Well Drilling in Umatilla County, OR

• Coverage includes Hermiston, Pendleton, Stanfield, Echo, Umatilla, Milton-Freewater, Athena, Weston, Pilot Rock and Helix.
• OWRD's online well log query shows logs for wells near your parcel, which helps a driller estimate depth.
• The Oregon Water Resources Department handles start cards, well logs and exempt-use recording; Oregon DEQ and the Oregon Health Authority run the nitrate program.

• New domestic wells on rural home sites
• Deepening wells where basalt water levels have dropped
• Pump and pressure tank replacement
• Nitrate testing and treatment for domestic wells
• Abandoning old wells that need a start card and fee
• Siting checks inside the critical groundwater areas

• Local depth: at the USGS median of about 349 ft, the site calculator's formula gives $10,225–$27,185 for a complete well. At the 75th percentile (about 684 ft) it gives $18,595–$48,945, and at the 90th (about 1,043 ft) $27,570–$72,280. The calculator's method is depth × $25–$65 per foot plus permit, pump and tank allowances, so these are estimates.
• Basalt versus alluvium: USGS records code 312 wells to the Columbia River Basalt with a median near 466 feet, while 27 wells in alluvium have a median near 107 feet.
• State fees: the OWRD fee schedule lists $490 per start card, and OWRD says a new exempt-use well also carries a one-time $300 recording fee.
• Pump setting: deep static levels in basalt mean bigger pumps and more drop pipe, which can cost as much as extra drilling.

• Step 1, start card: under ORS 537.762 (as amended by HB 2808 in 2025), the licensed constructor files a start card no earlier than 60 days and no later than 72 hours before work. The OWRD fee schedule lists $490 per start card.
• Step 2, water right check: ORS 537.545 exempts domestic use of up to 15,000 gallons a day from a water right permit; irrigation and larger uses need one, and the Butter Creek, Ordnance and Stage Gulch critical groundwater areas restrict new appropriations under OWRD rules.
• Step 3, construction: the well is built to OWRD construction standards (OAR chapter 690), and the constructor files a well log; the standards sit in the Oregon Administrative Rules, chapter 690.
• Step 4, recording: OWRD says the $300 exempt-use recording fee and a tax-lot map are due within 30 days of completion for a new exempt well.
• Step 5, nitrate test: Oregon DEQ designated the Lower Umatilla Basin Groundwater Management Area in 1990 for high nitrate, so test a new or existing domestic well for nitrate.

• Columbia River Basalt: layered basalt flows underlie the county, with the water-bearing aquifer zones sitting between flows, and USGS records code 312 wells to the basalt group (median near 466 feet) and 105 to the deeper Grande Ronde Basalt (median near 500 feet).
• Critical areas: OWRD lists four critical groundwater areas in the Umatilla basin north and west of Hermiston and Echo, including Stage Gulch, where its report documents water-level declines of 50 feet or more across much of the area.
• Nitrate: Oregon DEQ says the Lower Umatilla Basin management area covers parts of northern Morrow and Umatilla counties and is one of three in the state, and the Oregon Health Authority runs nitrate testing for domestic wells in the area.
• USGS site records (n=824 with depth): 25th percentile about 173 ft, median about 349 ft, 75th percentile about 684 ft.
• Census ACS puts the median year built at 1979 across about 32,199 housing units.

Hermiston · Pendleton · Stanfield · Echo · Umatilla · Milton-Freewater · Athena · Weston · Pilot Rock · Helix