What the water is used for
The use on a WWC-5 is what the well was drilled for. It is not a permit to use the water in any quantity — that is a water right, and it is a separate instrument.
| Water use | Records | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Monitoring well/observation/piezometer | 85,904 | 27.3% |
| Domestic | 77,399 | 24.6% |
| Domestic, Lawn and Garden | 54,905 | 17.4% |
| Irrigation | 24,315 | 7.7% |
| Oil Field Water Supply | 18,464 | 5.9% |
| Domestic, Livestock | 17,552 | 5.6% |
| Dewatering | 6,212 | 2.0% |
| Environmental Remediation, Air Sparge | 4,767 | 1.5% |
| Environmental Remediation, Soil Vapor Extraction | 3,980 | 1.3% |
| Public Water Supply | 2,710 | 0.9% |
| (unstated)/abandoned | 2,629 | 0.8% |
| Geothermal, Closed Loop, Vertical | 2,001 | 0.6% |
| Environmental Remediation, Injection | 1,827 | 0.6% |
| Test hole/well | 1,726 | 0.5% |
| Heat Pump (Closed Loop/Disposal), Geothermal | 1,583 | 0.5% |
What each one means
Monitoring well/observation/piezometer
a use the record files under this heading.
Domestic
water for a household. The commonest use on the register by a wide margin, and the one most likely to sit under a property somebody is buying.
Domestic, Lawn and Garden
household water plus a yard — the ordinary rural or small-acreage well.
Irrigation
watering crops, at the volume an appropriation allows. These are the deep, high-yield wells, and they are the ones most often tied to a DWR water right.
Oil Field Water Supply
water for drilling and production. Not a supply anyone drinks from, and it explains clusters of wells where there are few houses.
Domestic, Livestock
a household and stock water.
Dewatering
not a water supply at all — a well drilled to lower the water table, usually for construction or a quarry.
Environmental Remediation, Air Sparge
a well drilled to clean up contamination, not to produce water. Its presence says something about the site’s history.
Environmental Remediation, Soil Vapor Extraction
a use the record files under this heading.
Public Water Supply
a use the record files under this heading.
(unstated)/abandoned
a use the record files under this heading.
Geothermal, Closed Loop, Vertical
a use the record files under this heading.
Environmental Remediation, Injection
a use the record files under this heading.
Test hole/well
a use the record files under this heading.
Heat Pump (Closed Loop/Disposal), Geothermal
a use the record files under this heading.
The water right is a different thing
34,487 records — 11.0% — carry a DWR appropriation number, the thread back to a water right on file with the Division of Water Resources. The other 89.0% do not, which usually means the well is domestic and below the threshold where an appropriation is required. A completion record is never a water right.