Start with ADWR’s Wells55 search using the parcel where the well physically sits, then use its 55-number to retrieve the imaged file. Check the recorded owner, location, construction and dated measurements. A map point or old water-level entry does not establish the exact well location, current yield or drinking-water safety.
Where should the search begin?
ADWR’s official Well Record Search page directs owners to the Wells55 database and the parcel-number search. Start with the parcel where the well physically sits, which may differ from the parcel receiving water. Obtain the assessor’s parcel number if it is missing from your paperwork. A shared supply does not mean that every served parcel has a separate well registration.
The registration number begins with 55-, followed by six digits. Once you find it, use ADWR’s Imaged Records tool to retrieve the documents submitted for that well. Keep the registration number with your property and maintenance records so an installer can identify the same well later.
For a community supplier, the ADWR CWS annual-use report uses well identifiers alongside source and delivery quantities. A recovered registration number does not establish the reported volume or decide the supplier’s reporting exemption.
If the supply also has a covered groundwater right or permit, the annual groundwater-use report guide explains its separate recurring accounting task. Finding a well registration is not proof that annual reporting applies or that a report was submitted.
What if the parcel search finds nothing?
ADWR explains that records may retain an older parcel number after a split or combination. Search the available older ownership and parcel information, then contact Groundwater Permitting and Wells if you cannot establish the registration number. Have the current parcel number ready rather than treating a missing search result as proof that no well exists.
The agency’s FAQ also warns that wells are often plotted to the nearest ten-acre cadastral quarter rather than their exact physical location. A displayed point is therefore a research lead. Confirm the actual well location through the records and appropriate on-site professional work before planning excavation, a property transaction or changes to the supply.
Which documents are useful for an installer?
Read the imaged file for the drilling log, reported depth, casing information and other submitted construction or equipment records. ADWR’s domestic-well guide identifies the driller’s log as a useful record for future work. Keep each document’s date and note any gaps; the file contains what was submitted, which may not describe every subsequent change.
For well-pump selection, supply those records alongside the current symptoms and equipment information. An installer still needs to evaluate actual conditions. A registration number identifies a state record; it does not establish permission for proposed drilling or deepening, which has its own notice process.
When new pump work is planned, use the separate pump-installation completion-report guide to identify the equipment filing rather than treating the old drilling log as that report.
What can the old measurements tell you?
ADWR cautions that a listed water level may have been taken when the well was drilled. It can help with historical context, but it does not establish today’s water level or available yield. ADWR’s separate Groundwater Site Inventory provides field-verified current and historical measurements where available.
Neither database establishes whether water is safe to drink. Keep private-well water testing separate from registry research. If the file’s owner, address or parcel information is wrong, ask ADWR which correction to submit rather than silently substituting an unverified location in the project records.
The ownership and parcel-record correction guide explains the administrative next step when the recovered file contains outdated owner or location information.