Texas Water Well Rules Every Driller Should Know
Updated October 5, 2026 · Written by a Texas-licensed well driller and pump installer
Most of the Texas rules for drilling and pumping water wells are in 16 TAC Chapter 76, with the licensing law in Occupations Code Chapters 1901 (drillers) and 1902 (pump installers). The rules below come up on the job every week. They also make up a big share of the "Texas Law and Rule" questions on the licensing exams: 20 of 60 questions on both General exams.
Each rule below lists its section number so you can read the source.
Who regulates what
- TDLR regulates private water well drilling and pump installation.
- TCEQ regulates the construction of public water supply wells.
- No state site permit is needed to drill a water well. Local ordinances or a groundwater conservation district may still require a permit or well registration, so check before you mobilize.
Setback distances (16 TAC §76.100)
The standard minimum distances from a new water well are:
| Distance | From |
|---|---|
| 150 feet | Animal pens, privies, cemeteries, and pesticide mixing or loading areas |
| 100 feet | A septic system drain field |
| 50 feet | A sewage treatment facility, a septic tank, or the property line |
Some of these distances can be reduced if the well is cemented the way the rule requires. Read §76.100 before you rely on a reduced distance. A groundwater conservation district or a city may also set stricter distances than the state minimum.
Well caps (16 TAC §76.104)
A well cap must:
- hold a weight of at least 400 pounds, and
- not be removable by hand.
A loose cover or a piece of plywood does not qualify.
Well reports: 60 days (16 TAC §76.70)
File the well report within 60 days after drilling is completed or stops. Send it to:
- the department, through the Texas Well Report Submission and Retrieval System,
- the well owner, or the person it was drilled for, and
- the groundwater conservation district, if the well is in one.
Plugging has its own, shorter deadline. See the next section.
Abandoned wells: 180 days to plug or cap (Occ. Code §1901.255)
An abandoned or deteriorated well must be plugged or capped by the 180th day after the landowner learns of its condition. Once it's plugged, the plugging report is due within 30 days (16 TAC §76.70). A driller who becomes aware of an abandoned or deteriorated well must notify the landowner.
The landowner is responsible for plugging an abandoned or deteriorated well. They can plug it themselves or hire a licensed driller or pump installer. A well that isn't in use and isn't capped or plugged is both a hazard and a violation. For the full process, see how to plug an abandoned water well in Texas.
Injurious water: 24 hours and 30 days (16 TAC §76.71)
If you hit injurious water:
- notify the landowner within 24 hours,
- notify the department within 30 days, and
- seal off the injurious zone so it can't contaminate water of usable quality.
Your license
- It isn't transferable (Occ. Code §1901.158). Working under someone else's license exposes both of you to enforcement.
- Landowner exemption: A landowner drilling a well on their own land, for their own use, with their own equipment, doesn't meet the statutory definition of a well driller (Occ. Code §1901.001(15)). The well still has to meet construction and plugging standards.
- Continuing education: You need 8 hours per renewal: 7 industry-related hours plus 1 hour of Texas law and rules. This applies to licenses renewing on or after March 1, 2024 (16 TAC §76.25).
- Penalties: Administrative penalties can run $200 to $1,000 for each day a violation continues, on top of action against the license (Occ. Code §1901.401).
Studying these for the exam
Exam questions on these rules usually hinge on one number, like 60 days or 30 days, or 100 feet or 150 feet. The wrong answers are other real numbers from the same chapter. The way to get them right is to know which rule each number belongs to, not just to memorize a list.
For more, see our free licensing FAQ and what's on each exam.
This article is a study aid, not legal advice. Rules are amended over time, so check any figure against the current official text of 16 TAC Chapter 76 and the Texas Occupations Code before relying on it. Overview facts are from TDLR's "Water Well Drillers & Pump Installers At a Glance" (Dec. 2025).