All new wells (since 1993) are required to be registered, including domestic wells. If not registered a well is considered illegal until either registered or properly abandoned if no longer in use. Penalties may include a $500 fine; however, anyone who voluntarily registers a well may avoid the fine. Registering your domestic well could also help protect your water supply from encroachment by new, high capacity wells.
Well registration forms are available at the NRD office or by contacting the Nebraska Department of Water, Energy, and Environment (DWEE) in Lincoln.
Wells pumping 50 gpm or less cost $70 to register; those pumping above that cost $110 to register.
“Is my well registered?” The Nebraska Department of Water, Energy, and Environment website has two methods available to search for registered wells. By clicking the following link: https://dwee.nebraska.gov/data/groundwater-data you will see:
Registered Groundwater Wells
- Data Retrieval – select this link if you wish to search by name, legal location, well type, etc.
- Interactive Registered Groundwater Wells Map – select this link if you wish to search by an interactive map