The Department began requiring Well Reports in 1955. Copies of well reports for most water wells drilled in Oregon since that time can be found on the Department’s web site.
Water Well Reports are prepared and submitted to the Department by well constructors. A well report is a record of who owned the well, what construction was done, and the performance of the well at the time. Well reports are archived records that are not updated.
"Well Reports" are prepared and submitted by well constructors when a well is constructed, altered, converted, or decommissioned. Well reports entitled “Well Record” were created based on original U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) data books. By comparison “Well Information Reports” are compiled by Department staff for some pre‐existing wells without official well driller reports, in order to document basic information.
Each well report has a unique well report number that consists of the first four letters of the county and a series of numbers (example: DESC 1234). Note: This is different than a well ID label number. There may be many well report numbers, but only one well ID label number. Once assigned, the well ID label number will link well reports associated with the well together.
The most requested information provided on well reports includes: depth, casing size, flow rate (gallons per minute) and water level. Well reports submitted prior to 2009 may not have a map associated with the well. Additionally, older reports often lack a street address or tax lot.