The Baldwin City Council is moving forward with an ordinance to ban private water wells in the city, but the action may come too late to prevent the first active well from being dug. … The ordinance was drafted in the wake of two recent applications to dig water wells in the city. The permit applications by the owners of the new car wash on U.S. Highway 56 and by resident Dan Nelson, 102 Dearborn St., were made with the county health department, which has the jurisdiction to issue well permits in Baldwin City because there is no local ordinance giving the city jurisdiction over water wells. That was a concern to council members because the county’s control of the permit process created doubt about whether the city could monitor backflow devices designed to prevent untreated well water from mixing with city-treated water in the “cross connected” systems of residents or businesses.
Source: LJWorld.com.
