Barrow Logo Barrow EP Handbook

Delaware

Well Permits Program

Agency Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control

The Well Permits Program of the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) manages and issues well construction and use permits for wells that withdraw 50,000 gallons per day or less of water. DNREC says the program also inspects wells and maintains data on the construction and status of all wells for which a well construction or use permit has been issued. Well permits are permits of DNREC's Division of Water.

In a Phase I ESA

ASTM E1527-21 does not name well records among its standard record sources. DNREC's well records are where to check for water supply wells on a property, and for monitoring wells, which can point to an earlier investigation.

Four Delaware details shape the search.

  • Wells are permitted and built by licensed contractors. DNREC says all wells in Delaware must be constructed by a water well contractor licensed by DNREC, and applications for well construction and well use permits must be completed by a licensed contractor. DNREC's General Requirements and Guidelines for the Construction of Monitor and Observation Wells are for use in preparing monitor and observation well applications, so those wells are applied for too.
  • Old wells are thinly recorded. DNREC says its well permit data cover from around 1950 to the present, that data may be limited for wells installed before 1985, and that specific location data for some well types are redacted by state law. The State does not disclose location information for public drinking water wells.
  • DNREC says its search is not the whole answer. It says a list of data from a search is not by itself satisfactory when the data will be used to determine surrounding groundwater use for a permit for waste storage, disposal or treatment. It suggests combining its data with door-to-door surveys and a review of county tax maps to obtain complete and detailed well information.
  • Every proposed well is checked for contamination nearby. DNREC says all proposed well locations are checked for possible contamination issues, and a well is flagged for a contamination review if there is a potential source of contamination within 1,000 feet. If a potential risk of contamination is indicated, the application gets a more detailed review by a DNREC hydrologist.

Where to look a site up

  • The DNREC Well Viewer finds DNREC permits and remediation projects near a well, searched by well permit number, address or parcel number. Its datasets include existing non-public wells, wellhead protection areas, groundwater management zones, brownfields, underground storage tanks, site remediation projects, and solid waste landfills and dumps.
  • The well permit data on the Delaware Open Data Portal can be searched by property owner name, permit number and geographic location, and DNREC says the dataset's metadata include a data dictionary.
  • DNREC's Well Permit Applications tool finds a well permit application, shows its place in the queue, or searches all approved well permit applications.
  • DNREC's contacts page lists Wells/Well Permits at 302-739-9944. The Well Viewer page gives 302-739-9945.

Getting the file

DNREC says the Division of Water keeps a database of water well and water use data derived from permit applications, reports from permit holders, and well completion and abandonment reports, and that the data are available to the regulated community, intergovernmental partners and the public. The well pages read do not give a records route beyond the online tools. DNREC's FOIA page says the Delaware Freedom of Information Act ensures public access to public records held by DNREC; the route is on the DNREC FOIA Requests page.

Sources

Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control pages, read October 13, 2026:

Maintained by Barrow. General reference only, not legal or professional advice. Barrow is not affiliated with any government agency, and neither Barrow nor the information as presented here is endorsed by any state or government agency. See how Barrow drafts the report