In May 1989, Indiana passed its Ground Water Protection Act which institutionalized the Indiana Ground Water Task Force as the oversight committee for implementing the Indiana Ground Water Protection Strategy. On October 23, 1992, the Ground Water Task Force adopted a policy framework for the protection of Indiana's ground water. That policy framework shall serve as the basis for the development of the goals of this generic State Management Plan (SMP).
Extremely important to the scope of this SMP is the identification of the ground water resource to be protected. For purposes of SMP development and implementation "ground water" shall mean subsurface water in a zone of saturation, which can be brought to the surface of the ground or to surface waters, through wells, springs, seepage, or other discharge areas. A zone of saturation exists when all the voids and pore spaces in the rock, soil or geologic materials are filled with water. Protection measures will focus on and be applied to both present and future sources of drinking water and ground water this is linked hydrologically to surface water, including but not limited to wetlands. However, ground water monitoring (Component #5) and response measures (Component #8) shall not be applied to those subsurface waters often occurring in field drainage tiles and other common seasonal subsurface waters beneath agricultural fields.
The underlying goal of the SMP is founded on protecting ground water resources which currently meet criteria for human health protection. This can be accomplished though a coordinated program of education, voluntary best management practices (BMP's), necessary regulatory management approaches, and restrictions on pesticide product use where needed. To focus the State's limited resources toward achieving the maximum benefit from this goal, the concept of pesticide management areas may be utilized to allow resource focus in those areas of the state where the potential for a pesticide to impact ground water quality is most likely to occur. The State recognizes that it may need to take into account a number of practical considerations in protecting ground water quality including, but not limited to: site characteristics, technical feasibility, cost and relative benefit.
A. The establishment of siting, design, and monitoring criteria for potential sources of ground water contamination and promoting the use of nonpolluting materials or alternative management.
B. The implementation of best management practices in potentially vulnerable areas for pesticide use.
C. Banning or restricting the use of pesticides where best management practices and other pesticide management measures cannot protect ground water to the level of established health protection standards.
D. Provide protection of wells used for public water supply be establishing criteria which mitigate existing and future potential threats of ground water contamination and which ensures the continued availability of the resource for present and future generation. Ground water protection zones should be established around community and non-community public water supply wells.
A. The first step in remediation should be to stop the body of contamination from spreading any further and to eliminate the cause of the contaminant release.
B. Standards for ground water remediation shall ensure that the ground water resource meets criteria for the protection of human health, animal life, plant life, and the environment. The potential uses of the specific ground water resource and the technical and economic feasibility for meeting the standard must be evaluated and incorporated in the decision on the required remediation level.
C. Remediation of the ground water resource shall be governed by Federal regulation for Superfund sites and State laws and regulations for non-Superfund sites.
D. Ground water remediation should be prioritized to limit the risk of adverse affects to humans.
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