Registration is for domestic wells only. Registering your well creates a record of your water use on the Provincial Groundwater Wells and Aquifers (GWELLS) site. This helps ensure that your general use (i.e. what your household uses) is considered in decision making and during times of water scarcity. Water scarcity is becoming more of a concern with changes in weather patterns. Wells that were drilled after February 2016 must be registered and this would normally be done by the well driller. If your well was installed prior to February 2016 or you have no well record, you can check if it has been registered at https://apps.nrs.gov.bc.ca/gwells.You can do this by entering your street address or well number. An easy way is to go to the map on that page. Using the hand symbol and the + sign on the top left you can navigate not only to your street but to your actual lot. If your well is registered, it will be a dot on that map. Dug /excavated wells should also be registered and no registered well driller report is required.

You can register your well by filling in an on-line form and sending it to groundwater@gov.bc.ca. The form can be printed, filled in and mailed to the address given. The form is available at Well Registration Form. If you have any questions about the process you can contact the Ministry involved at their Nanaimo office at 250-751-7220. Browsing through the various BC Government sites on water can be very enlightening.