Before you start: confirm your area is open
This is step zero, and skipping it wastes a filing fee. Two things to check for your specific parcel:
- The groundwater-policy map. The Division publishes a statewide groundwater-policy map color-coded open / restricted / closed. Open areas are where a new appropriation is even possible.
- Your area's written policy. Every water-right area also has its own published policy page. Even within an open area, the policy sets out how large a domestic filing it will approve, any sub-area rules, and how long you'll have to develop the project. Read it before you file.
If both check out — area open, policy allows a small domestic appropriation — you're in the right place to file.
What you're applying for: a small domestic water right
A standard household water right bundles three uses into one application. A common total is about 1.73 acre-feet per year, made up of:
| Use | What it covers | Standard amount |
|---|---|---|
| Domestic | One household's indoor use (one Equivalent Domestic Unit) | 0.45 acre-foot |
| Irrigation | 0.25 acre of lawn, garden, or landscape | 1.0 acre-foot |
| Stockwater | Up to 10 head of livestock (Equivalent Livestock Units) | 0.28 acre-foot |
| Total diversion | 1.73 acre-feet | |
Those amounts come from the Division's standard requirements: 0.45 acre-foot for indoor domestic use per family, 4.0 acre-feet per acre of irrigation (so a quarter-acre is 1.0), and 0.028 acre-foot per cow or horse — or equivalent — so ten head is 0.28. An "EDU" is one household; an "ELU" is one cow or horse, with sheep, goats, and barnyard fowl counted as equivalents.
The 1.73-acre-foot figure is a common standard, not a universal one. The exact amount an open area will approve — and the irrigation acreage and livestock count it allows — is set by that area's policy page, so confirm your numbers against it before you fill in the form.
The step-by-step process
Get the Application to Appropriate Water form
Download the Application to Appropriate Water from the Division of Water Rights applications and forms page. It's a single two-sided form, and it comes with line-by-line instructions. This is the same form whether you're appropriating water for a house, a farm, or a factory — you'll just fill in the small-domestic numbers.
Fill out the form
The Division completes the water-right number, priority date, and filing date — leave those blank. The sections that matter for a domestic well:
- Owner information. Every owner's name, your mailing address, phone, and the County Tax ID for the property. Note whether you own the land where the water will be diverted and used.
- Quantity of water. Your total diversion — for the example above, 1.73 acre-feet.
- Source & point of diversion. For a well, the source is underground water. The point of diversion is a legal description tied to the U.S. Land Survey — direction and distance from a section corner (for example, "N 200 ft W 350 ft from the SE Corner of Sec. 1, T1S, R1E, SLB&M"). Use the coordinate tool just below to turn GPS coordinates into this description.
- Diverting works. For a well, list the planned diameter and depth.
- Common description. The closest town and roughly how many miles in which direction the well sits from it.
- Nature and period of use. The months each use runs — for example, irrigation April 1 to October 31, domestic and stockwatering year-round.
- Purpose and extent of use. The irrigated acreage (0.25 acre), the number and kind of livestock (up to 10 head), and the number of families for domestic use (1).
- Place of use. A legal description of the 40-acre tracts where the water will be used.
- Explanatory. Anything that needs clarifying. If you run out of room, write "see attachment" and add a same-size page.
The form must be signed by all owners. You can get help from Division staff, but the accuracy of everything on the form is the applicant's responsibility.
Coordinate tool: GPS → point-of-diversion description
Paste the well's GPS coordinates (decimal degrees) and this builds the U.S. Land Survey description the form asks for — section, township, range, meridian, and the distance from the nearest section corner.
Draft estimate only. This queries the BLM national PLSS survey layer and measures to the nearest section corner. Your GPS accuracy, section irregularities, and the survey monuments of record all matter — the State Engineer and a licensed surveyor are the authority. Verify the description before you file.
Prepare a property map
Attach a map of the property showing the well location and the place of use in relation to land ownership. A county plat map works, or any clear professional map. Incomplete or unclear applications get mailed back, so this is worth doing carefully.
Submit to your regional office and pay the fee
Deliver the signed application, the map, and the filing fee to the Division of Water Rights office that covers your area — the main office in Salt Lake City, or a regional office in Cedar City, Logan, Price, Richfield, or Vernal. The contact page lists addresses and phone numbers. The fee must be cash, check, or money order — see the fee section below.
Wait through public notice and the State Engineer's decision
Once filed, your application is assigned a water-right number and a priority date, then advertised for public notice. During the notice period anyone may file a protest. After that, the State Engineer reviews the application against the statutory criteria and your area's policy, and either approves or rejects it. Allow several months between filing and a decision — this is not a same-week process.
Drill the well
A favorable decision includes the permission to drill. From there you hire a licensed well driller (a licensed shallow water well constructor can handle wells 30 feet deep or less). Two things worth knowing:
- Rush letters. In some cases the Division can issue provisional drilling authority — a "rush letter" — so a driller can start before the full decision is issued. A rush letter authorizes drilling, not use of the water; the right still has to come through.
- All wells are regulated. Since 2022, House Bill 177 brought every water well under State Engineer regulation regardless of depth — the old exemption for shallow wells is gone.
After the work, your driller files a well completion log with the Division. Those logs become permanent public records — and they're exactly the data this site's calculator uses to estimate depth and cost.
Place the water to beneficial use and file proof
An approved application puts your right in "approved" status — you then have a set period (often about five years, set by your area's policy) to actually develop the uses: drill the well, connect the house, irrigate the quarter-acre. Once the water is in beneficial use, you file Proof of Beneficial Use, and the State Engineer issues a certificate that perfects the right. If you need more time, a Request for Extension of Time can be filed, though extensions are critically reviewed.
And remember Utah's "use it or lose it" rule: a right that goes unused for seven years is subject to forfeiture. Once you've perfected the right, keep using it.
Fees
The cost of filing is modest — the bigger expense is drilling the well itself. The fees that apply to a small domestic appropriation:
| Item | Fee |
|---|---|
| Application to Appropriate Water (0–20 acre-feet, or 0–0.1 CFS) | $150 |
| Request for Extension of Time (before 14 years) | $50 |
The application fee is paid with the application, by cash, check, or money order only. These figures are from the Division of Water Rights fee schedule revised July 1, 2024 — confirm the current amounts on the official fee schedule before you file.
Two costs that are not on this list: your well driller's charge for actually constructing the well (drillers are separately licensed and set their own prices), and there's no purchase price for the water — that's the advantage of an open area. You're appropriating unallocated public water, not buying a right from someone else.
The filing fee is $150 — the well is the real number. Our calculator pulls real driller-submitted logs from wells near any Utah address and estimates depth, cost, yield, and water quality in about ten seconds.
Run my addressYour filing checklist
Before you drive to the regional office:
- Confirmed the parcel is in an open area on the groundwater-policy map.
- Read your area's policy page and confirmed it allows a small domestic appropriation at the amount you need.
- Application to Appropriate Water form completed — owner info, quantity, source, point of diversion, nature and extent of use, place of use.
- Legal description of the point of diversion tied to the U.S. Land Survey.
- Form signed by all owners of the property.
- Property map attached (county plat map or professional map) showing the well and place of use.
- Filing fee ready as cash, check, or money order.
- Know which regional office covers your area, and its hours.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to file?
For a small domestic water right, the filing fee is $150 — the Division's fee for an Application to Appropriate of 0 to 20 acre-feet (or 0 to 0.1 CFS). It's paid by cash, check, or money order with the application. There's no purchase price for the water itself in an open area. Confirm the current fee on the Division's fee schedule.
How much water is a standard domestic right?
A common total is about 1.73 acre-feet per year: 0.45 acre-foot for one household's indoor use, 1.0 acre-foot to irrigate a quarter-acre, and 0.28 acre-foot for up to ten head of livestock. The exact amount an open area approves varies by that area's published policy, so check it before you file.
I don't have cows or horses — how many chickens can I have?
The "10 livestock units" isn't really a headcount — it's a small water budget you can fill with whatever animals you keep. In the example right, the stockwater portion is 0.28 acre-foot, and the Division assigns each kind of animal a year-round per-head amount:
| Animal | Per head | Roughly fits in 0.28 acre-foot |
|---|---|---|
| Cow or horse | 0.028 acre-foot | ~10 |
| Sheep, goat, or swine | 0.0056 acre-foot | ~50 |
| Llama | 0.0022 acre-foot | ~127 |
| Chicken, turkey, chukar, or pheasant | 0.00084 acre-foot | ~333 |
So if your "livestock" is a backyard flock, the same allowance covers a few hundred chickens. Mixed herds work the same way — add up the per-head amounts and keep the total within your stockwater budget. Your area's policy sets the actual ceiling, so confirm the numbers before you file.
How long does approval take?
Allow several months. After filing, the application is advertised for public notice and a protest period, then the State Engineer reviews it against the statutory criteria and your area's policy before approving or rejecting it.
Can I start drilling before approval?
Normally no — a favorable decision on your application is what includes permission to drill. In some cases the Division can issue provisional drilling authority (a "rush letter") so a driller can begin immediately, but that authorizes drilling only, not use of the water.
What if my area is restricted or closed, not open?
You can't appropriate new water in a restricted or closed area. Instead you acquire all or part of an existing water right and file a change application to move it to your use. This guide covers open areas only — see the main water rights guide for the closed-area path.
Do I need a licensed driller?
Yes. Utah wells must be constructed by a licensed well driller; a licensed shallow water well constructor can handle wells 30 feet deep or less. Since 2022, all water wells are regulated regardless of depth. Your driller files a completion log with the Division when the work is done.
Sources & further reading: This guide is based on the Utah Division of Water Rights' Water Rights FAQ, the Application to Appropriate Water form and instructions, and the Water Rights Fee Schedule. Fees and procedures change, and every area has its own policy — for a specific parcel, confirm details with the regional Division of Water Rights office. Nothing here is legal advice.