User Guide

For Water Officers and support staff running the Groundwater Drawdown Tool. No technical background is needed.

The tool runs locally on your own Windows computer. It is not a website and not a shared server — each person installs it once and runs it from their own machine.

Pages in this guide

  1. Installation — download and set up the tool.
  2. First run — launch the tool and sign in to BCGW.
  3. BCGW account help — check account status, change or reset a password, and unlock a locked account.
  4. Running an analysis — place the pumping well and set the parameters.
  5. Reading the results — understand the tables, chart, map, and status flags.
  6. Exporting results — CSV, KML, PDF, and the interactive HTML map.
  7. Troubleshooting — fixes for common problems.
  8. Methods and assumptions — the math behind the screening estimates, and what the tool assumes.

Before you start

You need:

  • A Windows 10 or Windows 11 computer.
  • A personal BCGW account (Oracle username and password).
  • A connection to the BC government network to run an analysis — in a BC government office, or over VPN when working from home. First-time setup and updates do not need the government network, only ordinary internet.

Table of contents