An Agricultural Water Usage Certification or Agricultural Water Use Registration must be obtained, and first certified by your County agricultural agent if a person has the capability to divert ground and/or surface water in excess of 100,000* gallons per day for agricultural, aquacultural or horticultural purposes.  A total pumping capacity of 70 gallons per minute is equivalent to 100,000 gallons per day.

Agricultural Water Use Registration is required for any person with the capability to divert in excess of 100,000* gallons of water per day, but who diverts less than this quantity.

Find your county’s Rutgers New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station (NJAES) Cooperative Extension office and Agricultural Agent by visiting their website.

* At the 100,000 gallons per day threshold additional approvals for water diversion may be required by the Delaware River Basin Commission and the New Jersey Pinelands Commission.  According to N.J.A.C. 7:38-2.5(c) Agricultural, Aquicultural and Horticultural diversions within the Highlands Preservation Area  have a regulatory threshold of 100,000 gallons of water per day based on N.J.A.C. 7:20A. Please refer to the Highlands Water Protection and Planning Act for additional information.