Water Well Construction, Repair, Modification, or Abandonment in Hillsborough County
The Southwest Florida Water Management District states that a Well Construction Permit is required before installing a water well in the District. Its well-construction page also publishes the state application for construction, repair, modification, or abandonment and licensed-contractor resources. Local land-development, utility, environmental, and building approvals remain separate.
Flagged source reviewed 2026-10-15. How we check sources
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Who needs this
Owners, contractors, and project teams constructing, repairing, modifying, testing, or abandoning a water well in Hillsborough County, and projects that may also need a separate water-use authorization.
Steps
- 1
Confirm the well purpose, parcel, and utility context
Identify the parcel jurisdiction, proposed well use, expected capacity, water source, and whether public water or local utility restrictions affect the project. Do not treat a well-construction permit as permission to withdraw any quantity of water.
swfwmd.state.fl.us/business/epermitting/well-construction-pe - 2
Use SWFWMD's current well-construction path
The District's ePermitting page says Well Construction Permitting continues in its legacy Water Management Information System while new Environmental Resource Permit work uses Appian. Follow the current Well Construction page's Apply/Login route rather than the ERP portal.
swfwmd.state.fl.us/business/epermitting - 3
Select the correct well application
Use the District's published State of Florida application for constructing, repairing, modifying, or abandoning a well and the current instructions for the proposed action. Confirm whether a delineated contamination area, public-supply well, or other special condition changes the submittal.
swfwmd.state.fl.us/business/epermitting/well-construction-pe - 4
Use an authorized water-well contractor when required
Confirm the contractor's current license using the District's contractor resources. The well page publishes the current renewed-contractor list and contractor licensing, completion-report, grouting, and abandonment forms.
swfwmd.state.fl.us/business/epermitting/well-construction-pe - 5
Check separate water-use and local approvals
Ask SWFWMD whether the proposed withdrawal also needs a Water Use Permit. Coordinate site, environmental, utility, building, floodplain, and right-of-way requirements with the County or city authority for the parcel; these are not granted by the well permit.
swfwmd.state.fl.us/business/epermitting/water-use-permit - 6
Complete construction, grouting, and reporting to the approved plan
Do not begin regulated work before the required permit. Follow the issued conditions and submit the applicable completion, grouting, abandonment, or inspection documentation through the current District process.
swfwmd.state.fl.us/business/epermitting/well-construction-pe
Requirements
- Well Construction Permit before installation when required by SWFWMD.
- Current application for construction, repair, modification, or abandonment.
- Authorized water-well contractor and completion documentation when required.
- Separate Water Use Permit determination for the proposed withdrawal.
- Parcel-specific County or city land-development, utility, environmental, building, and right-of-way approvals.
Documents
- Property and owner information plus proposed well purpose and location
- Well construction/design, depth, casing, grouting, aquifer, and capacity information required by the application
- Licensed contractor information and special-area or public-supply documentation when applicable
- Completion, grouting, testing, inspection, or abandonment records required by the permit
Fees
| Item | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| SWFWMD well-construction application | Use the current District application-fee rule and ePermitting amount for the selected well action; no fixed fee is asserted. | |
| Contractor, drilling, testing, grouting, completion, or abandonment work | Private charges vary by well, site, aquifer, access, and required work. | |
| Separate water-use or local permits | Conditional and project-specific; use the current SWFWMD and parcel-authority schedules. |
Good to know
SWFWMD's live ePermitting page, accessed 2026-09-24, states that Well Construction and Water Use continue in the legacy system while new ERP work uses Appian.The live well page publishes its well application, completion, grouting/abandonment, contractor, mapping, and fee-rule resources; this workflow links the maintained page rather than hard-coding document revisions.No Pinellas well fee, county delegation, or provider behavior is copied into Hillsborough.