Last Friday, the High Plains Water District released the results of its annual water level survey that showed an overall decline across the district.
An average decline of -0.63 feet was calculated in the groundwater levels of the Ogallala/Edwards-Trinity (High Plains) Aquifer (ETHP) from 2021 to 2022.
HPWD field technicians measured approximately 1,333 water wells during the first part of 2022.
From these measurements, about 1,300 were also measured in 2021, allowing HPWD to calculate the average change. Also of importance is the satu
Also of importance is the saturated thickness of the Ogallala and ETHP, which is the thickness of the water bearing formations. For 2022, the average saturated thickness of all observation wells is about 53 feet. This compares to the average of 54 feet in 2021. More detailed statistics of the measured change include:
16 wells with declines of 5 feet or more
16 wells with declines of 4 to 4.99 feet
41 wells with declines of 3 to 3.99 feet
87 wells with declines of 2 to 2.99 feet
201 wells with declines of 1 to 1.99 feet
596 wells with declines of 0 to 0.99 feet
347 wells with rises of 0.01 feet or more
The largest water level decline was -9.35 feet in a Castro County observation well. The largest water level rise was +5.25 feet in a Lubbock County observation well.
The HPWD served 97 wells in Hockley County resulted in an average water level decline of 0.16. The average saturated thickness across the 97 water wells was 39 feet. Over five years, the water level has decline 1.80 ft. and over 10 years, it has declined 3.32 ft. The average saturated thickness of the aquifer is 39 ft.
In Cochran County, 80 wells were survey with the average water level decline being 0.53 ft. Over the past five years, the average change has been a decline of 2.15 ft. and over 10 years, it has been 3.94 ft. The average saturated thickness is 40 ft.
In Lamb County, 114 wells were observed with the average decline being 1.06 ft. Over the past five years, the average decline has been 5.12 ft. and over 10 years, it has been a decline of 11.65 ft. The average saturated thickness of the aquifer across the county is 48 ft.
For the Dockum Aquifer, HPWD measured 30 observation wells. The average change for the Dockum Aquifer is -0.71 feet for 2022.
HPWD has updated all data on its interactive map with the 2022 measurements. This includes all of the data found using the “Aquifer Info” tool, which provides estimates of saturated thickness and 5-year change and 10-year change.
Last year, HPWD began providing estimates of saturated thickness, and 5-year and 10-year water level changes anywhere within the service area using the interactive map. This is a powerful tool which provides estimated aquifer information anywhere the user clicks.