Bethany Beach council adopts dewatering ordinance to regulate construction runoff

The Bethany Beach Town Council on July 17 adopted an ordinance to add a definition of dewatering to the town code and to establish best-practice procedures for removing groundwater during construction such as pool or foundation work.

Town counsel Mister Rush read the ordinance’s definition: “The definition of dewatering is the process of removing surface or groundwater from a specific location prior to construction in order to lower the water table to ensure structural stability and conducted in such a way to prevent releasing contaminants into surrounding waterways and protect surrounding properties,” and described the amendments as a procedural framework to prevent erosion and contaminant discharge.

The change was raised as a second reading after councilors and staff said the town previously lacked specific code language addressing how dewatering should be handled. Council members discussed how the town’s permitting would coordinate with county sewer regulations and state oversight. Mayor asked whether the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) has separate requirements; Mister Rush and town staff said they would need to check and ensure the town’s process dovetails with county and state rules.

Councilor Missus Kiel noted a procedural requirement in the draft that requires notification to the building department in advance. As discussed during the meeting, construction that requires continuous pumping is restricted seasonally (the council referenced a period—May 15 to Sept. 15—when continuous pumping is discouraged to reduce neighborhood disruption). Town staff said dewatering procedures would be integrated with the building-permit process and that code enforcement would be handled by the building department.

The council approved the ordinance by a voice vote; the motion carried with no roll-call tally recorded in the meeting minutes. The ordinance is intended to provide consistent permitting steps and minimize risk to waterways and neighboring properties.

What happens next: Town staff will confirm any overlap with county sewer disposal rules and state requirements and implement the permitting steps described in the adopted code language.