You can’t get a building permit in Costa Rica without proof that the lot has a legal water supply, and that proof has become one of the hardest documents to get. There are three legal sources: a connection to a public water provider, backed by an availability letter; a concession to use a spring or stream on the property; or, in narrow cases, a well. Water belongs to the nation under the Constitution, so owning the land doesn’t give you the right to use the water on it. Check the water situation before you buy, not after.
| Public connection | Availability letter from AyA, the municipality, ESPH or the local ASADA. Free; AyA must answer within 15 business days. |
|---|---|
| Spring or stream | Needs a water concession from MINAE’s Dirección de Agua |
| Hand-dug well | Allowed for domestic use on your own land without a concession |
| Drilled well | Needs a drilling permit and a concession; not allowed for drinking water where a public provider can serve the property |
| Rejection rates | About 22% of AyA availability requests were turned down in 2023 |
| Springs | 100-meter (328-foot) protected radius around a permanent spring |
| Rivers and streams | Protected strip of 10 to 50 meters (33 to 164 feet) on each bank, depending on terrain |
The water availability letter
Most new homes get water from a public provider: AyA, the national water utility; a municipal system; ESPH in Heredia; or one of the community water associations known as ASADAs. Before the municipality will issue a building permit, you need a letter from that provider confirming it can supply the lot, called a carta or constancia de disponibilidad de agua. If the lot already has a working connection, a certification that you are an active customer usually does the job. The letter is free, and AyA must answer within 15 business days. Since a 2024 reform, AyA can also count pipes and plants it plans to build within 36 months.
Getting a yes is not guaranteed. AyA turned down 5,119 of 23,272 requests in 2023, about 22%. Most of those rejections were for individual homes and businesses, not large developments. A study by ARESEP, the utilities regulator, found that about 23% of new water requests in 2022 were turned down nationwide, 29% in the Central Region, and 52% for condominium projects. Pressure is highest in parts of the Central Valley, such as AserrÃ, Moravia, Goicoechea and Tibás, and in fast-growing coastal Guanacaste cantons such as Santa Cruz and Carrillo, where community water systems are under strain. Our report on Costa Rica’s water squeeze looks at what that means for buyers.
Springs and streams need a concession
A spring or stream on the property can be a legal water source, but only with a concession from the Dirección de Agua, part of the Environment Ministry (MINAE), and municipalities ask for it with the building permit application. Without one, using the water is not legal even though it sits on your land. Concessions take time and usually need professional studies, so budget for both.
Water also limits where you can build. Under Article 33 of the Forestry Law, the area within 100 meters (328 feet) of a permanent spring is protected. Along rivers and streams the protected strip is 15 meters (49 feet) on each bank in rural areas and 10 meters (33 feet) in urban areas where the land is flat, rising to 50 meters (164 feet) on steep terrain, and 50 meters around natural lakes and state-built reservoirs. INVU, the housing and urban planning institute, sets the exact setback line for a lot next to a waterway. Building inside these areas can bring prison terms and demolition, and in December 2025 the Constitutional Court struck down a 2022 reform that had allowed low-impact works such as bridges, lookout platforms and zip lines in those protected strips. Check for streams and springs, and for water easements, before you sketch a house site.
Wells, what’s allowed
The Water Law lets a property owner dig a well by hand for domestic use without a concession. The Dirección de Agua has said no permit is needed on private land, though wells must be at least 2 meters from other wells in towns and 15 meters in the countryside. Using the water for anything beyond the household needs a concession.
Drilled wells are a different matter. They need a drilling permit and a concession, with a technical opinion from SENARA, the groundwater agency. Under a December 2022 MINAE directive, no well may be drilled to supply drinking water where an authorized provider can serve the property, and condominiums may drill only in areas with no public supply, shown by a letter from the provider. A well drilled without a permit can’t later be legalized, and using it can lead to prosecution and an order to seal it. If a property you are considering has a drilled well, ask for the permit and concession numbers and confirm they are current and cover your intended use.
Condominiums, subdivisions and who may supply water
Since a 2020 reform, Article 50 of the Constitution recognizes access to drinking water as a human right and declares water a national good, with human consumption taking priority. Public water service can be provided only by AyA, municipalities, ESPH, JASEC or ASADAs operating under an agreement with AyA, so a neighbor or developer can’t simply sell you water from their own source.
A condominium can supply its own residents under a 2009 regulation, but only with a letter from AyA or the local provider saying it can’t serve the project, with the well in the common area, and only until a public provider connects. That regulation applies only to condominiums, so lots simply split off from a larger farm can’t share a developer’s well or spring, and each one needs a public connection or its own concession. Ask a developer which arrangement applies before you buy a lot, and get the concession or availability letter in writing. Our guides to the risks of buying a lot in a new development and condominium fees cover other questions to ask.
Environmental review and rainwater
A typical single-family home doesn’t need approval from SETENA, the environmental agency. Under regulations in force since August 2023, buildings under 1,000 square meters (about 10,800 square feet) generally need no environmental review, though a simplified form applies in environmentally fragile areas, and earthworks of 1,000 cubic meters or more still need review. Costa Rica has no specific national rules for drinking or household use of harvested rainwater, but some municipalities require a stormwater drainage plan for larger paved or roofed areas.
What to check before you buy
- Get the water availability letter, or the active-customer certification, and check its date and who issued it.
- Ask whether the provider is currently accepting new connections in that area.
- For a spring or stream, ask for the concession number and confirm it is current and in the seller’s name.
- For a well, ask whether it was hand-dug or drilled, and for the permit and concession of a drilled well.
- Map any springs, rivers and streams, and check the protected areas and INVU setback before planning the house.
- In a subdivision or condominium, find out who supplies the water and under what legal arrangement.
- Ask your lawyer to explain the water rights in writing, and check how the local municipality handles building permits, since practice varies among Costa Rica’s cantons.
Our guides to building a house in Costa Rica, buying land and property measurements cover the next steps, and our main guide to buying property in Costa Rica walks through the purchase.
This guide draws on a 2015 column by hydrogeologist and civil engineer Paul Collar of Osa Water Works. It is general information, not legal or engineering advice.
