3 of this chapter for snowmaking uses;

  (3) surface water withdrawals approved pursuant to chapter 56 of this title on public water supply and the rules adopted thereunder for use as a public drinking water supply;

  (4) surface water withdrawals for irrigation for farming, livestock watering, or other uses for farming, as the term “farming” is defined in 6 V.S.A. § 4802; and

  (5) a surface water withdrawal reported to the Secretary under any project that requires the reporting of substantially similar data. (Added 2021, No. 135 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. July 1, 2022.)