Shared well bank accounts are used to pay for water well electricity, well repairs, and well maintenance. Traditionally, each property owner pays a flat amount to cover the cost of the electricity and to set aside money for repairs.
purpose of the well share Bank account
A well share bank account can help the parties save a little each month to cover the cost of expensive repairs.
1. Pay the Electricity Costs for the Well
Electric pumps bring water from the well into a storage tank. Traditionally, there is a single electricity meter attached to the pump. As such, it is impossible to tell how much electricity was used to deliver water to a particular household. For this reason, most Parties to a shared well agreement pay an equal amount of money each month for the electricity.
2. Save for Major Repairs to the Water Well
The second major reason homeowners use a joint checking account is to set aside a little money each month for major repairs to the well. With this nest egg, no one is left scrambling to come up with the money.
Major repairs may include replacing a pump, fixing a water leak, or even deepening the well.
Open the Bank Account Now– Even if the well share agreement is not finalized it is not too early to open the shared bank account.
Specific Purpose– The well share bank account should not be used for any other purpose than maintaining the water well.
Equal Access to the Bank Statements– The bank can send monthly statements to each homeowner. This way, every can verify that the electricity bill is being paid and that the accumulated money stays in the account.
contact the dunaway law group, plc
For assistance with your water well contact us by phone at 480-702-1608 or message us HERE.
These blog posts are not intended, nor shall they be deemed to be the rendering of legal advice. Reading these blog posts does not create an attorney-client relationship, nor shall it impose an obligation on the part of the attorney to respond to further inquiry. The Dunaway Law Group limits its practice to the states of Arizona and New York.
In Arizona, investors can speculate on water in a few different ways. They can buy land with rights to water, either ground or surface. Or they can purchase what’s called “paper water”— tradable credits for water artificially stored underground. They can also buy water, store it, and create those credits themselves. A water investor could also build a storage facility on the land it purchased and transfer the water to an aquifer, either by letting it sink through the soil or by using a new technology, vadose zone wells, and inject it.
An Assessor Parcel Number (APN) is a unique number assigned to each parcel of land by a county tax assessor. The APN is based on formatting codes depending on the home’s location. The local government uses APNs to identify and keep track of land ownership for property tax purposes.
To find your Arizona property’s APN, go to the local county assessor’s website and search by your address. There you can see information regarding your APN, lot size, home type, property tax history, and sale price history.
Synonyms include Assessor’s Parcel Number (APN), Assessor’s Identification Number (AIN), County Assessor’s Parcel I.D., Property Identification Number (PIN), Property Account Number, Tax Account Number.
can i register a shared well in my name, even if the well is not on my property?
No. A water well can only be registered in the name of the Arizona property owner in which the well is located.
az department of environmental quality
While the Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR) permits the drilling of a well, the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) regulates any well used for drinking water that: a) has at least 15 service connections, or b) serves an average of at least 25 people for at least 60 days per year.
does a well share agreement need to be recorded with the aDWR?
No. Not only is it not a requirement to record your well share agreement with the Arizona Department of Water Resources they do not oversee shared well agreements at all!
A well share agreement does not have to be recorded anywhere, however, it is good practice to record the agreement with the county recorder in which the well is located. For example, if the shared well is located in Maricopa County then the well share agreement should be recorded with the Maricopa County Recorder’s Office.
Additionally, it is wise to record the well share agreement with the Arizona Department of Water Resources. The benefit to recording the agreement with them is that it is placed into the well’s file and then it can be retrieved at some future date.
where should i record the agreement?
A well share agreement should be recorded with the county in which the well is located. Below are links to the different recording offices in Arizona.
In Arizona, the Arizona Department of Water Resource’s assigns a well registration number to each water well. These well registration numbers each begin with the number 55. To find your well’s 55 number go to the Arizona Department of Water Resource’s Website and search using a few different methods.
In order to find a well’s registration number, you need to know one of the following pieces of information: a) Well Registry Number, b) Well Owner’s Name, c) the Well’s: Township/Range, Cadastral, Basin, or Subbasin.
without a well share agreement can i be denied water?
Yes. Grantees–the recipients of the well water–can be denied water without a proper well share agreement. Some people may say, I do not need a formal well share agreement because I’m friendly with my neighbor and we have a verbal agreement. But what if your friendly neighbor moves? Will you still have a legal right to the water? No, the new owners do not have an obligation to share the well water with you.
If you need help from an experienced shared well attorney, then contact the Dunaway Law Group at 480-702-1608 or message us HERE.
* The information provided is informational only, does not constitute legal advice, and will not create an attorney-client or attorney-prospective client relationship. Additionally, the Dunaway Law Group, PLC limits its practice to the states of Arizona and New York.
Since 1980 all wells are to be registered with the Arizona Department of Water Resources. Occasionally, it is discovered that a well in existence has not been registered with the ADWR, either because the well was drilled before 1980 and the owner never registered the well with the ADWR, or the well was drilled illegally after 1980 without the required legal authority.
form 55-65: late registration of a well
Form 55-65 is used to register a well with the ADWR. The form is broken into
section 1- registry information
1.1 Exempt or Non-exempt Well. First, you must indicate whether the well is an exempt or non-exempt well. An exempt well is a well equipped with a pump with a maximum capacity of not more than 35 gallons per minute and, if located within an Active Management Area (AMA), is not used for irrigation of two or more acres.
A non-exempt well is a water well equipped with a pump with a maximum capacity greater than 35 gallons per minute or any well used to withdraw groundwater within an AMA for irrigation of two or more acres. Inside of AMAs, non-exempt wells are typically associated with groundwater withdrawal rights or permits.
1.2 Information About the Drilling. A well owner must provide the a) name of the drilling firm that originally drilled the well, if known, b) the date the original well was drilled, or an estimate of the year in which the well was drilled if the actual date is not known, and c) the name of the person who owned the land at the time the well was drilled, if known.
1.3 Location of the Well. The location of the well must be provided with great specificity. The ADWR wants the following information. 1.3(a) The Street Address. Provide the street address of the property where the well is located, if there is a street address. 1.3(b) Legal Description for the Well Location. The legal description is the township, range, section, and in decreasing order, the quarters of that section so that the well location falls in a 10-acre block within that section. This information may be obtained from the county tax assessor’s office. 1.3(c) Latitude and Longitude of the Well Location. Provide the latitude and longitude of the well location (in degrees- minutes-seconds format), if that information is known. Use of a GPS receiver or a conventional survey is the preferred method. If a GPS unit is used, the unit should be adjusted to use the NAD-83 datum. 1.4(d) County Tax Assessor’s Parcel Id. 1.5(e) Legal Description of Where the Water is Used. 1.6(f) County Location. The name of the county where the well is located.
SECTION 2- OWNER INFORMATION. Well owner and landowner.
SECTION 3- GENERAL QUESTIONS. This section asks a series of general questions.
SECTION 4- WATER AND SITE INFORMATION. This section of form 55-65 asks about all the types of water that is accessible to the owners.
SECTION 5- EXISTING WELL CONSTRUCTION. This section of form 55-65 contains three tables providing information on the existing well construction design.
SECTION 6- OPTIONAL INFORMATION. A property/well owner has the option to grand the ADWR permission to enter the property and obtain dept-to-water measurements from the well.
SECTION 7- SIGNATURE BLOCK. This section of form 55-65 must be signed by the property owner.
WELL REGISTRATION FILING FEE. The filing fee for the late registration of a well is $60. Checks should be made payable to the Arizona Department of Water Resources. If you wish to pay the late registration fee by credit card, then call the Groundwater Permitting and Wells Program at 602-771-8527. Failure to enclose the filing fee will cause the late registration to be returned. Fees for the late registration of a well are authorized by A.R.S. 45-113 and A.A.C. R12-15-104.
If you need help from an experienced Arizona well attorney, then contact the Dunaway Law Group at 480-702-1608 or message us HERE.
* The information provided is informational only, does not constitute legal advice, and will not create an attorney-client or attorney-prospective client relationship. Additionally, the Dunaway Law Group, PLC limits its practice to the states of Arizona and New York.
Is it necessary or beneficial to quit claim a well easement when sharing a well in Arizona?
Why Quitclaim A Well Easement?
Benefits and Drawbacks to Quitclaiming a Well Easement
Some mortgage lenders are picky about the wording used in a shared well agreements, especially if there are five or more home homes sharing a single well. If there are five or more homes on a single shared well, lenders prefer that the shared well is registered in either a co-op, or a limited liability company (LLC).
Quitclaiming a Shared Well Easement. Several key steps should be followed before putting your shared well into an Arizona Limited Liability Company. First, the shared well and surrounding easement must be professionally surveyed. Second, the Arizona limited liability company must be formally created with the Arizona Corporation Commission.
Creating and maintaining the company raises a whole host of issues. For example, how will the company be organized? Who is going to manage the company? Who is going to be the members? When a property is sold and ownership transfers hands, not only will the shared well agreement need to be amended but now so will the company.
If you need help from an experienced Arizona water law attorney, then contact the Dunaway Law Group at 480-702-1608 or message us HERE.
* The information provided is informational only, does not constitute legal advice, and will not create an attorney-client or attorney-prospective client relationship. Additionally, the Dunaway Law Group, PLC limits its practice to the state of Arizona and New York.