The Middle Peninsula Planning District Commission was briefed Feb. 26 on a state effort to expand the Eastern Virginia Groundwater Management Plan, which will affect large water users, such as businesses and schools that get their water from wells.

Craig R. Nicol, manager of the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality’s Groundwater Withdrawal Permitting Program, said that the state groundwater regulations are necessary because groundwater levels in the management area are declining or are expected to decline soon. The management area essentially covers all sections of Virginia east of Interstate 95.

That area was recently expanded to include the Middle Peninsula and Northern Neck, Nicol said. The MPPDC board took no vote on the matter.

Nicol said DEQ is trying to get the word out that large groundwater users must apply for a permit before June 30 or they will have to pay higher fees beginning July 1.

Following several years of review by various regulatory agencies, then-...