Abandoned wells, and who pays to plug them
This is the part of the register that costs money. An abandoned well must be plugged, the duty belongs to whoever owns the land today, and it does not stay behind with the seller.
What the rule actually says
K.A.R. 28-30-7: all abandoned water wells must be plugged. A well counts as abandoned when it has not been used for two years, when it is in such disrepair that it cannot be used, or when it poses a groundwater-contamination hazard. The owner of the well or the landowner must plug it or have it plugged, and a plugging record — form WWC-5P — must reach the State within 30 days.
The completion records themselves exist because of a different rule: the Kansas Groundwater Exploration and Protection Act (K.S.A. 82a-1201 et seq.) requires the drilling contractor to file a WWC-5 for every well. That is why this register exists at all, and why it stops where it does — it is a record of work done, not of wells in use.
What the register can and cannot tell you
| Question | Can this register answer it? |
|---|---|
| Was a well drilled on this land? | Yes, if the paperwork was filed — 314,779 records. |
| How deep, and what did it yield? | Yes, on 100% and 34% of records respectively. |
| Was it ever plugged and reported? | Yes — 65,264 records carry a WWC-5P. |
| Is the well abandoned? | No. Abandonment turns on use, and nothing here tracks use. |
| Is the water safe to drink? | No. A WWC-5 describes construction, not quality. |
| Is the well still there? | No. Records are not removed when things change on the ground. |
The numbers, stated carefully
249,515 records — 79.3% — have no plugging report. 89,374 of those were completed before 1995. Neither figure is a count of abandoned wells, and we will not present it as one. It is a count of wells the State has never been told were sealed.
| Status | Records | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Constructed | 247,210 | 78.5% |
| Plugged | 65,264 | 20.7% |
| Reconstructed | 2,303 | 0.7% |
| Not stated | 2 | 0.0% |
What each status means
Constructed — 247,210
the well was drilled and the completion record was filed. It does not mean the well is still in use — nothing in this register is updated when a well stops being used.
Plugged — 65,264
a plugging record (form WWC-5P) was filed for this well. Under K.A.R. 28-30-7 an abandoned well must be plugged and the plugging reported within 30 days. This is the status you want to see against a well nobody uses any more.
Reconstructed — 2,303
the well was deepened, re-cased or otherwise rebuilt, and a new record was filed for the work.
Kansas pays part of the bill
Plugging a well is not free, and the State knows it: through the Kansas Department of Agriculture’s Division of Conservation, a landowner can receive cost-share of up to USD 1,000 per well, and may plug more than one. A landowner is also allowed to plug a well themselves rather than hire a licensed contractor.
We are not the programme and we do not administer it. Check the current terms with the Division of Conservation or your local conservation district before you count on a figure.
When the records were made
The register thins out as you go back — which is itself the point. An old parcel can hold a well that predates the filing requirement altogether, and it will not be here at all.
| Decade | Records | Share |
|---|---|---|
| 2020s | 34,381 | 10.9% |
| 2010s | 64,398 | 20.5% |
| 2000s | 77,619 | 24.7% |
| 1990s | 69,348 | 22.0% |
| 1980s | 42,469 | 13.5% |
| 1970s | 25,167 | 8.0% |
An old well on land you own or are buying?
The register says whether a plugging report was filed. Whether a particular well needs plugging, and what it costs, takes someone who works Kansas wells. Tell us where and we pass the request to licensed contractors.
We recommend no contractor and we are nobody's agent. We have no arrangement with any firm today — we are collecting these requests in order to go and find them. What we do with this.
Not a consumer reporting agency. This site and the datasets sold from it are not consumer reports under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, and must not be used to decide anyone's eligibility for employment, credit, insurance, housing, or any other purpose covered by the FCRA. If you need a background check, use a screening company that operates as a consumer reporting agency.