Drilling a Well in the Willcox AMA: The Sequence, and Who to Call

On 8 January 2025 the northern Sulphur Springs Valley became the Willcox Active Management Area. For a farm running a large turbine pump that was a very large event. For the landowner who wants one domestic well on forty acres it changed less than the rumours say. This post covers exactly what did change, the order the steps now run in, and which drillers we could verify as working the basin.

If you have not decided between a well and hauled water, read the real numbers first.

What the AMA is

ADWR's Director issued the order initiating designation on 23 October 2024, signed the Findings, Decision and Order on 19 December, and the designation took effect on 8 January 2025. The boundary is "the entire surface watershed area that contributes to Willcox Playa," plus the upper watersheds of Leslie Creek and Rucker Canyon east of the Swisshelm Mountains, in Cochise and Graham counties. ADWR's stated basis was land subsidence and fissuring on top of long-running overdraft; the draft management goal is to cut that overdraft by at least half by 2075.

The rules that bite are aimed at large wells and irrigation. New irrigation is frozen to acres legally irrigated in the five years before 23 October 2024. Wells pumping more than 35 gallons per minute must be metered and reported annually. Drilling, deepening or replacing a non-exempt well needs the Director's approval under § 45-598(A).

The exempt-well rule, which is your rule

A.R.S. § 45-454 defines an exempt well as one with a pump of "not more than thirty-five gallons per minute." The pump's rated capacity counts, not how much you draw. A domestic well on a rural parcel is almost always exempt, and ADWR's Willcox AMA page says exempt wells for non-irrigation use are generally not required to measure or report.

Three constraints come with the exemption:

• One per use, per location. Subsection I allows only one exempt well serving the same non-irrigation use at the same location, with narrow exceptions. Two houses on one parcel is a conversation with ADWR, not an assumption.
• Not next to a water system. Since 2006 an exempt well "may not be drilled on land if any part of the land is within one hundred feet of the operating water distribution system" of a municipal provider, unless one of four exemptions in subsection D applies — no service confirmation within 30 days, connecting costs more than drilling, an easement refused, or a written agreement not to take service. On most of the valley floor this is moot. Around Willcox city limits it is not.
• Non-domestic use is capped. Non-irrigation uses other than domestic and stock watering "shall not exceed ten acre-feet per year."

The sequence

1. Look at the neighbours' wells first. ADWR's Well Registry map and Wells 55 search are public. Depth to water, total depth and casing for every registered well within a mile is the best predictor of your own bill. Do it before calling, so the quote has something to be compared against.
2. Pick a licensed driller. ADWR's wells page is blunt: "a licensed well drilling contractor must perform the work," and ADWR publishes the list of licensed drillers. Separately, the Registrar of Contractors licenses the trade: ask for the ROC number and check it at azroc.my.site.com. A driller should be able to show you both.
3. File the Notice of Intention to Drill. In an AMA, § 45-596(B) requires it before an exempt well is drilled. The filing fee is $150. The notice gives the owner's name and address, the land and well location, and the driller's licence information. Drillers routinely file it through ADWR's eNOI; confirm who is filing yours. On a parcel of five acres or less, subsection F requires a site plan showing the well at least 100 feet from any septic system.
4. Wait for the drilling card. ADWR records the notice and mails a drilling card to the driller within 15 days. The driller may proceed only "on receipt of the drilling card." The authority is good for one year; after that, a new notice.
5. Drill, and get the log. § 45-600(A) requires the driller to keep "a complete and accurate log" and file a well driller report with ADWR within 30 days of finishing, including casing details. Ask for a copy. The next owner, the next driller and the pump installer will all want it.
6. Install the pump, then file your own report. § 45-600(B) puts a duty on the registered well owner: within 30 days after pumping equipment is installed, file a completion report with the equipment type, the tested pumping capacity after at least four hours of continuous pumping, the drawdown, and the static level measured just before the test. Installers hand over the numbers. The filing is yours.

Drillers who work the basin

Each entry below is taken only from the business's own website or its BBB profile. We have not rated or ranked them. Get at least two quotes and ask both for the registry data they based them on.

Two notes on the list. Pride Drilling's own site puts it in Willcox, not Benson, which is where some directories place it. And Simmons Pump & Supply on E. Maley St. is a pump distributor, not a driller; it belongs in the pumps and pressure tanks post, not here.

Three questions for every quote: which registered wells was the depth estimate based on; is the price per foot and what happens if you hit rock late; and will the log and pump test numbers come to me in writing so I can file the owner's report.

What we could not confirm

• Any price per foot, from any driller. None publishes one and we will not guess.
• Any ADWR or ROC licence number for any business above. Check them yourself.
• Longmire Well Services' current scope of work. Its BBB categories are the only description we could find.
• How ADWR applies the one-exempt-well-per-use rule to a parcel with a house and a separate guest unit. Ask ADWR directly.
• Whether the proposed First Management Plan, due for hearing on 16 November 2026, will change anything for exempt wells. The draft is aimed at non-exempt use.

The short version

The Willcox AMA regulates big pumps and irrigation. A domestic well with a pump rated at 35 gpm or less is exempt, needs no meter and pays no withdrawal fee, but still needs a $150 Notice of Intention to Drill, a drilling card in the driller's hand before the bit turns, a licensed driller, the driller's log filed within 30 days, and your own pump completion report within 30 days of the pump going in. One exempt well per use per location. Four drillers verified from primary sources: BJ Drilling in Huachuca City, Pride Drilling and Longmire Well Services in Willcox, and Tanner Well Service covering the county.

Tell us the parcel and the job and a licensed local contractor will call you to quote it.