Task-oriented Texas well-record research
How to Find Texas Water Well Records
Choose the official system by drilling date, search with more than one identifier, and compare a possible report without treating a map point or name as proof about a parcel.
Primary questionWhich official system should I search for a Texas water-well report, and how can I test a possible match without treating it as proof about a property?
Prepare the search
What to gather before searching
TWDB identifies the approximate drilling year and the owner at the time of drilling as the minimum starting information. Add every reliable identifier you can find, but keep current property facts separate from historical report fields.
Approximate drilling date
Even an estimated year helps identify where to start. Uncertain dates and overlapping coverage may require searching more than one system.
Historical owner
Use the name of the person or entity that owned the property when the well may have been drilled.
Driller and depth
A drilling-company name and approximate total depth can distinguish records with similar locations or owners.
County and address
Keep the county and current 911 address, but expect older reports to use route-and-box or descriptive addresses.
Legal description
Retain subdivision, lot, block, survey, abstract, or other available property-description details for comparison.
Known identifiers
Preserve any tracking number, state well number, report date, permit reference, maintenance record, or well tag exactly as shown.
Choose a pathway
Which official system to use
The systems differ in record role and identifiers, and their coverage can overlap. The drilling period is the practical first routing clue, not proof that a report must appear in only one system.
Start with Submitted Drillers Reports
TWDB says water-well reports drilled since 2003 are submitted electronically and stored in the Submitted Drillers Reports database. Search the map first when location is useful, then use report fields when it is not.
Review the approved Submitted Drillers Reports source record →Use the historical Water Well Report Viewer
Pre-2003 reports were submitted on paper, later scanned, and organized through the TCEQ viewer. A map grid can contain multiple report files or maps, so review the grid results rather than expecting one precise well point.
Open TWDB's current historical-report instructionsSearch both pathways after no result
TWDB notes that a paper copy from this transition period may be in the historical viewer. If the current map and Submitted Drillers Reports search do not locate it, check the older system before recording the search as unresolved.
Read the official crossover guidanceGroundwater Database versus Submitted Drillers Reports
The TWDB Groundwater Database is a selected statewide inventory used for groundwater and aquifer information. Its records use state well numbers and may include location, construction, water-level, or water-quality fields. Submitted Drillers Reports are construction reports hosted for TDLR and use tracking numbers. A well may appear in both systems, but neither system is a complete parcel registry.
Review the approved Groundwater Database source record →Do not skip plugging reports
A plugging report is a separate record type that can supply a reported date, identifier, and location context. It does not by itself establish present physical conditions, parcel attribution, ownership, or the completeness of historical plugging activity.
Review the approved Plugging Reports source record →Location-first search
Search by property address, map, or tracking number
An address can orient a map search, but the returned point still has to be tested against the report and independent property evidence.
- Search the address.For a 2003–present report, enter the 911 street address in the Groundwater Data Viewer to orient the map. Treat the address result as a place to begin, not a parcel boundary.
- Inspect the map layer.Open a nearby well point, record the displayed source and identifiers, and compare the point with the report rather than relying on distance alone.
- Open the tracking number.For a Submitted Drillers Report point, use the linked tracking number to open the report and preserve the number exactly. A state well number is a different identifier.
- When nothing plots, change the search.Coordinates may be entered incorrectly, so search Submitted Drillers Reports by owner, driller, county, address text, or drilling-date range. For 2003–2005, also check the historical viewer.
Field-first search
Search without an exact address
Use combinations that are broad enough to survive abbreviations, name variations, or older location descriptions. Save the query you used so a no-result outcome remains reproducible.
Owner
Try the historical owner’s surname or a distinctive part of an entity name. Compare the returned report’s owner field with deed history; a name match alone is not enough.
Driller
Use the driller or company name when known. This can narrow a county-and-date search and help distinguish otherwise similar reports.
County
Start with the correct county, then add a date range or another reliable field. County-only searches may return many unrelated records.
Date range
Use an estimated drilling period rather than one exact date when the year is uncertain. Expand the range once before assuming the report is absent.
Use “less is more” for text
TWDB warns that text searching follows what was entered. A record using “Ave” may not match “Avenue,” so begin with the stable part of a street, owner, or driller name and add detail only when the result set is too broad.
Compare the evidence
How to test a possible match
No single field should carry the conclusion. Compare several independent details and preserve conflicts as unresolved.
Compare report facts
- Owner at the time of drilling
- Drilling and report dates
- Driller or company
- Reported depth and construction details
- Proposed use
- Address, route description, legal description, or survey references
Compare property evidence
- Deed or appraisal history
- Current survey and legal description
- Observed well location or physical evidence
- Seller-known maintenance or service records
- District records when a district may apply
- Conflicts among identifiers, dates, and mapped locations
TWDB cautions that coordinates can be entered incorrectly and a report may not plot in the expected place. Older scanned reports may be organized within a map grid and use route-and-box, directional, subdivision, or legal-description text instead of a current address. A point or grid is therefore a research lead, not property-association evidence.
Read before concluding
How to read a well report
Begin with the identifiers and location description, then record construction fields exactly as reported. Keep historical statements in their original time context.
- Report identifiers
- Record the tracking number, state well number if present, and report date without combining or relabeling them.
- Owner and driller
- These are names reported for the drilling event. Compare them with historical evidence; do not restate them as current ownership.
- Location
- Transcribe the address, legal description, directions, coordinates, map grid, or other location description and note any uncertainty.
- Depth and construction
- Identify the exact depth or construction field being used. Do not substitute a similarly named value from another part of the form.
- Proposed use
- Record the use reported when the well was drilled. It does not establish the current use or operating condition.
- Comments and linked records
- Review remarks for cross-references between a tracking number and state well number, then save any linked report separately.
Keep the conclusion narrow
What a well report cannot establish
A report documents information supplied for a drilling or related record at a point in time. It does not by itself establish that the well still exists or operates, who owns it now, whether it belongs to the researched parcel, its present or future yield, current water quality, or compliance with current district and agency requirements.
Use the report to preserve reported identifiers, dates, names, location descriptions, proposed use, and construction details. Use separate current evidence and the appropriate official authority for present-condition, ownership, quality, yield, or compliance questions.
Accessible decision flow
No-result troubleshooting flowchart
Follow the steps in order. Each branch changes the search evidence; none converts a no-result screen into proof that no well exists.
Start No useful result from an address or map search
Save the system, query, layers, area, and search date. Confirm the county and approximate drilling period.
Decision 1 Which date route applies?
2003 or later: begin with Submitted Drillers Reports. Before 2003: begin with the historical TCEQ viewer. 2001–2002 or uncertain: search both systems and record the results separately.
Decision 2 Could it fall in the 2003–2005 paper-copy crossover?
If yes: retain a separate check of the historical TCEQ viewer even after the current TWDB searches return no result. If no: continue with field and identifier changes.
Try again Reduce text and vary the evidence
Use a surname, street root, partial driller name, expanded date range, legal description, tracking number, or state well number. Review nearby points only as candidates.
Broaden sources Check other official record pathways
Review the Groundwater Database, plugging reports, and a possible groundwater conservation district. Compare physical, survey, deed-history, seller, and maintenance evidence.
Record outcome Keep the result unresolved when the evidence does not converge
Document searches and candidate records, identify the next source or professional question, and do not state that the absence of a result proves no well exists.
Printable worksheet
Texas Well-Record Comparison Worksheet
Use one worksheet for each candidate report. Preserve conflicts and blanks rather than filling them with assumptions.
- Tracking number
- Submitted-report identifier
- State well number
- Groundwater Database identifier, if present
- Report date
- Date shown on the source record
- Historical owner
- Name reported when the well was drilled
- Driller
- Person or company shown on the report
- Depth
- Reported total depth and the field where it appears
- Proposed use
- Reported intended use at the time of drilling
- Address or legal-description match
- Details that agree, conflict, or remain missing
- Mapped location
- Map layer, point, grid, and any location uncertainty
- Physical or survey evidence
- Observed well, survey, maintenance record, seller information, or other comparison evidence
- Match status
- Likely match, candidate record, conflicting record, or unresolved
- Unresolved questions
- Missing identifiers, conflicts, follow-up sources, or professional-review issues
This worksheet organizes candidate evidence. It does not establish ownership, parcel association, present operation, water quality, yield, or regulatory compliance.
Research boundary
What this page cannot establish
- A map point, coordinate, report, tracking number, state well number, historical owner, or nearby result is not proof that a record belongs to a parcel.
- A well report does not establish present existence, operation, ownership, yield, water quality, or compliance with current district or agency requirements.
- The absence of a result in one or more public systems does not prove that no well exists or that no report was filed.
- Historical reports, addresses, legal descriptions, coordinates, and scanned grid records may be incomplete, approximate, difficult to search, or changed after the displayed review date.
Source record
Official sources checked
Texas Water Development Board
Locating a Water Well Report
Official TWDB instructions for selecting and searching Texas well-report systems and comparing possible records.ReviewedTexas 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.ReviewedThis guide follows the Texas Water Sources research methodology and the independent-service disclaimer. Official records remain authoritative, and unresolved property or document questions remain unresolved.