Finding the Well Log for Your Property

A well log, formally a well completion report, is the driller's record of how deep the well goes, how it was built and sealed, and what came up the hole. California Water Code Section 13751 requires anyone who builds, alters or destroys a well to file one with the Department of Water Resources within 60 days of finishing. On older ranch properties around Templeton or Creston, the paper copy may not have survived the changes of owner.

Where can you look one up?

Start with DWR's WCR Map Application, linked from the department's Well Completion Reports page. It lets anyone search for reports by address or by map coordinates, which helps on long rural parcels where the well sits far from the house. Drillers now submit reports through a state online system, the Online System for Well Completion Reports.

If the map has nothing, DWR's page explains how to ask a region office: download the WCR request form, fill it in, and send it by email, fax or mail to the office for the area where the well is. DWR notes there may be a fee for this service. We could not confirm which region office handles San Luis Obispo County, so ask DWR when you send the form.

San Luis Obispo County Environmental Health also runs a public Water Well Data map of construction permit records, which can confirm that a permit was issued even when the log itself is hard to find.

Why keep a copy?

The log gives a pump contractor the well's depth and construction before work starts, tells a buyer what is in the ground, and gives a baseline when a well runs low. The county's form for keeping an unused well inactive asks for a copy of the completion report, as explained in inactive and abandoned wells. The State Water Board's booklet for well owners notes that the owner is meant to receive a copy along with the agencies, so if you are drilling a new well, ask the driller for yours when the work is done and keep it with the water test results, as described in living on a private well.

Sources

1. DWR — Well Completion Reports (archived copy) — Water Code 13751, 60-day filing, WCR map, online filing system, region office requests and fee
2. County of San Luis Obispo — Well Program (archived copy) — Water Well Data map of permit records
3. County of San Luis Obispo — Declaration to Maintain an Inactive Well (archived copy) — form asks for the completion report
4. State Water Board GAMA — A Guide for Private Domestic Well Owners (June 2025) — log goes to the agencies and the owner