Should our HOA drill a well to irrigate the common areas, and what permits do we need?

By OurHOA · General information · Revised November 11, 2026

Should an HOA drill an irrigation well? Permits in TX, FL and CO, payback math against the water bill, iron staining, watering rules and a board motion.

Part of the HOA board handbook: vendors, projects and upkeep.

The short answer

A well can cut what the association pays to water its common areas, but it is a permit question first and a money question second. Before anyone calls a driller, the board should find out which agency must approve the well, compare the full installed cost against the irrigation part of the water bill, and test what the water will do to sidewalks and building walls. In Texas and Florida the path usually runs through a local district permit. In Colorado the state engineer must find that water is available and that no one else's rights are hurt, a much harder test. Rules vary by state, by local district, and by your declaration and plat, which say who owns the land and may limit wells. This guide is general education, not legal or engineering advice.

Do the money math with real bills

Pull 24 months of bills for the irrigation meters. If the sprinklers share a meter with the clubhouse or pool, estimate the irrigation share from the months the system was off. That irrigation number is the most a well can save, and only if the well can carry every zone. Read the rate sheet too. If the irrigation meter carries no sewer charge, sewer is not part of the savings. Run an irrigation audit first. It finds waste no matter where the water comes from and gives the driller real flow numbers. Our guide on cutting an HOA water bill with an irrigation audit walks through it. Then build the cost side. Ask a licensed driller for a written estimate that names the expected depth, casing size, pump and motor, controls, and permit fees. Add the electrician's price for a new service or feeder, any filter or iron treatment, and the cost to tie into the existing mainline. For each year, list the pump's electric bill, a service visit, and a reserve contribution for pump replacement. Ask the driller how long pumps last in that aquifer and use that as the useful life in the reserve study. Divide the installed cost by the yearly savings after power and service. That is the payback in years. If the payback runs past the pump's expected life, the well does not pay for itself.

Texas: start with the groundwater district

Texas Water Code 36.113(a) says a groundwater conservation district shall require a permit to drill, equip, operate or complete a well, unless the well is exempt under 36.117. The main exemption, in 36.117(b)(1), covers a well used solely for domestic use or for livestock or poultry, on a tract larger than 10 acres, built so it cannot produce more than 25,000 gallons a day. A well that waters entrances and parks for a subdivision does not fit that on its face, so plan on a permit and let the district tell you otherwise. Call the district before you collect bids. Under 36.113(c), the application can ask for the landowner's name, the purpose and amount of water, each well's location and pumping rate, a water conservation plan or a promise to follow the district's management plan, a well closure plan, and a drought contingency plan. If the well would sit on land the association does not own, such as a city right-of-way or an easement on a lot, 36.113(c)(2) lets the district ask for proof that the association has authority to build there. Where no district covers your county, the district permit drops away but the drilling rules do not. Occupations Code 1901.151 bars anyone from acting as a driller without a state license, and 1901.251(b) requires the driller to send a copy of the well log to the owner, and to the state, within 60 days after drilling. Ask for it, and file it with the association's permanent records.

Florida: water use and well construction permits

Florida Statute 373.219(1) lets the water management districts require permits for consumptive use of water, and it exempts only domestic consumption by individual users. Common-area irrigation is not one person's domestic use, so the district's thresholds decide. They differ by district. Southwest Florida Water Management District's 2024 permitting brochure says a water use permit is needed if withdrawals will exceed 100,000 gallons a day, a groundwater well's outside diameter is 6 inches or larger, a surface water pipe is 4 inches or larger, or total withdrawal capacity reaches 1 million gallons a day. A smaller well can fall under those lines there. A well construction permit is a separate step, and you need it either way. The same brochure says the water well contractor still needs a well construction permit even when no water use permit is required. Under 373.308, the districts, or a delegated county health department or local government, run well permitting, and 373.323 requires every water well contractor to hold a district license. Get each bidder's license number and confirm it with the district before anyone signs.

Colorado: a permit from the state engineer and a harder test

C.R.S. 37-90-137(1)(a) bars a new well outside a designated groundwater basin unless the user applies to the state engineer for a permit. The exempt well in 37-92-602(1)(b) is narrow: no more than 15 gallons per minute, ordinary household purposes, irrigation of not over one acre of home gardens and lawns, and no more than three single-family dwellings. An association watering common area for dozens of homes is far outside it. For any other well, 37-90-137(2)(b)(I) lets the state engineer issue a permit only on a finding, backed by hydrological and geological facts, that unappropriated water is available and that others' vested water rights will not be materially injured. The well generally must also sit more than 600 feet from an existing well in the same aquifer. When the state engineer cannot make that finding, the usual next step is a plan for augmentation in water court, which replaces the water the well consumes. That is a court case, not a form. Designated groundwater basins run under separate rules. Before spending money in Colorado, pay a water engineer or water attorney for a short feasibility letter.

Watering rules and water quality still apply

A private well does not exempt the sprinklers from watering rules. In Southwest Florida, Rule 40D-22.201 applies the year-round conservation measures to all users and puts properties with no discernible address, such as common areas and rights-of-way, on Tuesday and Friday, with no irrigation from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. District drought orders can tighten that. Statute 373.62 requires every automatic landscape irrigation system in Florida to have working technology that stops it when there is enough moisture. In Texas, read the district's drought contingency rules before you apply, because they can cut pumping in the summer you need it most. Test the water before the board votes. Have the driller pull a sample from the nearest well in the same aquifer, or from the test hole, and send it to a lab for iron, manganese, hardness, pH and salinity. Penn State Extension notes that iron in irrigation water mostly causes stained concrete and plugged irrigation equipment, and that treatment means getting the dissolved iron out before it reaches the system, by aeration or settling, with filtration if needed. If the sample is high in iron, price treatment, or plan to aim heads away from hardscape and buildings, before you count the savings. Keep the well apart from the drinking water. Do not connect a well to any line fed by the city without the utility's written approval, and keep the backflow assembly tested. Our guide on setting up an HOA irrigation backflow testing program covers the testing side.

Bids, a vote and a timeline

Ask at least three drillers to price the same scope: permits, drilling to a stated depth with a price per extra foot, casing and screen, a pump and motor sized to the largest zone, controls, electrical work and its permit, the tie-in to the mainline with isolation valves, the water test, startup, and the well log. Ask for pump and motor warranties in years. Texas Property Code 209.0052(c) requires a bid process for service contracts over $50,000, and Florida Statute 720.3055 requires competitive bids for contracts over 10 percent of the total annual budget, reserves included. Follow your own documents and purchasing policy too. A workable timeline: month 1, bill review, irrigation audit and a call to the district or state engineer, where you ask how long review takes; month 2, water test, Colorado feasibility letter if needed, and the written scope; months 3 and 4, bids and the permit application; then a board vote, with drilling and tie-in in the off-season and a walk of every zone at startup. A motion the board can adapt: "I move that the board accept [contractor]'s bid of $[amount] to permit, drill and connect an irrigation well at [location], contingent on issuance of every required permit, paid from [fund], and that the treasurer add the well pump to the reserve study." A notice for owners: "The board is considering a well to water the common areas. The estimated cost is $[amount], with an expected payback of [number] years. The board will vote at its [date] meeting, and owners may comment before the vote."

Mistakes boards make with irrigation wells

Signing a drilling contract before the permit is issued. Make every contract, and any deposit, contingent on permits. Counting savings from the whole water bill. Only the irrigation share goes away, and the pump's electric bill comes in. Skipping the water test, then paying a pressure-washing crew every spring. Leaving the pump out of the reserve study. A failed pump in July means brown turf while a replacement is ordered. Losing the paperwork. Keep the permit, the well log, the water test and the pump specifications with the permanent records, and hand copies to the next board.

Sources

These guides are general education for HOA boards and residents, not legal, tax, or financial advice. Rules vary by state and by your community's governing documents - check with a professional for your situation.

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