Map Search Help


The following is an index to help for the well report map search options.  Click on an item in the list to access each topic within this page.

A description of each of the criteria on which you can search:

County
City
Watershed (WRIA)
Township/Range
Address/Location

County
You can zoom the map to one of the 39 counties within Washington state. After selecting a county from the list, the map will zoom to the extent of the selected county. The selected county will be highlighted in yellow on the map
City
You can zoom the map to any of the incorporated cities or census-designated places within Washington state. After selecting a city from the list, the map will zoom to the extent of the selected city. The selected city will be highlighted in yellow on the map. Some cities may be made up of several non-contiguous areas.
Watershed (WRIA)
You can search by the watershed boundary name or its identifying number. The drop down box lists the watersheds in the order of their identifying number and then states the name of the WRIA. The term WRIA means watershed inventory area. A watershed or WRIA is a region that drains into a river or river system. You will be navigated to that watershed and it will be highlighted in opaque yellow.
Township/Range/Section
The Public Land Survey System defined township, range and section lines in the late 1800's. Townships run north and south and ranges run east and west. In Washington, township numbers range from 1 North in Clark and Skamania counties to 40 North along the Canadian border. Range numbers go from 16 West in Clallam county to 45 East along the Idaho border.

Each Township is further divided into a grid of 36 sections. Each section is approximately 1 mile square. The sections are typically numbered 1 through 36. About 5% of the townships use section numbers greater than 36. The sections with numbers above 36 represent Donation Land Claims or other types of early land surveys conducted before the Public Land Survey System was put in place.

After selecting township, range, and (optionally) section numbers, click the Zoom button to zoom the map to the selected area. You will be navigated to that township or section and it will be highlighted in opaque yellow.

Address/Location

The Address/Location search allows searches by several methods. Found locations will be highlighted in red on the map:

To search by address: enter the address number, street name, street direction, and City Name or ZipCode (e.g., 300 Desmond Drive SE Lacey). A comma between the street address and the City name or ZipCode is not necessary. Entering the street name without the address number will zoom to a center point along the street.

To search by latitude/longitude: enter the latitude and longitude values in Decimal Degrees format, making sure to separate the latitude and longitude by a comma (e.g., 47.0358,-122.9048).

To search for a geographic location such as a lake or river: enter the location name (e.g., Capitol Lake). Entering the name of a river will zoom to the mouth of the river. Searching for other geographic features may also be successful.