Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 9, March 1, 2024
RELATES TO: KRS 151.100-151.600, 151.700-151.730, 151.990,
223.400-223.460, 224.70, 224.73
NECESSITY, FUNCTION, AND CONFORMITY: KRS 151.700 through
151.730 authorize the Kentucky River Authority to manage the surface water and
groundwater of the Kentucky River basin. The authority has the power and duty
to develop and to implement programs relating to the locks and dams on the
Kentucky River; to acquire, to sell and to lease property; to develop
recreational areas; to issue revenue bonds; to assess fees for water use; to
contract for services; to adopt administrative regulations protecting water in
the Kentucky River basin; to develop and to implement comprehensive plans for
protecting the water of the Kentucky River basin; and to collaborate with the
Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Cabinet and other state agencies
in coordinating Kentucky River basin water resource and water quality
activities. This administrative regulation explains certain powers and duties
and imposes certain requirements relating to management of surface water and
groundwater in the Kentucky River basin.
Section
1. Scope and Applicability.
(1)
Purpose. It shall be the purpose of this administrative regulation to manage
the surface water and groundwater of the Kentucky River basin.
(2) Compatibility. The authority's
administrative regulations set forth in this chapter shall be interpreted to be
compatible with the statutes and administrative regulations administered by the
cabinet.
Section 2.
Collection and Dissemination of Information. The authority may conduct
research, collect and interpret data, assemble a data base, and disseminate
reports on water management issues. Those water management issues include:
(1) The relationship of water to other
natural resources;
(2) Wastewater
treatment technology;
(3)
Groundwater movement and other hydrogeologic conditions;
(4) The relationship between water price and
water demand;
(5) Hydrologic
conditions;
(6) Groundwater and
surface water quality;
(7) Water
use;
(8) Water resource planning
needs;
(9) Conservation and
development issues;
(10) Allocation
of water resources;
(11)
Management, including operation, maintenance and replacement of locks and dams;
and
(12) Social, economic,
demographic and political issues affecting water resources.
Section 3. County Long-range Water
Resource Plans.
(1) Scope. Each county located
in whole or in part within the Kentucky River basin shall develop and submit to
the authority a long-range water resource plan.
(2) Contents of the plan. Each long-range
water resource plan shall include the following:
(a) A water supply plan;
(b) A water shortage response plan for each
water supplier and water supply distributor in the county that uses water
withdrawn from the Kentucky River basin or serves customers in the Kentucky
River basin;
(c) A water resources
map providing coverage for the portions of the county that lie within the
Kentucky River basin; and
(d) A map
of all potential sources of water pollution for the portions of the county that
lie within the Kentucky River basin, including potential sources of water
pollution affecting the water supply protection area of a water supplier, if
the authority is able to provide the funding necessary for creating the
map.
(3) Deadline for
submitting the plan. Each county shall submit to the authority its long-range
water resource plan within thirty (30) days after the county obtains the
cabinet's approval of its water supply plan.
Section 4. Unified Long-range Water Resource
Plan. The authority shall prepare a unified long-range water resource plan for
the Kentucky River basin, which shall at a minimum address the following:
(1) Physical, chemical and biological
conditions existing in the surface water and groundwater of the Kentucky River
basin;
(2) The construction,
acquisition, operation and control of projects and facilities for the storage
and release of water;
(3) The
regulation of flows and allocation of supplies of surface water and groundwater
within the basin;
(4) Protection of
public health;
(5) Means of
controlling surface water and groundwater quality;
(6) Economic development;
(7) Improvement of fisheries;
(8) Development of recreational opportunities
and recreational areas;
(9)
Abatement of water pollution;
(10)
The design, construction, operation and maintenance of projects and facilities
for floodplain protection and flood damage reduction;
(11) Control of run-off, erosion, and
agricultural and urban nonpoint source pollution;
(12) Stormwater management;
(13) Encouragement and promotion of soil
conservation, land reclamation and land management to prevent and to control
erosion and to improve water quality;
(14) The use of water within the basin for
the generation of hydroelectric power;
(15) Control of withdrawals and diversions of
surface water and ground water;
(16) Commercial and recreational navigation
on the Kentucky River;
(17)
Acquisition and utilization of the Kentucky River lock and dam
system;
(18) The relationship of
county long-range water resource plans to the authority's unified long-range
water resource plan;
(19) The need
for basin-wide and specific local land and water conservation measures and
practices; and
(20) Any approval
criteria established by the cabinet.
Section 5. Drought Response Plan.
(1) The authority shall prepare a drought
response plan for the Kentucky River basin, which shall at a minimum address
the following:
(a) Identification of those
flow rates in the mainstem Kentucky River at which the authority would declare
a water shortage watch, a water shortage warning or a water shortage emergency
for persons using the mainstem Kentucky River as a water supply
source;
(b) Identification of
criteria for declaring a water shortage watch, a water shortage warning, or a
water shortage emergency for water suppliers and other persons using water in
the Kentucky River basin who do not use the mainstem Kentucky River as a water
supply source;
(c) Development of a
methodology for equitably reducing withdrawals, diversions or transfers from
the mainstem Kentucky River and for using the locks or other devices to
manipulate flows and water stored in the dams on the mainstem Kentucky
River;
(d) Identification of
alternatives for emergency public water supplies, such as large springs or
interbasin transfers; and
(e)
Inclusion of any approval criteria established by the cabinet.
(2) The authority may declare a
water supply watch, a water supply warning, or a water supply emergency for all
or a portion of the Kentucky River basin if conditions cause an actual or
threatened shortage of water supply sources within the Kentucky River basin.
The authority shall base its declaration on its drought response plan. The
declaration shall identify the area affected and the types of water supply
sources affected. The authority shall consult the cabinet before declaring a
water supply emergency. The authority may request that the governor declare a
water emergency as provided by KRS 151.200.
Section 6. Review of Applications for Cabinet
Permits. While the cabinet is reviewing applications for permits, the authority
may also review those applications and may offer to the cabinet comments on
whether those permit applications comply with the requirements of KRS 151.700
through 151.730 and 405 KAR Chapter 1.
Section
7. Leak Detection Program. The authority may administer a leak
detection program for water suppliers and water supply distributors in the
Kentucky River basin.
(1) Eligibility shall be
based on such factors as:
(a) Size of the
service area;
(b) Suspected extent
of leakage;
(c) Number of
customers; and
(d) Ability to pay
for a leak detection program without financial assistance.
(2) The authority may pay up to 100 percent
of the cost of a leak detection program for a water supplier or a water supply
distributor.
STATUTORY AUTHORITY: KRS 151.710, 151.720, 151.725,
151.730