Is It Legal to Drill Your Own Well? Permits, Licenses and Water Rights

Last reviewed: October 3, 2026. This article is general information, not legal advice. Well rules are set by states, counties and local water districts; check with your state well program and county health department before you drill.

A well of your own can mean independence from a water bill, or the only practical water supply for a rural home. Before you rent a rig or watch a do-it-yourself drilling video, it pays to know who has a say over your well.

Short answer: there's no single national rule. States, and often counties or local water districts, decide whether you need a licensed contractor, a permit or a notice before drilling, and how much water you can take. Some states let homeowners drill their own domestic well if they follow construction standards; others, like California, require a licensed well contractor. Either way, you're responsible for testing and protecting your water.

Licensing: who is allowed to drill

The first question is whether you can do the work or must hire a licensed contractor.

• Texas requires a license to act as a driller (Occupations Code § 1901.151), but its definition of "water well driller" leaves out a person drilling on their own property for their own use. The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, which licenses drillers, notes that a license is required to drill a water-related well and to install a pump for one, so check how the rules apply to your project.
• California requires the person responsible for drilling, deepening or destroying a well to hold a C-57 Water Well Contractor's License. In practice that means hiring a licensed contractor, and counties issue the well permits.
• Minnesota says all wells must be installed by contractors licensed by the Minnesota Department of Health, with an exception for an individual building a well for personal use on land they own or lease for farming or as their home. That owner still has to follow Minnesota Statutes chapter 103I and Minnesota Rules chapter 4725.

Other states fall somewhere between these examples. The EPA keeps a directory of state private well programs that can point you to the right agency.

Permits, notices and records

Even where you can drill yourself, paperwork usually comes first and afterwards:

• Before drilling: Minnesota, for example, requires the contractor or well owner to submit a notification form with a fee to the Department of Health before drilling starts. In other states a county or local health department may issue the permit instead, and may set setback distances from septic systems, property lines and buildings, so ask your county before you start.
• Local water districts: in Texas, groundwater conservation districts may require permits. State law exempts wells used solely for domestic use or for livestock or poultry on a tract larger than 10 acres that can't produce more than 25,000 gallons a day, but districts can still require you to register those wells (Water Code § 36.117).
• After drilling: you may need to file a well log or completion record. In Minnesota, the contractor gives a Well and Boring Record to the owner and to MDH; in Texas, the driller files a well log.

Water rights: do you own the water?

Being allowed to drill isn't the same as being allowed to pump unlimited water. Groundwater law is set state by state:

• Texas recognizes that a landowner owns the groundwater below their land as real property. That ownership lets the owner drill for and produce it, as long as they don't cause waste, malicious drainage of other property or negligent subsidence, and remains subject to regulation by groundwater districts (Water Code § 36.002).
• Other states, especially in the arid West, more often require a permit or water right for larger withdrawals, and a domestic well may be treated differently from an irrigation or commercial well.

If you plan to irrigate, water livestock at scale or sell water, ask your state water agency about rights before you drill.

Safety and testing: you are the water utility

Once the well is in, the law mostly leaves water quality to you. The EPA says that private well owners "are responsible for delivering safe drinking water to their households" and that private domestic wells are not regulated by the federal government under the Safe Drinking Water Act, nor by most states.

The EPA's practical advice:

• Test every year for total coliform bacteria, nitrates, total dissolved solids and pH.
• Test more often if small children or elderly adults live with you, or someone is pregnant or nursing.
• Test right away after flooding or new construction nearby, after repairs to the well system, or if the water's taste, odor or color changes.

Two more safety points:

• Call 811 before you dig. It's the free national before-you-dig service that arranges for buried utility lines to be marked.
• Don't abandon an old well casually. Unused wells can let contamination into groundwater, and many places have rules for sealing them properly, so check with your state or county health department.

A sensible order of steps

1. Call your county health or environmental department and ask what's needed for a domestic well at your address.
2. Check your state well program about licensing and whether owner-drilling is allowed.
3. Ask whether a groundwater district or water-rights rule applies.
4. Get permits or file notices before you drill, and call 811.
5. File the required well record afterwards, and test your water before drinking it.

Sources

• Texas Occupations Code § 1901.001 (definitions): Texas Statutes
• Texas Occupations Code § 1901.151 (license required): Texas Statutes
• Texas Water Code § 36.002 (groundwater ownership): Texas Statutes
• Texas Water Code § 36.117 (exempt wells): FindLaw
• Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, Water Well Drillers and Pump Installers: tdlr.texas.gov
• California Water Code § 13750.5: California Public Law
• Minnesota Department of Health, Constructing a New Water-Supply Well: health.state.mn.us
• EPA, Private Drinking Water Wells: epa.gov
• EPA, Protect Your Home's Water: epa.gov
• EPA, Private Drinking Water Well Programs in Your State: epa.gov
• 811, Before You Dig: 811beforeyoudig.com