How to find water well logs and well records

To find water well logs, start with the state agency or county office that holds well reports where the property is, and search by location, owner name at the time of drilling, driller, county or drill date. A well log (also called a well report, drilling report or completion record) is the record a driller files after a well is drilled. It describes where the well is, who drilled it, how deep it goes, how it was built, and what was found when it was tested. These records are usually public, but who holds them and how you search them differs by state.

Who keeps water well records?

There's no single national database of private well records. NGWA notes that contractors must file well logs with their states when new wells are completed. NGWA Well Owner's Guide (2021) Depending on the state, records may sit with a geological survey, a water resources or natural resources agency, a health department, or a local groundwater district. Texas, for example, splits its reports by date between the Texas Water Development Board and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. TWDB: How to find a state of Texas well report Several state programs on our water well permits by state index also handle well reports. [NGWA-GUIDE source note] [TWDB-HOWTO source note]

What details do you need to search?

Collect what you can before searching:

• An approximate date or year the well was drilled
• The property owner's name when it was drilled
• The county or area, and the street address or map location
• The driller or drilling company, if known
• The approximate depth, if known

If you don't know the owner at the time of drilling, a county appraisal or assessor's property history can help you reconstruct it. The official Texas well-report lookup describes needing at minimum a drill date or approximate year plus the owner's name at the time. [TWDB-WR source note]

How do you search water well records by address?

1. Try a map or address search first. Many state viewers let you zoom to a location and click nearby wells.
2. Fall back to text fields. Search by owner, driller, county or date range; addresses and coordinates on old reports are often imprecise. Texas's Submitted Drillers Reports database searches reports from 2003 onward this way.
3. Check other time periods. Several states keep older paper reports in a different system from newer electronic ones.
4. Search the neighbors too. Even if your well isn't on file, nearby reports show local depths and yields.

For a full walkthrough of one state's system, see how to find water well reports in Texas.

What's on a typical water well log?

Fields and names vary by state and era. NGWA describes a well log as a document with vital information on the history of the well and the ground around it. {C('NGWA-GUIDE')}

What if there's no record of the well?

Older wells, hand-dug wells and wells drilled before reporting requirements may have no log. Ask the seller for any records, check with the county health department and any local groundwater district, and look for a driller's tag or plate at the wellhead. If you still find nothing, a licensed contractor can inspect the well, measure its depth and water level, and test its yield. For a home purchase, see well inspection cost for how that evaluation is scoped.

What does a well log prove?

A located log shows that a well was drilled and reported at a site, to a stated depth, with the yield noted when it was tested. It is a dated, site-specific record. It doesn't prove groundwater exists under your parcel at the same depth or yield today, and it isn't a water-quality certificate. USGS: Groundwater Wells Treat it as input to a conversation with a local professional. [USGS source note]

When you have the record

Read it with how to read a water well log, which explains depth, casing, static water level, yield and formation fields. If you are still evaluating property, return to buying land without a well, or use the log's depth and yield to start planning with how deep a residential well should be.