The Ministry of Environment and Water reminds companies and citizens, owners of groundwater abstraction facilities – wells, boreholes, geraniums, captured springs, drainages, etc., that they must submit an application to the relevant basin directorate for registration of the facilities located on their own property that are not registered in the register according to the requirements of the Water Act no later than November 28, 2025.

Water abstraction facilities that are not registered by November 28, 2025 cannot be used and are subject to liquidation at the expense of their owner, who also bears administrative and criminal liability.

Each owner submits the application for registration to one of the four Basin Directorates (BDs) in whose management territory the property falls – BD “West Aegean Region”, BD “Black Sea Region”, BD “Danube Region”, and BD “East Aegean Region”.

For the registration of wells constructed for the citizens' own needs, it is necessary to submit an application containing:

1. the three names of the property owner;
2. data on the land property: identifier, address, permanent purpose, method of permanent use;
3. depth of the well;
4. diameter of the pipe or opening of the built wells;
5. method of drawing water - with a bucket or with a pump;
6. purpose for which the water is used.

The application for registration of a well for own needs can also be submitted through the relevant mayor of a municipality, mayor of a district, mayor of a mayoralty, or the deputy mayor at the location of the well, for which the mayors and deputy mayors issue an incoming number for each application received, and every 14 days they submit to the relevant basin directorate the applications received during this period.

A fee for registration of water intake facilities used for the citizens' own needs is NOT TO BE PAID. This registration applies to wells, the water from which is used for domestic purposes, for watering and raising animals for household needs. The use of water up to 10 cubic meters per day from registered wells in settlements is free of charge. The installation of water meters is not required and no state fees or taxes are paid for these wells. Registration is necessary to protect the interests of citizens when granting rights to draw water in the area of the relevant settlement and to limit the risk of wells drying up.

The registration application form, approved by the Minister of Environment and Water, can be found on the websites of the four basin directorates. Information about the basin water management directorates can be found at https://www.moew.government.bg/bg/kontakti/basejnovi-direkcii/

More information, including about facilities used by companies for commercial and non-commercial purposes, can be found at https://www.moew.government.bg/bg/vodi/aktualno-novini/

The deadline for registration of existing groundwater facilities, including wells for citizens' own needs, which are not entered in the register under art. 118d, para. 3 of the Water Act, has been extended by the provision of art. 41, para. 1 and para. 7 of the Transitional and Final Provisions to the Act on Amendments and Supplements to the Environmental Protection Act (Amendment – State Gazette, issue 102 of 2020, in force from 27.11.2020, issue 96 of 2022, in force from 27.11.2022).