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ND · wells & permits

Water wells in North Dakota

Real drilling records, county depth medians, active contractors, and exactly what it takes to pull a well permit in North Dakota.

The permit, in plain language

No pre-drill permitgeneric

ND DWR / Board of Water Well Contractors

domestic exemption

Pre-drill gate
None — report after drilling
Fee
Who files
Driller or owner may file
Timeline
Varies

Confirm current fee with authority

Before the rig arrives

  1. Confirm parcel allows a private well (vs required public water connection).
  2. Select a licensed well contractor; obtain owner authorization as required.
  3. No statewide pre-drill permit for typical domestic wells — confirm local/district overlays.
  4. Still complete post-drill filing (registration / well log) on the deadline below.

After drilling: Well Driller's Report SFN 60273 within 30 days → ND DWR / Board of Water Well Contractors

WellMap prepares estimate-backed quote packets and dual-party approvals. It does not issue permits and never auto-submits to government systems. The licensed driller (and/or owner where required by law) is the submitter of record. Verified 2026-07-14.

Top drillers on record

No contractor statistics for North Dakota yet — several states publish drilling records without contractor names, and a few aren't in bulk form at all. See data & methodology.

Get a depth estimate anywhere in North Dakota

County by county

Depth statistics across North Dakota

Medians from wells with verified total depth. Click a county for its permit authority, fee and filing channel.

North Dakota doesn't publish bulk well records in machine-readable form yet, so county statistics are thin here. The permit rules above still apply — and the estimate tool widens its search radius automatically in sparse areas.