Expanding a Domestic Well to Irrigation Under a Moratorium
A landowner has a 2.5-acre parcel in a Nevada groundwater basin that is subject to a pending moratorium on new appropriations. An existing permitted domestic well on the parcel serves the house and a small garden. The owner now wants a new 8-inch well to irrigate 2 acres of alfalfa, estimating 6 acre-feet per year, and tells the driller that 'domestic wells are exempt, so just drill it.' The proposed well would be 50 ft from the property line and 150 ft from a neighbor's permitted domestic well. The owner has no water-right permit for irrigation and no approved well-construction permit for the new point of diversion. The driller has a signed drilling contract but has not seen any Division approval. The owner wants to start Monday because the drill rig is available.
1. What approvals must be in place before the driller starts the new irrigation well, and why does the existing domestic well not authorize this use?
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The driller should not start. Irrigation of 2 acres at 6 acre-feet/year is a new appropriation and a new point of diversion, not a domestic use. The owner needs (1) a water-right permit or approved change from the State Engineer, and (2) a well-construction permit for the new well. The pending moratorium may cause the water-right application to be denied or held; a drilling contract cannot override that. The existing domestic well authorization covers only the domestic use described in its permit, not a new irrigation well. Drilling before approval exposes the driller and owner to enforcement and may make the well noncompliant.
2. If the owner insists the new well is only for domestic use, how should the driller evaluate that claim?
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Test the claim against the actual proposed use. A domestic well serves household uses and limited incidental garden use; 2 acres of alfalfa at 6 acre-feet/year is irrigation and exceeds domestic use. If the owner truly wants only domestic use, the application and well permit must say so, and the well cannot be used for the alfalfa. The driller should refuse to submit a false domestic-use affidavit or to drill a well that the owner has already described as irrigation. Put the intended use in the contract and permit application so there is no later argument about what the well was drilled for.
3. What siting and water-right issues should the driller raise about the 50-ft property-line distance and the 150-ft distance to the neighbor's well?
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The 50-ft property-line distance and 150-ft distance to a neighbor's domestic well are potential spacing and interference issues. The driller should check the basin's well-spacing rules and the county/state siting requirements, and should not assume that because the neighbor is 150 ft away there is no impact. A new irrigation well pumping 6 acre-feet/year could draw down the neighbor's well. The driller should recommend a pump test and monitoring, and should disclose the proposed use to the owner so the owner can address neighbor notice or mitigation. The driller's job is to identify the issue, not to promise that a permit will be granted.