Overview

Effective July 23, 2009 landowners are required to record their well with Oregon Water Resource Department (OWRD) within 30 days after the well is completed (ORS 537.545). By providing more accurate locations of these wells, OWRD will be able to evaluate groundwater supplies, conduct groundwater studies, and carry out groundwater monitoring. It also benefits local governments for planning purposes and benefits landowners in having more accurate information recorded with OWRD about their well. Learn more.

The OWRD Exempt use Well Mapping Tool is designed to meet this requirement by providing the landowner with an on-line mapping tool that can submit the map directly to OWRD.

Getting Started

To get started, you will need your "Well Label number." You should receive a metal tag from the well driller. Typically this is attached to the well itself.

You will also need to have Silverlight 5 Runtime installed on your computer, if it is not already. This website will verify the version you have installed and provide a link if you do not have the newest version.

1. Find Well Record

This step finds your Well Label recorded with OWRD and provides information to verify it is the correct well.

• Enter your Well Label Number in the yellow box.
• Click "Find Well"

If your Well Label is found in the OWRD well log database, the map will zoom to the approximate area.

2. Review Well Record

A window will open to display a summary of the well. Please verify this information.

Is this information correct?
Yes - Click "Yes" and move on to the next step to draw location on the map or add GPS Coordinates.

No - Click "No" and send a message with the corrected information. Alternatively, you may click FAQ: 1. and FAQ: 2.to troubleshoot or call OWRD at (503)986-0861.

Note: If a map has already been submitted, a message will appear. You may verify the map is correct by clicking on hyperlinked map, next to "Map Available." If you would like to redo the map, you will need to call OWRD to have the old map removed.

3. Mark the Location or Add GPS Coordinates

Zoom in closer to the well location by using the navigation tools in the upper left corner. You may also drag a box by holding the "shift" key and dragging the left mouse button.

Mark the location of the well either by:
a) Drawing on the map or
b) Typing in the GPS Coordinates.

To draw on the map, click the yellow box with a pencil, then draw on the map.

To enter GPS Coordinates, type in the latitude and longitude as decimal degrees (for example: 45.12345, -123.6543217). If your GPS coordinates are in a different format from decimal degrees, click the 'Converter' link to convert the coordinates. Return back to this page to enter the coordinates as decimal degrees.

The 'Clear Point' will clear any points drawn so you may start over.

4. Make Map

Enter your name in the 'Submitted by' box. This is required.

If the address of the well is incorrect in the Summary, enter the correct address in the 'Address of Well' box.

Add any special notes that may help to clarify the location of the well.

Click 'Make Map' to generate the map.

5. Verify Map and Print

Verify the map looks as you would expect and print a copy for your own records.

6. Submit Map

If you are saticified with the map, click 'Submit Map' to submit the map to OWRD.

To view the map in the future, you may either revisit this website (see map link in the Summary) or visit the Well Log Query and find your well. The PDF will be linked to your well.

7. Exempt Use Well Location

If you would like to see what the resulting latitude/longitude and township/range/section/quarter-quarter section are, you can open the Exempt Use Well Location panel. No action is needed. It is only provided for informational purposes.