Source family · well reports
Official Texas Well-Report Sources
These approved TWDB pathways cover different record purposes. Use the report date, identifier, search context, and official source notes together; no single result establishes that a well belongs to a parcel or remains in operation.
Primary research questionWhich approved official source should I use to locate and compare a possible Texas water-well record?
Current approved catalog
Sources in this family
These records are selected from the existing eight-source catalog. Category membership does not expand the catalog or imply complete statewide coverage.
TWDB Groundwater Database
Official TWDB search surface for selected groundwater well, measurement, and water-quality records.
- May help answer
- Agency well identifiers and available groundwater observations
- Cannot establish
- A complete registry of every well
TWDB Submitted Drillers Reports
Official TWDB navigation entry for submitted water-well driller report records and report identifiers.
- May help answer
- Submitted report identifiers and report dates
- Cannot establish
- Whether a reported well still exists or operates
TWDB Plugging Reports
Official TWDB navigation entry for submitted well-plugging report records and report dates.
- May help answer
- Plugging report identifiers and reported dates
- Cannot establish
- Present physical conditions at a reported location
Useful research questions
What this source family may help answer
- Is an agency well identifier or groundwater observation available?
- Was a submitted driller report filed for the candidate well?
- Is there a submitted plugging record that should be compared with the well-report trail?
Keep the boundary visible
What it cannot answer
- Whether a candidate record belongs to the property under review.
- Whether a reported well presently exists, operates, produces a particular yield, or meets current requirements.
- Current ownership, title, permit standing, water quality, or future availability.
Recommended sequence
Use the sources in a deliberate order
Record the source, identifiers, dates, saved records, and unresolved questions at each step.
- 01
Start with the well-record guide to choose a system from the approximate drilling period and identifiers you already know.
- 02
Check the Submitted Drillers Reports pathway for a filed report and preserve its tracking number and report date.
- 03
Use the Groundwater Database when a state well number or groundwater-observation context may help compare records.
- 04
Check Plugging Reports separately when the research question includes possible plugging activity.
- 05
Compare every candidate with property documents, physical or survey evidence, and unresolved seller information before drawing a conclusion.
Troubleshooting
Common search failures
- Using only a current owner name when the report may show the owner at the time of drilling.
- Searching one system even though the approximate drilling period points to another record pathway.
- Treating a missing map point as proof that no report or well exists.
- Discarding a possible record before checking alternate identifiers, date ranges, spellings, or county context.
Source record
Official sources checked
Texas Water Development Board
TWDB Groundwater Database
Source: Texas Water Development Board Groundwater Database.ReviewedTexas Water Development Board
TWDB Submitted Drillers Reports
Source: Texas Water Development Board submitted driller report records.ReviewedTexas Water Development Board
TWDB Plugging Reports
Source: Texas Water Development Board plugging report records.ReviewedResearch boundary
What this page cannot establish
- The approved catalog is a bounded source directory, not a complete registry or live record-search service.
- A report, map point, identifier, historical owner, or nearby location is candidate evidence rather than proof of parcel association.
- The absence of a result in these pathways does not prove that no well exists or that no report was filed.