Delineated Areas Program

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) administers the Delineated Areas Program under Part III of Chapter 373, Florida Statutes, and Chapter 62-524, F.A.C., New Potable Water Well Permitting in Delineated Areas. DEP says approximately 427,897 acres in 38 counties have been delineated as areas of known groundwater contamination. Most are delineated for ethylene dibromide (EDB), and a few for solvents and gasoline.

In a Phase I ESA

ASTM E1527-21 does not name maps of contaminated groundwater areas among its standard record sources. A delineated area is still a state record that the groundwater in a mapped area is known to be contaminated.

• The lines reach past the source. DEP says delineated areas are adopted by rule under Chapter 62-524 and are typically drawn and mapped using a 1,000-foot protective setback distance from a contaminated well or site. A property can sit inside an area without being the source. Ask which well or site the area was drawn around.
• EDB is the usual reason. DEP says the majority of the areas are delineated for EDB. DEP says the Legislature created the Water Supply Restoration Funding (WSRF) program in the mid-1980s, after EDB, a carcinogenic agricultural pesticide, was found in private drinking water wells.
• A new potable well needs more. Within delineated areas, the water management districts or their delegated permitting authority permit and inspect all new potable water well construction, repair and abandonment. New potable wells must meet the construction requirements of Chapters 62-524 and 62-532, F.A.C., and the district's well construction rules, and DEP says a district may add requirements of its own.
• Public water may be required. DEP says a permit cannot be issued for a new potable well on property inside a delineated area if the property is also within 500 feet of a public water system; connection to the public water system is required in such cases.
• A well must be cleared before use. Every new potable well in a delineated area must be cleared for potable use by the Florida Department of Health or the county health department. Once the well passes inspection, the county health department tests the water and issues a letter of clearance or denial. For a potable well built on the property inside a delineated area, ask the owner for that letter.
• A denied well can be treated. DEP says a well denied for potable use typically can be remediated with a granular activated carbon filtration system or another type of filtration system, and that the county health departments work with its Water Supply Restoration Program.

Water Supply Restoration Funding

The WSRF program, funded by the Water Quality Assurance Trust Fund and the Inland Protection Trust Fund, restores safe drinking water to well owners whose wells are affected by man-made contamination. To qualify, sampling must show a man-made contaminant above a Maximum Contaminant Level or a Health Advisory Level, or the Department of Health must determine it to be a health hazard. DEP gives three methods, at no cost to the well owner as long as funding is available and the contamination persists: funding a connection to a public water system, or, where that is not possible, installing and maintaining a filter system; bottled water may be delivered on a temporary basis until long-term restoration can be put in place. DEP says restoration and replacement work has been done in almost every county. A filter system on a private well at or near the property is a reason to ask whether the program installed it. The WSRF page also links a document on how to get reimbursement for new well construction in EDB delineated areas.

Where to look a site up

• DEP's Map Direct carries the areas as a pre-packaged Groundwater Delineation GIS map coverage. DEP says to browse the map gallery and select it.
• DEP's Delineated Areas page links the water well permitting and construction programs of the five water management districts: Northwest Florida, Suwannee River, St. Johns River, Southwest Florida and South Florida.
• The WSRF program's hotline is 1-833-DEP-WSRF (1-833-337-9773), 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.

Getting the file

The pages read do not say where the program's own files are kept. Under the arrangement DEP describes, well permits are issued by the water management districts or their delegated permitting authority, and clearance letters by the county health departments, so ask them for a well's records. DEP's own routes, OCULUS and a paper records search, are on the Public records and OCULUS page.

Sources

Florida Department of Environmental Protection pages, read October 15, 2026:

• Delineated Areas, last modified December 9, 2024.
• Water Supply Restoration Funding, no modified date shown.