Yes, drilling your own well in Arizona is legal on land you own, but before any work starts you need a single well license from the Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR), a filed Notice of Intention to Drill, the applicable $100 or $150 fee, and a drilling card issued by ADWR authorizing the work. Most homeowners hire a licensed well driller instead because the construction standards, location rules, and reporting duties apply either way.
Can You Drill It Yourself, or Do You Need a Licensed Driller?
Every well construction or modification in Arizona must be performed under the direct, personal supervision of a licensed well driller. There is one carve-out for property owners: if the well is an exempt well on your own land, you don’t need a full commercial driller’s license, but you do need a single well license from ADWR before you break ground.1Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 45-595 – Well Construction Requirements; Licensing of Well Drillers
The single well license is exactly what it sounds like: authority to drill one well, on your land, for your use. It does not let you drill for anyone else. If the well you want falls outside the exempt category (more on that below), the single-well route is closed and the job has to go to a licensed commercial driller.
Filing the Notice of Intention to Drill
No well may be drilled or deepened anywhere in Arizona without first filing a Notice of Intention to Drill (NOI) with ADWR.2Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 45-596 – Notice of Intention to Drill; Fee That rule holds whether you’re inside or outside an Active Management Area, and whether your well is exempt or non-exempt. The NOI asks for the proposed location, depth, intended use, and the licensed driller who will do the work (you, if you hold a single well license).
Once ADWR has a complete NOI and the filing fee, the department has fifteen days to review it and issue a drilling card authorizing the work. If information is missing or the proposed well could cause contaminated groundwater to migrate toward another well from a remediation site, ADWR will deny the card and send a written explanation.2Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 45-596 – Notice of Intention to Drill; Fee Drilling cannot start until the card is in hand. Once issued, the authority stays valid for one year; after that, a new NOI is required.3Arizona Department of Water Resources. Well Drilling in Arizona
Filing Fees
The standard NOI fee is $150. A reduced $100 fee applies only if the proposed well meets all three of these conditions: it is not inside an Active Management Area or Irrigation Non-Expansion Area, it will be used solely for domestic purposes, and it will have a pump capacity of 35 gallons per minute or less.2Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 45-596 – Notice of Intention to Drill; Fee Miss any one of the three and the fee is $150.
What Kind of Well You’re Allowed to Drill
Arizona sorts production wells into two categories by pump capacity. An exempt well has a pump rated at 35 gallons per minute (GPM) or less and is used for non-irrigation purposes such as household supply, stock watering, or small commercial operations. A non-exempt well has a pump capacity above 35 GPM.3Arizona Department of Water Resources. Well Drilling in Arizona
The word “exempt” is a little misleading. Exempt wells are exempt from metering, reporting, and most public water-system health rules, but they are not exempt from the drilling-permit process, construction standards, or Active Management Area location restrictions.4Arizona Department of Water Resources. Issue Brief: Exempt Wells For a homeowner on rural or semi-rural land, an exempt well is the normal residential setup, and it is the only kind you can drill yourself under a single well license.
Extra Rules If Your Property Is in an Active Management Area
Arizona has five Active Management Areas (AMAs): Phoenix, Tucson, Prescott, Pinal, and Santa Cruz. The first four were created by the 1980 Groundwater Management Act; Santa Cruz was designated in 1994.5Arizona Department of Water Resources. Active Management Areas 101 If your land sits inside one of these areas, extra rules kick in on top of the standard NOI process.
One Exempt Well Per Location
Inside an AMA, only one exempt well may serve the same non-irrigation use at a single location. A second exempt well for the same use is allowed only if ADWR’s director finds all of the following:
- The first well cannot consistently produce more than three gallons per minute, even with a 35-GPM-rated pump.
- Both wells sit on the same parcel, the parcel is at least one acre, all water from both wells is used on that parcel, and no other exempt wells exist on it.
- Combined withdrawals from both wells do not exceed five acre-feet per year.
- If the second well is drilled after January 1, 2000, the county health authority has physically inspected the site and approved the location in writing.
- Using two wells for the same purpose at the same location is not contrary to public health and welfare.
All five have to be met.6Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 45-454 – Exemption of Small Non-irrigation Wells; Definitions
Withdrawal Caps
Inside an AMA, water withdrawn from an exempt well drilled on or after April 28, 1983, for commercial or industrial use (anything other than domestic use and stock watering) is capped at ten acre-feet per year. In a subsequent AMA covering part of the regional aquifer systems of northern Arizona, water from these wells may be used only for domestic purposes and stock watering.6Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 45-454 – Exemption of Small Non-irrigation Wells; Definitions Household use itself has no acre-foot cap in the statute, but the 35-GPM pump ceiling is the practical limit.
The 100-Foot Rule Near Municipal Water
Since January 1, 2006, drilling an exempt well is prohibited on any parcel where any part of the land falls within 100 feet of the operating water distribution system of a municipal provider that holds an assured water supply designation inside an AMA.7Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 45-454 – Exemption of Small Non-irrigation Wells; Definitions The measurement is taken from a digitized service area map the provider files with ADWR, not from a survey of actual pipes. On the growing edges of metro areas, this rule catches more parcels than owners expect.
Four exemptions exist. You qualify if any one applies:
- You submitted a written request for water service to the municipal provider, and the provider did not send written verification that service is available within 30 calendar days.
- The total capital cost and fees to connect to the municipal system are higher than the total cost to drill and fully equip the exempt well.
- You need an easement across someone else’s land to reach the distribution system, you sent that landowner a request by certified mail with return receipt, and you either got no response within 30 days or were denied.
- None of the first three apply, but the municipal provider gives written verification that you will not receive or request water service while the exempt well is operational. This exemption dies if you or any future owner later connects to the municipal system.
The exemption request goes to ADWR on a prescribed form.8Arizona Department of Water Resources. Certification to the Notice of Intention to Drill an Exempt Well Within an Active Management Area Think carefully before using the fourth pathway. Forfeiting municipal service is permanent for the life of the well, and if a future buyer hooks up to the municipal system, the exemption is revoked and ADWR will not consider impacts on that well when evaluating other permit applications.
Construction Standards the Well Must Meet
ADWR’s construction rules apply to every new well, exempt or not. The core requirements:
- Casing must be steel or thermoplastic unless ADWR grants a variance; casing previously exposed to hazardous materials such as asbestos is prohibited.
- The casing must extend at least one foot above ground level.
- A surface seal of steel casing and cement grout at least 20 feet deep, placed in one continuous application from the bottom of the sealed zone to the surface, with a minimum annular space of one and a half inches between casing and borehole for grout placement.
- Wells with casing four inches or larger in diameter need a watertight access port at least half an inch in diameter so the water level can be checked at any time.
Hand-dug wells have their own standards, including a minimum six-inch-thick cement grout curbing running from one foot above ground down to the water level. Horizontal wells require a surface seal extending at least ten feet into the land surface.9Legal Information Institute. Arizona Administrative Code R12-15-811 – Minimum Well Construction If construction standards aren’t met, ADWR can require remedial measures at the owner’s expense.10Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 45-594 – Well Construction Standards; Remedial Measures
Reports You Owe After Drilling
The drilling card gets you started. After the well goes in, two separate reports are due.
The well driller must file a well driller report with ADWR within 30 days of completing drilling. That report covers the drilling log, casing details, and geology encountered. The owner then files a separate completion report within 30 days of installing pumping equipment, covering the equipment type, the tested pumping capacity (measured after at least four continuous hours of operation), the drawdown in feet, and the static groundwater level measured before the pump test.11Arizona Legislature. Arizona Code 45-600 – Filing of Report by Driller; Filing of Completion Report If you drilled under a single well license, both filings fall on you.
Testing the Water Once the Well Is In
The federal Safe Drinking Water Act does not regulate private domestic wells, and most state laws don’t either.12U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Private Drinking Water Wells Arizona exempt-well owners are responsible for their own water quality, and no agency is checking what comes out of the tap.
EPA recommends testing at least once a year for total coliform bacteria, nitrates, total dissolved solids, and pH, with more frequent testing when small children, elderly adults, or pregnant women live in the household. Test right away after flooding, nearby construction or industrial activity, any repair to the well system, or any change in water color, taste, or odor.13US EPA. Protect Your Home’s Water A comprehensive certified lab panel typically runs between $75 and $600 depending on what’s tested.