Section front · Wells
The Private Well, From the Wellhead to the Pressure Tank
Wells in north San Luis Obispo County supply most homes outside the towns, and the household that owns one, not an agency, answers for its water.
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Stories
Living on a Private Well: What the Owner Answers For
Private well owners in San Luis Obispo County carry the whole job themselves: no agency monitors the water, so testing, upkeep and records fall to the household.
AI-generated pictureHow the Well Pump and Pressure Tank Share the Work
A well pump and pressure tank work as a pair: the pump fills the tank, the tank holds water under pressure, and a switch decides when the pump runs.
AI-generated pictureWhen a Well Runs Low: Signs, First Steps and Reporting
When a well is running dry around Paso Robles, switch the pump breaker off, use stored or bottled water, have a C-57 contractor measure the well, and report it to the state.
AI-generated pictureDrilling a New Well: Permits, Standards and the Paperwork After
Drilling a new well in San Luis Obispo County starts with a county permit filed by a licensed C-57 driller, follows state construction standards, and ends with a well log filed with the state.
In brief
BriefFinding the Well Log for Your Property
To find your well completion report, search the Department of Water Resources' WCR map by address or coordinates, and ask a DWR region office if it is not there.
BriefDisinfecting a Well: When, Who, and When to Retest
Well disinfection, or shock chlorination, follows new construction, repairs, pump work or a bacteria hit; leave pump and wiring to a contractor, then retest 7 to 10 days later.
BriefBefore You Hire Someone to Work on Your Well
When hiring a well or pump contractor, check for a C-57 Well Drilling license on the state board's site; any job of $1,000 or more, or needing a permit, requires a licensed contractor.
BriefAn Unused Well Has One Year Before the Law Calls It Abandoned
Under California's abandoned well rules, a well unused for one year counts as abandoned unless the owner shows an intent to use it again; in SLO County that means filing a declaration.
Across the oak-studded ranchettes between San Miguel, Creston and Shandon, and on the hills around Templeton and Atascadero, the kitchen tap usually leads back to a private well. San Luis Obispo County Environmental Health is plain about who looks after it: no outside agency regulates or monitors the water from a private well, and keeping it safe is the well owner's job. This section explains what that job involves, in roughly the order an owner meets it.
What this section covers
Start with living on a private well, which sets out the yearly checks, the distances a well must keep from septic systems and animal pens, and the papers worth filing. The story on the well pump and pressure tank follows water from the pump in the casing to the tank in the pump house, and marks where the owner's part ends. When pressure fades or the taps spit air, when a well runs low covers the first steps and the state's dry-well reports. Anyone planning a new bore should read drilling a new well on county permits and state construction standards.
The briefs each handle one task: finding your well log in the state's records, well disinfection after repairs or a positive bacteria test, hiring a well or pump contractor with the right license, and the rules for inactive and abandoned wells.
Why wells here need watching
Much of this part of the county sits over the Paso Robles Area Subbasin, which the state classes as critically overdrafted, and many of its monitoring wells show water levels falling since the late 1990s. A count of DWR's public dry-well dataset finds 363 reports from Paso Robles, Templeton, San Miguel, Creston and Shandon, out of 440 for the whole county. Water quality is the other half of the job; testing is covered in the Water Quality section, and basin rules in Groundwater & Rules.
Who does what
An owner can read the pressure gauge, keep the wellhead clear, switch the pump breaker off when something seems wrong, keep records, and take water samples the way the lab instructs. Drilling, pulling a pump, wiring and destroying an old well belong to a contractor with a C-57 Well Drilling license, which anyone can look up on the Contractors State License Board site.
Where to call
- San Luis Obispo County Environmental Health Services, Well Program — construction and destruction permits, inactive-well declarations and well owner resources. Well Program
- California Department of Water Resources — well completion reports and the dry-well reporting system. Well Completion Reports
- Contractors State License Board — checking a C-57 or C-36 license before anyone starts work. License Check