Water Allocation & Use

Water Use Permits are issued to convey the "right" to use the water if the use can be shown to be "beneficial."  A Water Use Permit is required of any person or entity that withdraws at least 25,000 gallons in a 24-hour period during any calendar year.  The permit lists the amount of water allowed to be withdrawn each year by the permittee, and is valid for 10 years.  The Water Use Permit also requires that a Water Use Report be submitted each year to the Iowa DNR.  Water Use Permits are typically issued to public water supply systems, industries, agricultural business, irrigation (both agricultural and golf courses), recreational areas, gravel quarry dewatering, etc.

There are two other types of Water Use Permits: Storage and Registration of a Minor Non-Recurring Use of water. 

1. A Storage Water Use Permit is issued for storage of water behind a retaining structure (i.e., a dam) in an impoundment.  A storage permit is required for the storage of 18-acre-feet or more of water in permanent storage.  This would include any impoundment providing water for a public water supply system.  No storage permit can be issued by the DNR until the plans and specifications for the impounding structure have been approved, which assures no permit is issued for what would be found to be an unsafe or impractical structure.  It also has the administrative effect of assuring that the allocation and storage permits are issued dependent upon the time schedule of the DNR's Water Resource Section’s review and approval.  When a water use or allocation permit is being prepared for a surface water supply reservoir, it is combined with the storage permit and both permits are issued concurrently.
2. A Registration of a Minor Non-Recurring Use of water is required for projects where at least 25,000 gallons of water is used in a 24-hour period but which are of no more than a one-year duration, such as well drilling, highway construction activities, etc.

Technical Information

• High Capacity Well Technical Bulletin 23.1, August 2015
• Measuring Water Levels in Wells, December 2016
• Jordan Aquifer Stakeholder Update for 2019

Examples of water use conflicts include the following:

• The need to preserve instream flows.
• The need to protect the level of natural lakes, and manage changes in the level of artificial lakes.
• Well interference, which is the lowering of the water level in a well caused by the withdrawal of water at another location (usually a nearby well).
• The decline in the level of the water table in areal groundwater, which are allocations resulting in long-term overdraft of the available resource.
• The degradation of groundwater quality.

These types of conflicts may be exacerbated by dry conditions.  The technical term used in Iowa for dry conditions or drought is "triggering event," as defined in the Iowa Administrative Code (IAC) 567-subrule 52.10(2).  The Department has the authority to implement priority allocation restrictions if a triggering even has occurred.  The specifics of allocation restrictions are described in IAC 567-subrules 52.10(1) and (3), and were adopted following the 1985 Iowa Water Plan.

Copies of the Well Interference Procedures/Compensation Guidance are available by contacting Michael Anderson at 515-725-0336 or Michael.Anderson@dnr.iowa.gov.