1. Potable water is an essential life sustaining element. Once groundwater is contaminated, it is difficult, costly, and sometimes impossible to clean up. Preventing contamination is necessary to avoid exorbitant costs, hardships, and potential physical harm to the public. It is the city of Bothell’s intent, through this section of the critical areas regulations, to recognize the importance of aquifers and to acknowledge a responsibility common to all governmental agencies to ensure, as much as possible through each jurisdiction’s powers to protect the health, safety and welfare of the public, the continued quantity and quality of groundwater supplies through the regulation of land uses which may contribute contamination that may degrade groundwater quality and/or quantity in recharge areas of vulnerability. The extent of regulation shall be based on the degree of vulnerability of an identified recharge area and the contaminant loading potential of the proposed land use.

2. Where it is determined through special studies or city of Bothell mapping projects that soil and geologic formation permeability exists such that the presence of a groundwater recharge area is likely, the shoreline administrator may require further investigation by the applicant of the existence of recharge areas when the proposed land use involved is considered to be of a type or intensity that has a high contamination potential. Such uses may include, but are not limited to, planned unit developments, waste disposal sites, or agriculture activities.

1. Depth of groundwater;

2. Aquifer properties such as hydraulic conductivity and gradients;

3. Soil texture, permeability, and contaminant attenuation properties;

4. Characteristics of the vadose zone (the unsaturated top layer of soil and geologic material) including permeability and attenuation properties; or

5. Other relevant factors.