Since 1936 well drillers have been required by the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to file a well construction report (WCR) for any well drilled for drinking water, irrigation, and other uses. We maintain a database of WCRs drilled before 1990 and the DNR maintains the database of newer wells.
WCRs typically contain information about the well owner, owner’s mailing address, location of the well (most reports do not list street addresses and some do not list quarter sections); distances from the well to buildings, sewers, silos, animal yards; construction of the well, including diameters and lengths of drillhole and of casing, liner, or screen; the geologic materials the driller observed during drilling the well; water level and pumping test data; the well driller’s name and address; the date the well was completed; and the date that a water sample was sent to a laboratory for analysis. (View a sample WCR.) Except in rare cases, none of this information has been field checked. Errors, especially with regard to the location of the well, are common.
WCR searches
The following online databases are available for you to search at no charge:
- Wells drilled 1936–1989 (WGNHS WCR database)
- Wells drilled 1988–today (DNR drinking water database).
For more information, contact data@wgnhs.wisc.edu.
(Please note: We no longer offer our fee-based service to search for and provide copies of WCRs.)
More information
DNR Well Driller Viewer
The DNR’s Well Driller Viewer is an interactive map displaying information to assist drillers in siting wells, including well records.
High-capacity wells
Want to know the locations of high-capacity wells and how much water they’re pumping? Visit the DNR’s Water Withdrawal and High-Capacity Well Viewer.
Abandoning a well
For information on well abandonment procedures and forms, please contact the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR).
To find out whether a well abandonment form is on file for a specific well, visit the DNR’s Well Filling and Sealing Report System. (WGNHS does not have any well abandonment data.)
