South Coast Region Groundwater Level Conditions

Background

The province maintains a network of groundwater observation wells to monitor water levels in priority aquifers. These observation wells (OW) record water level fluctuations which allow for improved understanding of how aquifers respond to changes in climate, precipitation, and effects from pumping. Many of the observation wells are equipped with satellite telemetry to provide real time information on water levels.

The following summaries compare recent groundwater levels to all historical continuous daily records to determine percentile classes, with a minimum of 5 years of data. Historical monthly water level samples (before ~2004) are not included. A percentile is on a scale of 100 and indicates the percent of a distribution that is equal to or below it. For example, a groundwater level at the 10th percentile is equal to or greater than 10% of the water level values recorded on this day of the year during all previous years of data.

In general, a groundwater level value that is:

the highest ever measured for the day of year is considered High
greater than the 90th percentile is considered Much Above Normal
between 75th percentile and 90th percentile is considered Above Normal
between 25th and 75th percentiles is considered Normal
less than the 25 percentile is considered Below Normal
less than 10 percentile is considered Much Below Normal
the lowest ever measured for the day of year is considered Low

Wells classified as “Not Available” in this report do not have recent groundwater level data within the past 14 days or do not have sufficient data (less than 5 years continuous data).

Definition of Normal

It should be noted that describing water levels relative to “normal” steady state baselines requires historical water levels of a well to be relatively stationary and without significant trending in the short or long-term. Use of the term “normal” in reference to groundwater levels that are indicating a trending pattern should be regarded with caution, as there is no true “normal” water level for a given time of year in these scenarios. As a result, this report uses the “normal” term solely in reference to water levels between the 25th to 75th percentiles of historical data, not to imply a steady state baseline for comparison. Percentile data should be interpreted with the context of long-term data records, patterns, and trends.

Groundwater Level Conditions

Wells by Percentile Class

	Current Year	Last Year
	2026-07-19	2025-07-19
High (100)	0	0
Much Above Normal (90-100)	0	1 (1.8%)
Above Normal (75-90)	5 (8.5%)	3 (5.4%)
Normal (25-75)	25 (42.4%)	36 (64.3%)
Below Normal (10-25)	8 (13.6%)	9 (16.1%)
Much Below Normal (0-10)	1 (1.7%)	3 (5.4%)
Low (0)	3 (5.1%)	4 (7.1%)
Across All Classes	42	56

Percentile Class Changes Since Last Year

This plot shows groundwater level percentile classes for each day over the past year to observe how conditions have changed over time. Using a different colour scheme than the rest of the report for visual purposes, more darker brown colours mean more wells in lower percentiles while more darker blues mean more wells in higher percentiles. Water levels in the 25-75th percentiles are in the lightest blue.

Wells Below Normal

This section reports on the percentage and number of wells below the 25th percentile for the past 14 days and one year prior for comparison. Only wells with data during the two time periods are included.

All Wells

Current Year	Last Year
2026-07-19	2025-07-19
20.4% (12/42)	28.6% (16/56)

By Aquifer Type

Aquifer Type	Current Year	Last Year
Aquifer Type	2026-07-19	2025-07-19
Confined sand and gravel	22.2% (2/9)	31.3% (5/16)
Crystalline bedrock		50% (3/6)
Unconfined sand and gravel	33.3% (10/30)	25% (8/32)

Latest Details

Latest details on observation wells. Click on a well number in the table to find a link to a hydrograph and long-term record plot. Click on an aquifer number to find more information about the aquifer.

Well	Location	Aquifer	Aquifer Type	Latest Date	Percentile^a
Lower Mainland / Fraser Valley
OW002	Abbotsford	15	Unconfined sand and gravel	^** 2026-07-19	Normal (47.8%) (n = 22)
OW008	Abbotsford	15	Unconfined sand and gravel	^** 2026-07-19	Normal (50%) (n = 22)
OW255	Chilliwack	1216	Crystalline bedrock	^** 2026-01-27	Not Available (n = 22)
OW259	Maple Ridge	26	Confined sand and gravel	^** 2024-06-25	Not Available (n = 21)
OW272	Abbotsford	15	Unconfined sand and gravel	^** 2026-07-19	Below Normal (22.7%) (n = 22)
OW275	Surrey	41	Unconfined sand and gravel	^** 2026-07-19	Above Normal (81%) (n = 22)
OW299	Abbotsford	15	Unconfined sand and gravel	^** 2026-07-19	Normal (42.9%) (n = 22)
OW301	Abbotsford	15	Unconfined sand and gravel	^** 2026-07-19	Normal (54.5%) (n = 22)
OW349	Belcarra	68	Crystalline bedrock	^** 2026-04-10	Not Available (n = 22)
OW353	Langley	41	Unconfined sand and gravel	^** 2026-07-19	Above Normal (84.2%) (n = 21)
OW354	Langley	35	Unconfined sand and gravel	^** 2026-07-19	Normal (65%) (n = 20)
OW357	Abbotsford	29	Confined sand and gravel	^** 2026-04-24	Not Available (n = 21)
OW359	Langley	33	Confined sand and gravel	^** 2024-11-27	Not Available (n = 20)
OW360	Langley	41	Unconfined sand and gravel	^** 2026-07-19	Normal (45%) (n = 20)
OW361	Langley	27	Confined sand and gravel	^** 2026-07-19	Above Normal (87.5%) (n = 20)
OW406	Chilliwack	8	Unconfined sand and gravel	^** 2026-07-19	Much Below Normal (7.1%) (n = 15)
OW414	Langley	1144	Confined sand and gravel	^** 2026-07-19	Below Normal (14.3%) (n = 14)
OW415	Langley	33	Confined sand and gravel	^** 2026-07-19	Low (0%) (n = 14)
OW440	Langley	50	Confined sand and gravel	^** 2026-07-18	Normal (25%) (n = 8)
OW441	Abbotsford	28	Confined sand and gravel	^** 2026-07-18	Normal (30.8%) (n = 12)
OW446	Langley	52	Confined sand and gravel	^** 2026-07-19	Normal (25%) (n = 12)
OW447	Surrey	61	Confined sand and gravel	2026-01-26	Not Available (n = 12)
OW448	Agassiz	4	Unconfined sand and gravel	^** 2026-07-19	Normal (30.8%) (n = 12)
OW449	Agassiz	4	Unconfined sand and gravel	^** 2026-07-18	Normal (46.2%) (n = 12)
OW450	Chilliwack	6	Unconfined sand and gravel	^** 2026-07-19	Normal (25%) (n = 11)
OW451	Hope	1	Unconfined sand and gravel	^** 2026-07-19	Normal (36.4%) (n = 11)
OW452	Langley	37	Unconfined sand and gravel	^** 2026-07-19	Normal (70%) (n = 11)
OW453	Langley	35	Unconfined sand and gravel	^** 2026-07-19	Normal (36.4%) (n = 11)
OW456	Langley	59	Unconfined sand and gravel	^** 2026-06-15	Not Available (n = 8)
OW457	Abbotsford	21	Unconfined sand and gravel	^** 2026-07-18	Below Normal (22.2%) (n = 8)
OW458	Langley	27	Confined sand and gravel	^** 2026-06-05	Not Available (n = 11)
OW459	Chilliwack	8	Unconfined sand and gravel	^** 2026-07-18	Below Normal (12.5%) (n = 7)
OW461	Surrey	58	Confined sand and gravel	^** 2026-05-11	Not Available (n = 8)
OW462	Maple Ridge	19	Sedimentary	^** 2026-07-19	Normal (25%) (n = 7)
OW463	Mission	884	Confined sand and gravel	^** 2026-07-19	Normal (25%) (n = 7)
OW474	Miracle Valley	25	Confined sand and gravel	^** 2026-03-09	Not Available (n = 7)
OW479	Maple Ridge	19	Sedimentary	^** 2026-07-19	Normal (57.1%) (n = 7)
OW485	Dewdney	12	Unconfined sand and gravel	^** 2026-07-19	Normal (57.1%) (n = 6)
OW486	Deroche	12	Unconfined sand and gravel	^** 2026-07-19	Normal (57.1%) (n = 6)
OW490	Langley	24	Unconfined sand and gravel	2026-04-23	Not Available (n = 9)
OW491	Maple Ridge	26	Confined sand and gravel	^** 2026-07-19	Normal (50%) (n = 5)
OW492	Columbia Valley	20	Unconfined sand and gravel	^** 2026-07-18	Normal (50%) (n = 5)
Sea-to-Sky Corridor
OW352	Whistler	390	Unconfined sand and gravel	^** 2024-05-03	Not Available (n = 21)
OW454	Squamish	401	Unconfined sand and gravel	^** 2026-07-19	Below Normal (18.2%) (n = 10)
OW475	Pemberton	326	Unconfined sand and gravel	^** 2026-07-19	Normal (42.9%) (n = 7)
OW476	Pemberton	326	Unconfined sand and gravel	^** 2026-07-19	Normal (28.6%) (n = 7)
OW477	Whistler	395	Unconfined sand and gravel	^** 2026-07-19	Below Normal (14.3%) (n = 7)
OW478	Whistler	387	Unconfined sand and gravel	^** 2026-07-19	Below Normal (14.3%) (n = 7)
OW483	Squamish	397	Confined sand and gravel	^** 2026-07-19	Above Normal (85.7%) (n = 6)
Sunshine Coast
OW292	Powell River	836	Confined sand and gravel	2026-05-05	Not Available (n = 21)
OW408	Savary Island	834	Confined sand and gravel	2026-05-06	Not Available (n = 14)
OW460	Gibsons	560	Unconfined sand and gravel	^** 2026-07-18	Low (0%) (n = 15)
OW471	Lund	960	Crystalline bedrock	^** 2026-05-06	Not Available (n = 7)
OW473	Bowen Island	747	Crystalline bedrock	^** 2026-07-19	Normal (42.9%) (n = 6)
OW480	Keats Island	548	Crystalline bedrock	2026-04-16	Not Available (n = 7)
OW495	Bowen Island	746	Crystalline bedrock	^** 2026-06-16	Not Available (n = 7)
OW497	Scrd	560	Unconfined sand and gravel	^** 2026-07-19	Low (0%) (n = 4)
OW498	Sechelt	566	Unconfined sand and gravel	^** 2026-07-19	Below Normal (20%) (n = 4)
OW499	Sechelt	566	Unconfined sand and gravel	^** 2026-07-17	Above Normal (80%) (n = 4)
^a n is the number of years included in the percentile calculation.
^** Values with a Working approval status

Historical Water Level Plots

Annual hydrographs and historical records for the observation wells summarized above can be found in this section.

Note: ‘Working’ data are preliminary and have not yet been finalized as ‘Approved’ data with approved corrections and data grades for quality assurance. Quality assurance procedures may result in differences between what is displayed as ‘Working’ and what will become the official record.

OW002OW008OW255OW259OW272OW275OW292OW299OW301OW349OW352OW353OW354OW357OW359OW360OW361OW406OW408OW414OW415OW440OW441OW446OW447OW448OW449OW450OW451OW452OW453OW454OW456OW457OW458OW459