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# My Well Is in GWELLS. Is It Licensed in BC?
- URL: https://bcgroundwaterwire.ca/bc-well-in-gwells-is-it-licensed/
- Published: 2026-10-18T02:35:48.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-18T05:27:41.000Z
- Description: Not by that alone. A well record in GWELLS comes from the driller’s report or from a domestic well registration, and neither is a water licence. A licence is a separate authorization for non-domestic use, found through the Province’s water licence search.
- Author: Colleen Roberts
- Tags: Licensing, Well Records, #question, #who-home, #who-farm, #who-lender

Not by that alone. In British Columbia a well’s record in GWELLS says the well exists and how it was built. The right to use its water for a non-domestic purpose is a separate authorization, a water licence, and a well record is not one.

What puts a well in GWELLS. Two things. The construction report: since February 29, 2016, registered well drillers must file a report with the Comptroller of Water Rights, and give the owner a copy, within 90 days of finishing a well, and that report becomes the [record](https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/environment/air-land-water/water/groundwater-wells-aquifers/information-for-well-owners/well-records-registration?ref=bcgroundwaterwire.ca). And registration: a domestic well owner is strongly encouraged to register the well, which the Province’s page for groundwater users says “creates a record of your water use,” and which its well records page says helps ensure that use is considered in decision-making and in times of scarcity. Registration is for domestic wells only: “do not complete a registration form if you are a non-domestic user,” says the Province’s [page for groundwater users](https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/environment/air-land-water/water/water-licensing-rights/water-licences-approvals/new-requirements-for-groundwater-users?ref=bcgroundwaterwire.ca).

What a licence is. Non-domestic groundwater use, whether for irrigation, livestock, a business, or a water system, needs a water licence under the Water Sustainability Act. Licences are found through the Province’s [Water Licence Search Tool](https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/environment/air-land-water/water/water-licensing-rights/water-licences-approvals/water-rights-databases?ref=bcgroundwaterwire.ca), by client name, source, or licence number, and on the BC Water Resources Atlas by map.

Why it gets confused. The two get run together by people who should know: in November 2021 Horse Council BC told equine businesses on a well that they “must register” it, and three months later [said](https://hcbc.ca/?p=3558&ref=bcgroundwaterwire.ca), “Licensing your groundwater use is not the same as registering your well.”

**The Note:** Registration puts a domestic well on the Province’s radar. A BC groundwater licence gives a farm or business the legal right to pump. If you’re using water beyond the household, a GWELLS printout won’t satisfy the bank—or the Province.

**Who should pay attention:** Owners who registered a well and think the job is done; buyers, lenders, and lawyers reading a well record as if it were a licence; and drillers asked whether the report they filed covers it.

**What to do next:** Find the well in GWELLS for its record. Then look for the licence separately in the Water Licence Search Tool. If the use is non-domestic and no licence or application exists, the use is unauthorized until a licence is issued; start with FrontCounter BC. A household well needs no licence, and registering it is worth doing.

**Checked against:** Province of BC, [Well Records and Registration](https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/environment/air-land-water/water/groundwater-wells-aquifers/information-for-well-owners/well-records-registration?ref=bcgroundwaterwire.ca), updated May 19, 2026; [Requirements for Groundwater Users](https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/environment/air-land-water/water/water-licensing-rights/water-licences-approvals/new-requirements-for-groundwater-users?ref=bcgroundwaterwire.ca), updated May 22, 2026; [Water Rights Databases](https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/environment/air-land-water/water/water-licensing-rights/water-licences-approvals/water-rights-databases?ref=bcgroundwaterwire.ca), updated June 15, 2021; Horse Council BC, [How to Secure Water Rights for Your Farm? Apply to License Your Groundwater Use Before March 1, 2022.](https://hcbc.ca/?p=3558&ref=bcgroundwaterwire.ca), February 15, 2022 · checked October 10, 2026

**Related on the Wire:** [Nearby Water Well Records in BC Are Clues, Not Guarantees](https://bcgroundwaterwire.ca/nearby-water-wells-are-clues-not-guarantees/); [Do I Actually Need a Groundwater Licence in BC? The Five-Minute Answer.](https://bcgroundwaterwire.ca/do-i-actually-need-a-groundwater-licence/)