The Groundwater Committee has advocated for three decades for the use of this surficial (Columbia) aquifer in preference to the confined Yorktown-Eastover aquifer as a more sustainable source of water supply for irrigation and non-potable uses.  The proposed General Permit helps achieve this goal by reducing the regulatory burden to use the Columbia aquifer. This is beneficial to businesses and the resource since it has a simplified burden to use the most sustainable source of water available. The Eastern Shore of Virginia Groundwater Committee is strongly supportive of this regulatory action.