Per Section 13752 of the California Water Code, information about wells is considered confidential in the State of California. Public agencies that possess well information can only release the information under certain circumstances.

According to Section 13752 of the California Water Code, “well information shall not be made available for inspection by the public, but shall be made available to governmental agencies for use in making studies, or to any person who obtains a written authorization from the owner of the well. However, a report associated with a well located within two miles of an area affected or potentially affected by a known unauthorized release of a contaminant shall be made available to any person performing an environmental cleanup study associated with the unauthorized release, if the study is conducted under the order of a regulatory agency. A report released to a person conducting an environmental cleanup study shall not be used for any purpose other than for the purpose of conducting the study.”

If you meet the above criteria, you may request well data from the District.  To request well data please complete the following process:

1. Select the appropriate Well Data Request form:

a.      If you are completing an environmental investigation pursuant to an order from a regulatory agency, use:

·          Well Data Request for Environmental Investigation

b.      If you are a governmental agency performing a study, use:

·          Governmental Agency Request for Well Data

c.       If you are a well owner who would like the District to release well information to a third party, use:

·         Well Owner’s Request for Release of Well Data

2.     Completely fill out both the appropriate Well Data Request Form and the associated Well Data Request Agreement.  Both forms must be completely filled out and signed prior to submittal.  Note: no Well Data Request Agreement is needed for a Well Owner’s Request for Release.

3.    Address your well data request and mail and FAX it to:

Ms. Barbara Murray
Hydrologic Systems Analyst
Wells and Water Production Unit
Santa Clara Valley Water District
5750 Almaden Expressway
San Jose, CA 95118
(408) 265-2607 ext. 2312
FAX: (408) 979-5620

Please note that the district's records only contain wells registered with the district. Some wells may not have been registered because their use was discontinued well before the District implemented well registration requirements.  A field or aerial photo search may be needed to ascertain the presence of these wells.

4.      Your request will be reviewed to ensure compliance with Section 13752. This review process typically takes from three to five working days.

Following approval of your well data request, you will receive the following:

• A USGS quadrangle map showing the locations of all active, inactive, and destroyed water producing wells in your search area.

• A computer printout or an ASCII text file transmitted via e-mail (please include e-mail address with correspondence) which lists monitoring and production wells that are active, inactive, properly destroyed, improperly destroyed, and cathodic protection wells within the search area.