PlaceDossier / BC places / Aquifers / Rankings

BC aquifers, ranked

6 rankings of the 1,166 aquifers the province has mapped. Depth and yield rankings take only aquifers with at least 10 water-supply wells behind the figure; next to every figure is what it rests on.

Aquifers with the most wells

Wells on record linked to each aquifer, all years. 1,138 ranked.

  1. Aquifer 606: Sooke-Metchosin1,550 wells
  2. Aquifer 408: Comox-Merville1,535 wells
  3. Aquifer 115: Northeast of Quesnel1,520 wells
  4. Aquifer 608: North Central Saanich1,424 wells
  5. Aquifer 203: Shawnigan Lake/Cobble Hill/Mill Bay1,262 wells

All 1,138 →

Largest aquifers

Mapped area of each aquifer. 1,166 ranked.

  1. Aquifer 124: Fraser Plateau Lava6,562 km²
  2. Aquifer 1295: Sayward - Salmon River1,402 km²
  3. Aquifer 933: Cecil Lake, North Peace River1,120 km²
  4. Aquifer 1268: Upper Bridge Creek Bedrock1,027 km²
  5. Aquifer 931: East of Blueberry River, north of Fort St. John964 km²

All 1,166 →

Aquifers with the deepest wells

Median finished depth of the water-supply wells linked to each aquifer, aquifers with at least 10. 637 ranked.

  1. Aquifer 808: Anarchist Mountain163 m
  2. Aquifer 91: Northwest of Beaverley152 m
  3. Aquifer 936: East of Osoyoos, Anarchist Mountain152 m
  4. Aquifer 1003: North of Lumby152 m
  5. Aquifer 1018: Crescent Bay138 m

All 637 →

Aquifers with the highest well yields

Median tested yield of the water-supply wells linked to each aquifer, aquifers with at least 10 tested. 542 ranked.

  1. Aquifer 146: West and northwest side of Williams Lake1,552 L/min
  2. Aquifer 135: Semlin Valley946 L/min
  3. Aquifer 1245: Beaver Cove852 L/min
  4. Aquifer 289: Westwold757 L/min
  5. Aquifer 352: Coldstream757 L/min

All 542 →

Highly vulnerable aquifers with the most wells

Aquifers the province rates highly vulnerable to contamination from the surface, by wells on record. 349 ranked.

  1. Aquifer 606: Sooke-Metchosin1,550 wells
  2. Aquifer 162: Cedar, Yellow Point, North Oyster (Ladysmith)1,237 wells
  3. Aquifer 721: North Salt Spring Island1,051 wells
  4. Aquifer 709: Gabriola; excluding northern portion1,047 wells
  5. Aquifer 15: Abbotsford Shallow834 wells

All 349 →

Aquifers with the most flowing wells

Wells linked to each aquifer whose water rose to or above the ground when drilled (artesian). 360 ranked.

  1. Aquifer 58: Nicomekl-Serpentine193 flowing
  2. Aquifer 33: West of Aldergrove99 flowing
  3. Aquifer 51: Murrayville AC87 flowing
  4. Aquifer 608: North Central Saanich59 flowing
  5. Aquifer 408: Comox-Merville55 flowing

All 360 →

The province maps aquifers where wells and studies give enough to go on, mostly in settled valleys; most of BC isn't mapped, and a lot outside every outline can still have groundwater. Outlines are drawn from geology and well logs at the scale of the study, so an edge can be well off on the ground, and one aquifer can lie under another. Wells are linked to an aquifer by provincial staff from the driller's log: not every well inside an outline is linked, and well depths and yields are as the driller reported them, often from a short test.

These are mapped ratings and drillers' records, not a test of any one lot. Before you buy a property on a well, or plan to drill, ask a qualified hydrogeologist or a registered well driller what this aquifer gives where you are, and test the water.

Sources: Ground Water Aquifers, Water Protection and Sustainability Branch, Province of BC and Groundwater Wells (GWELLS), Province of BC, as published on October 1, 2026 (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); ratings explained after Berardinucci and Ronneseth (2002), Guide to Using the BC Aquifer Classification Maps for the Protection and Management of Groundwater, BC Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection. Summaries by PlaceDossier.

More rankings: BC places (farmland, wildfire, wells, climate) and BC lakes (water clarity and sampling).