HB 449: Public utilities; subject certain companies providing water services to regulation by Public Service Commission

Currently, some property covenants and water utility contracts in Georgia can restrict or ban private water wells on a customer's land. This bill changes that in two ways. First, it adds a new section to Georgia's property law (O.C.G.A. Title 44) voiding any neighborhood covenant that prohibits a landowner from installing, operating, or maintaining a water well used only to irrigate that owner's own property, regardless of when the covenant was written. Second, it rewrites a currently unused chapter of the utilities code (O.C.G.A. Title 46, Chapter 10) to cover large private water systems serving 2,000 or more customer connections. Those companies could not enforce contract terms banning irrigation wells, and could not cut off a customer's water or sewer service just because that customer installs or runs such a well. In both cases, the well cannot supply water to land the owner does not own, and the owner cannot sell or give away well water for payment. Local county and city well regulations still apply. The law would take effect July 1, 2025.

• Voids any homeowners' association or other land covenant that bans a property owner from installing, operating, or maintaining a private irrigation well on their own land.
• Applies that covenant ban retroactively, covering existing covenants no matter when they were created.
• Bars large private water companies (serving 2,000 or more connections) from enforcing contract clauses that prohibit customers from having their own irrigation wells.
• Prohibits those same water companies from cutting off a customer's water or sewer service solely because the customer has an irrigation well.
• Limits the protection to wells that serve only the owner's own land and are not used to sell or give water to others for payment.
• Preserves local county, city, and consolidated government rules on well installation and maintenance.

Property owners and homeowners' associations governed by land covenants, large private water and sewer utility companies serving 2,000 or more customer connections, and those companies' customers who want to install or keep private irrigation wells on their own land.

Homeowners in covenant-restricted neighborhoods or served by large private water utilities could dig and use their own irrigation wells without fear of a covenant lawsuit or having their water service shut off, potentially lowering irrigation costs, while utilities and associations lose a tool they may have used to limit private well use.

• Section 1 adds O.C.G.A. § 44-5-60.1, voiding covenant provisions that restrict irrigation-only water wells on an owner's property, applied regardless of when the covenant was created.
• Section 2 rewrites O.C.G.A. Chapter 10 of Title 46, defining a 'covered water system' as a privately owned water system serving 2,000 or more connections.
• New O.C.G.A. § 46-10-2 voids contract provisions by covered water companies that prohibit customers' irrigation wells, and applies retroactively to existing contracts.
• New O.C.G.A. § 46-10-3 bars covered water companies from stopping service to a customer solely because that customer has an irrigation well.
• New O.C.G.A. § 46-10-4 and the parallel property-law provision both preserve local government authority to regulate well installation and maintenance.
• Section 3 sets the effective date as July 1, 2025.
• Section 4 repeals conflicting laws.

1. 2026-01-12Senate Recommitted (Senado)
2. 2026-01-12Senate Taken from Table (Senado)
3. 2025-04-02Senate Tabled (Senado)
4. 2025-03-28Senate Read Second Time (Senado)
5. 2025-03-28Senate Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (Senado)
6. 2025-03-06Senate Read and Referred (Senado)
7. 2025-03-04House Passed/Adopted By Substitute (Cámara de Representantes)
8. 2025-03-04House Third Readers (Cámara de Representantes)

• Trey Rhodes (R, HD-124)Patrocinador principal
• Jason Ridley (R, HD-006)
• Bill Hitchens (R, HD-161)
• Lynn Smith (R, HD-070)
• Noel Williams (R, HD-148)
• Rick Jasperse (R, HD-011)
• Lee Anderson (R, SD-024)

1. AprobadaVotación: Cámara de Representantes4 de marzo de 2025

   170 a favor, 1 en contra (5 sin votar, 4 ausentes)

   Passage: House Vote #184

• water wells
• homeowners associations
• property covenants
• water utilities
• irrigation