CHAPTER 616

An Act to require the discharge from certain artesian wells to be stopped
or regulated and to provide penalties for violations; to provide for
stopping or regulating the discharge from such wells after notice to
owners thereof; to provide for the recovery of costs incident thereto;
and to impose certain duties upon the Director of Conservation and
Development.

[H 490]

Approved March 31, 1956

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. (a) The owner of any flowing artesian well which has been aban-
doned, or from which no part of the flow is put to use by the owner or
tenant of the land on which such well is situated, and the owner of any
flowing artesian well from which water is pumped directly, shall cap or
otherwise secure the mouth of such well so as not to permit the dis-
charge from the well of water that is allowed to run to waste and not
put to useful service. Any person failing or refusing to so prevent such
discharge from any such well shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon
conviction shall be fined not less than ten dollars nor more than one hun-
dred dollars and may be imprisoned in jail for not more than ten days.

(b) In any case in which a person owning or controlling any such
artesian well fails or refuses to stop its discharge or to regulate the dis-
charge therefrom as required in paragraph (a), the Director of Conserva-
tion and Development shall notify such person under the provisions of
§§ 8-51 or 8-71 that on a day specified in such notice he will stop or regu-
late the discharge from such well, and the costs incident thereto, such cost
not to exceed twenty-five dollars, shall be a charge against such person
or the property on which such well is located and be a lien on such
property.

(c) The Director of Conservation and Development on the day speci-
fied in the notice shall enter upon the land or other property of the person
so notified and stop or regulate the discharge from such well at the expense
of the owner.

(d) The Director of Conservation and Development shall record a
statement showing the cost of such work in the office of the clerk of the
court of the county or city wherein deeds to land are recorded and in which
the property is located. Such statement snall be recorded in the Judgment
Lien Docket Book and indexed in the name of the Commonwealth and of
the person owning such property. Such charge shall be valid against sub-
sequent purchasers or judgment lien creditors when recorded in the
clerk’s office. Upon the recording of any such statement the Director of
Conservation and Development shall institute proceedings to collect the
amount due the Commonwealth hereunder.