Private Well Construction Permits

Construction Permits for Private Wells and Geothermal (GHEX) Systems

When a Permit is Required

Private Well Construction Permits are required for all water supply wells, and for all geothermal systems - closed-loop and open-loop - that are 20 feet or greater in depth. 

For private water supply wells - wells that serve less than 25 individuals or fewer than 15 water service connections - construction permits are issued by the local county health departments (except for Osceola County*).

*Osceola County does not have the authority to issue private well construction permits. To obtain a permit in Osceola County, please contact Daniel Watterson  at daniel.watterson@dnr.iowa.gov or (515) 402-7981.

Permitting Process

1. Contact your local county health department (except for Osceola County*) to get their current application and ask questions about their local permitting policies and fees.
2. Submit an application for a Private Well Construction Permit to your county health department along with their application fee. Each county sets their own application fees.
3. The county will review your application to ensure completeness and review the location relative to sources of contamination.
   1. If your proposed location is near a contamination source or site, your application will be sent to the DNR for further review.
   2. The DNR review will take an average of 3-4 weeks to complete, but may take longer.
4. The county will issue or deny your permit in writing. Please ensure you have received a permit before proceeding, as required by 567 IAC Chapter 38.
5. You may proceed with well construction.
6. The county and DNR must be allowed to visit the proposed well site before, during, and after well construction, as required by 567 IAC Chapter 49.
7. For household wells, you must allow the county to collect a water sample between 10-30 days after construction, as required by 567 IAC Chapter 49.

In some cases, the DNR will work with counties to collect permitting information and perform an environmental review and then perform the permitting at the state level.

Wells That Require a Private Well Construction Permit

The following wells require a Private Well Construction Permit:

• All types of water supply wells including, drilled, augered/bored, and sandpoint wells used to supply water for: households, livestock, processing/commercial needs and all types of irrigation purposes
• recreational use wells for lakes or pond water supplies, or to provide water for a fountain or other water feature
• industrial water supply wells providing plant process water or machine or process cooling water
• heat pump water supply and return or injection wells
• GHEX (geothermal) loop boreholes - both vertical and horizontal loop placements when the loop depth is 20 feet or greater in depth
• groundwater monitoring, contaminant monitoring or piezometer wells 20 feet or greater in depth that are not installed to meet a state clean-up or monitoring requirement
• groundwater level monitoring wells
• temporary (in place at least 7 days) or permanent dewatering wells
• dam or levee relief wells

Any property owner who plans to construct a private water supply well must agree to place the well in a location free from known surface and subsurface contamination, have the well constructed to meet or exceed state construction standards based and the type of well needed and the well location, and have the water tested at least once to determine the quality of the groundwater.

For monitoring wells and dewatering wells, the wells must be designed to protect the groundwater, constructed using industry standards, include adequate well head protections for the time they will be left in place, and be properly plugged when no longer needed.

All well services in Iowa - including well construction and renovation or rehabilitation, pump installation and pump repairs, pressure switch and pressure tank replacement, and geothermal borehole construction require a DNR Certified Well Contractor be present on the job site and in direct charge at the time well services are being performed. The rules for well contractor certification can be found in 567 IAC Chapter 82.

Additional Permitting Information for Certain Types of Wells

Dewatering Wells

Groundwater dewatering wells are used to lower the water table for construction activities. The following is required for dewatering wells:

1. Private Well Construction Permits
2. Water Allocation and Use Permit or minor non-recurring use permit
3. DNR NPDES General Permit #9
4. A DNR certified well driller must be onsite at all times that well services are being performed

Trench dewatering has the same requirements as a groundwater dewatering well, except that trench dewatering does not require a private well construction permit.

Monitoring Wells

Private Well Construction Permits are required for monitoring wells, except for wells installed as part of a DNR requirement for an underground storage tank site (UST), leaking underground storage tank site (LUST), contaminated site, or landfill site. 

All monitoring well construction must be performed under the direct supervision of a DNR Certified Well Contractor who is onsite and in direct control of the well services being provided. 

When a monitoring well is no longer needed, it must be properly plugged with bentonite products or neat cement, the casings removed to a depth of four feet below surface grade, and an Abandoned Water Well Plugging Record form (542-1226) must be filed with the department.

Geotechnical Investigation Boreholes

Private Well Construction Permits are not required for any borings for geotechnical investigations, nor is a certified driller. A private well construction permit and Iowa DNR Well Contractor Certification is required if your geotechnical investigation includes placing well casings or screens in any boreholes to monitor or collect groundwater samples. Any investigation boreholes that are positioned in areas that will not be immediately excavated must be properly plugged with bentonite products or neat cement.

Geoprobe® Style Boreholes

Private Well Construction Permits are not required for Geoprobe® style boreholes as long as temporary or permanent well casing is not installed in the borehole. An example of this is when groundwater is sampled through a probe tip without using any casing. 

If your boring(s) will place any casing in the ground, you need to obtain well construction permits before any probe work is started and have a DNR Certified Well Contractor on-site during the installation. All probe holes must be properly plugged with bentonite products or neat cement as soon as the sampling work is completed.

Cathodic Protection Wells

Private Well Construction Permits are not required for cathodic protection wells. Cathodic protection wells are installed to protect metallic objects in direct contact with the ground from electrolytic corrosion, including objects like pipelines that carry petroleum, natural gas, and water, and their related storage facilities; power lines; telephone cables; and switchyards. In addition, cathodic protection wells are sometimes used to control electrolytic corrosion in large water supply wells. 

Even though construction permits are not required for cathodic installations, the installation contractor is still responsible to ensure that each borehole is constructed using the best industry standards, including bentonite products to seal between potential aquifers and the upper borehole and the use of safe materials that will not contaminate drinking water supplies.

Other Permits Required for Private Wells

• DNR Water Use and Allocation Permit - required for using 25,000 gallons or more at least one day per year.
• DNR NPDES General Permit #6 (GP6) - required when water produced during well drilling will reach Waters of the United States (WOTUS).
  • GP6 Well Siting Tool - check distances to surface water to see if the project will need GP6.
  • DNR Field Office Notification Form - if you need to abide by GP6, you must notify the DNR Field Office prior to well construction.
• DNR General Permit #9 (GP9) - required for temporary dewatering wells and residential pump-and-dump geothermal systems.
• DNR Flood Plain Development Permit - required if your well will be constructed in a floodplain.
  • Flood Plain Management website
  • Flood Plain PERMT Tool - check to see if a permit is required. Check the box that says “Other Structures, Obstructions, Fill, Spoil, Deposits, then check “other.” Select your project location on the map or by entering the address. Click “Get Results”.
• EPA Underground Injection Control (UIC) Permit - required for any injection or discharge into the subsurface (including open-loop geothermal)

Other Permits Required for Public Wells

If your proposed public water supply well serves 25 or more individuals or has 15 or more water service connections, your well project requires a Public Water Supply Construction Permit issued by DNR Water Supply Engineering (WSE). Local county private well programs cannot approve or issue any public water supply construction permits. 

Information on public water supply construction permitting can be found on the WSE webpage. In order to obtain a public water supply construction permit, the water supply owner must use a design engineer to establish a design that adheres to the Ten States Standards for Public Water Works (2012), and work with WSE to ensure the design and construction fulfills the required standards.