The easiest way is to use the online search tool to search by parcel number. Keep in mind that wells are registered to the parcel where they are physically located. If you don’t have your parcel number, you can find it on your county assessor’s website. If searching by parcel doesn’t work, the well information may not be up to date in our registry (ex: the parcel may have split or combined). Try watching our How to Find my Well Video.

No. State law requires that “except for monitor wells and piezometer wells, no well shall be drilled within 100 feet of any septic tank system, sewage disposal area, landfill, hazardous waste facility, storage area of hazardous materials or petroleum storage areas and tanks, unless authorized in writing by the Director”. A.A.C. R12-15-818. However, some counties have their own setback requirements from property boundaries or other wells. Make sure to check with your county or other local authority for additional requirements. 

All wells, new and existing, should have a registration number that begins with “55-” and is followed by six digits. For new wells, the registration number is assigned when the Notice of Intent to Drill or Application for a Permit to Drill is received. For existing wells (wells drilled prior to June 12, 1980. A.R.S. § 45-591(1)), the registration number is assigned when the Late Registration form is received. Because registration is a statutory requirement (A.R.S. § 45-593(B)), if your well is unregistered there may be compliance enforcement or penalties. In most cases the well is registered but is in a previous owner’s name and needs to be updated with a 55-71A Request to Change Well Information form. If you are having trouble locating your registration number, try watching our How to Find my Well Video.

Because it is an application process, we are unable to offer an answer without first reviewing and processing your application. However, there are some things that may make an application more or less difficult than others. In general, wells drilled outside Active Management Areas (AMAs) or Irrigation Non-Expansion Areas (INAs) are less regulated and have less requirements than wells drilled within AMAs or INAs. To check to see if you are located within an AMA or INA, please view this map.

In addition, if water from your well, or existing well being modified or deepened, will be used for domestic purposes on a parcel of land of 5 or fewer acres, the applicable county or local health authority must first review your application prior to submittal to the Department of Water Resources. A.R.S. § 45-596(F). In most cases, it is reasonable to submit an application to drill a well. However, keep in mind that if ADWR approves an application to drill a well it does not override other local requirements or ordinances that restrict well drilling. To print an application please visit Wells Forms and Applications. If you have additional questions you may read a Practical Guide to Drilling a Domestic Well in Arizona or contact us at 602-771-8527. 

No. Well share agreements are private contracts executed by private parties to govern the manner in which a well provides water to multiple properties. While Arizona water law governs how a well is to be drilled and located, it does not govern the operation or management of a well share agreement. ADWR cannot intervene or offer advice in the case of a dispute. For more information please read ADWR’s policy on shared well agreements.

Yes, we have a list of licensed well drillers that can be found here. Although we cannot recommend a specific well driller, ADWR and the Registrar of Contractors (ROC) can tell you if a driller is licensed and in good standing. 

Because we issue the proposed well a registration number when we receive the application, you can try searching for it (even if it hasn’t been approved yet) with ADWR’s online search tool. Try searching by parcel number. Keep in mind that we have a statutory limit of 15 days to process a Notice of Intent (A.R.S. § 45-596(D)) and up to 60 days to process an Application for a Permit. A.R.S. § 45-599(D).

After receipt of a Request to Change Well Information form it can take a few months for the changes to be made to the well file, depending on our workload. These forms are processed in the order in which they were received so it is possible we have received the form, but it has not been reviewed yet. To check if changes have been made, search for your registration number using ADWR’s online search tool. You will not receive anything in the mail once we have completed processing the change.

We are limited in our ability to tell you exactly where a well is physically located on a parcel. Some well files will have site plans and GPS coordinates that can help locate the well on a property. If we do not have that information in the file then we have no other way of determining the location of a well other than its cadastral or parcel number. To view your well file, search for your well’s registration number in ADWR’s imaged record. 

Shared well agreements can sometimes be found in the well’s imaged record. However, because ADWR does not regulate well share agreements nor require them to be submitted to us, they are rarely found in the file. If we do not have a copy of the agreement, try contacting your county recorder to see if it has been recorded with their office. If you have a copy of your agreement that you would like added to your well file, we can always scan it in. 

To locate your parcel number, go to your county assessor’s website and search by address or owner. 

You can have your well’s water quality tested through the Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS), which maintains a list of up-to-date independent laboratories that are certified for testing well water samples. ADHS recommends that you have a new well tested for arsenic, fluoride, lead, nitrates, total coliform bacteria, total dissolved solids, and uranium. Then, have the well tested once a year for total coliform bacteria and nitrates, and tested every five years for arsenic, fluoride, and uranium. ADHS also recommends that you have your well tested when there are known problems with well water in your area, you have found a high radon concentration in your home, you have experienced problems near your well, you notice a change in water quality, or if anyone in your family has an unexplained illness. 

It depends on what kind of well you want to have drilled. The most commonly used form is 55-40 Notice of Intent to Drill, Deepen, Replace, or Modify a Well. This form is used for exempt (pumps 35 gallons per minute or less), water-production wells in Active Management Areas (AMAs) or for any water-production well outside of an AMA. For other wells, including environmental, exploration, and non-exempt (pumps more than 35 gallons per minute) wells in the AMA, please view our forms and applications. 

An exempt well is a well having a pump with a maximum capacity of not more than thirty-five gallons per minute which is used to withdraw groundwater pursuant to section 45-454. A.R.S. § 45-402(8).