Registering a New Irrigation Well and an Old Windmill
A landowner purchased 160 acres. There is a 1978 windmill well with 8-inch steel casing at 140 feet used for livestock; no registration documents were found in the sale. They hire you to drill a new 8-inch irrigation well rated at 800 gpm and 240 feet deep, 60 feet from the property line and 900 feet from a neighbor's domestic well. They plan to keep the old windmill well for stock water. The county assessor has asked for well registration numbers in connection with a tax exemption, and the landowner wants you to 'just file whatever is needed.' The seller's estate has an old driller's log showing the windmill well but no GPS location. The new well will be completed before the end of the month, and the landowner wants both wells listed correctly.
1. Who is responsible for registering the new irrigation well, and when must it be registered?
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The landowner is the person legally responsible for registering the well, although Nebraska practice allows the driller to prepare and file the registration on the owner's behalf. The new irrigation well must be registered with NeDNR within 30 days after completion. Registration is not a water right or a permit to use water; it is a record of the well's location, construction, and use. The driller should obtain the owner's signature or authorization, GPS location, owner and tenant information, proposed use, casing diameter and depth, pump capacity, and static water level. Do not tell the owner that filing the registration authorizes 800 gpm; the use may still be subject to Natural Resources District rules or a Ground Water Management Area if one applies.
2. Does the old 1978 windmill well need to be registered, and how would you handle the missing records?
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Yes, if it is a regulated well and not exempt. A livestock well is not a domestic-exemption candidate, and an unregistered well can create problems when the property is sold or when the new well is reviewed. Use the best available evidence: the old driller's log, county records, physical measurements of casing diameter, depth, and static level, and an affidavit from the owner. Register it as an existing well with an estimated construction date if exact records are missing; do not invent construction details. If the old well will be kept for stock, it needs to be in the registration record. If it is to be abandoned, use a licensed well contractor and file the abandonment record. Answer the assessor with the actual NeDNR registration numbers after filing, not with the new well's number for both wells.
3. What are the consequences of filing an inaccurate registration, and what should you do if you discover an error later?
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An inaccurate registration misleads NeDNR, the Natural Resources District, and future buyers, and can subject the owner and driller to enforcement. It also can affect whether the well is counted in a Ground Water Management Area or whether a replacement well is allowed. If you discover an error, file a correction or amended registration with NeDNR rather than waiting; document why the original was wrong, such as wrong depth, casing, use, or location. Keep a copy for the owner. If the error was intentional, for example understating pump capacity to avoid allocation, do not participate; explain that the registration must match the as-built well. The driller's log should match the registration, and the GPS location should be taken at the wellhead rather than at the gate or mailbox.