TITLE 9. ENVIRONMENT

STATE WATER CONTROL BOARD

Final Regulation

Title of Regulation: 9VAC25-200. Water Withdrawal Reporting (amending 9VAC25-200-10, 9VAC25-200-40).

Statutory Authority: §§ 62.1-44.15 and 62.1-44.38 of the Code of Virginia.

Effective Date: September 9, 2026.

Agency Contact: Weedon Cloe, Department of Environmental Quality, 1111 East Main Street, Suite 1400, P.O. Box 1105, Richmond, VA 23218, telephone (804) 754-5457, or email william.cloe@deq.virginia.gov.

Background: As it is currently effective, Water Withdrawal Reporting (9VAC25-200) requires the reporting of water withdrawal usage information from any user that withdraws surface water or groundwater in excess of 10,000 gallons per day for any use other than crop irrigation, or in excess of 1 million gallons in any single month for crop irrigation. The existing regulation does not require the water withdrawal report to include the volume of water provided to another person off site.

Summary:

Pursuant to Chapters 623 and 896 of the 2026 Acts of Assembly, the amendments require each water user subject to the existing water withdrawal reporting requirements that provides water to another person off site to report the total volume of potable water and reclaimed water provided each month, or each quarter if monthly data is not available, (i) to a data center that has an air permit issued by the Department of Environmental Quality and (ii) for domestic purposes, commercial and industrial purposes (separately or combined as available), and all other noncategorized purposes.

9VAC25-200-10. Definitions.

The following words and terms, when used in this chapter, shall have the following meaning unless the text clearly indicates otherwise:

"Board" means the State Water Control Board.

"Crop" means a living or once-living plant or part of it which the plant that is or could be harvested for value. The term includes conventional farm crops, hay, pasture, nursery, and forest crops. Permanent turf and landscapings are not crops and are subject to the 10,000 gallons per day reporting threshold.

"Daily average withdrawal" shall be calculated by dividing the total quantity of water withdrawn in each calendar month by the number of days in that month.

"Department" means the Department of Environmental Quality.

"Gage" means a device or methodology for measuring cumulative volume of water withdrawn. For users subject to the Virginia Department of Health Waterworks Regulations (12VAC5-590), the gage shall satisfy the provisions of those regulations and shall produce volume determinations within ± 10% of truth. For all other users, the gage shall be consistent with sound generally-accepted, generally accepted engineering practice and shall produce volume determinations within ± 10% of truth.

"Person" means the Commonwealth or any of its political subdivisions; or an individual, corporation, partnership, association, authority, interstate body, or a state; or an agency, municipality, commission, or political subdivision of a state.

"User" means any person making a withdrawal of surface water or groundwater from an original source (e.g., a river, stream, lake, aquifer, or reservoir fed by any such water body), regardless of whether the user himself uses the water thus withdrawn or transfers it to another for use. The purchase of water from a waterworks by a customer of it does not constitute a withdrawal.

"VPDES" means the Virginia Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, which is the Virginia system for the issuance of permits pursuant to the Permit Regulation (9VAC25-31-10), the State Water Control Law, and § 402 of the Clean Water Act (33 USC § 1342), authorizing the discharge of pollutants from a point source to surface waters.

9VAC25-200-40. Measuring and reporting requirements.

A. Measuring. Every nonexempt user other than crop irrigators shall have installed and shall operate a gaging device or methodology before commencing withdrawal and shall operate the device or methodology routinely thereafter. The gaging device or methodology shall measure the cumulative volume of water withdrawn at or near the source of withdrawal, or at the water treatment plant. Nonexempt crop irrigators shall comply with these measuring provisions by January 31, 1991, or before commencing withdrawal, whichever is later.

B. Reporting.

1. Every nonexempt user shall file with the board by January 31 of each year a reporting form, as prescribed by the board, completed insofar as it pertains to his the user's withdrawal for the calendar year preceding. The information reported shall include the user's name, address, sources and locations of withdrawal, cumulative volume of water withdrawn each month of the calendar year, maximum day withdrawal and the month in which it occurred, and method of withdrawal measurement.

2. Nonexempt crop irrigators shall comply with these reporting provisions by January 31, 1992, or before commencing withdrawal, whichever is later.

3. Beginning January 1, 2027, any water user required to report water withdrawal and use data pursuant to this chapter that provides water to another person off site shall include in its report submitted on its regular reporting schedule, (i) the total volume of potable water and, (ii) reported separately, the total volume of reclaimed water provided during each month for each of the following categories:

a. A data center, as that term is defined in § 58.1-3506 A 43 of the Code of Virginia, with an air permit issued by the department; and

b. To the extent available without utility billing system modifications:

(1) Domestic purposes;

(2) Commercial and industrial purposes, separately or combined as available; and

(3) All other noncategorized purposes.

Where monthly data is not available, the data may be submitted based on the total volumes provided during each quarter. For purposes of this subdivision, "reclaimed water" means water that has been treated and repurposed from wastewater or nonpotable sources.