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Water wells in the Lone Wolf Groundwater Conservation District

Home water wells inside the Lone Wolf Groundwater Conservation District (Mitchell County, Texas) are typically 140 to 220 feet deep (median 160 ft, 55 wells drilled in the last 10 years). Nearly all end at or just below the base of the Ogallala, in the top of the Dockum (87%), according to the state's High Plains Aquifer System model (TWDB). Drillers reported 6 new home wells in 2025, less than half the peak of 18 in 2014. Estimated cost of a complete well at the median depth: $6,500 to $16,000.

Updated every day from Texas Water Development Board driller reports. Last update: November 11, 2026, using the state file of November 10, 2026.

Map of the Lone Wolf Groundwater Conservation DistrictDistrict boundary (Mitchell County) with the places that have the most home wells.Colorado City: 220 ftColorado CityLake Colorado City: 128 ftLake Colorado CityLoraine: 228 ft10 miles

Under the center of the Lone Wolf GCD

District boundary from TWDB's file current as of November 2019. Later changes are not shown.

Home wells in and around the Lone Wolf GCD

Each dot is a home well from a state driller report, colored by depth. Tap one for its details and official report. Tap an empty spot to see what is under that point.

See underground

Well depth (ft)

  • <100
  • 100
  • 200
  • 300
  • 400
  • 600
  • 800+

Dark line: the district boundary (TWDB, 2019)

Key figures

Typical depth (middle half)
140 to 220 feet
Median depth
160 feet
Deepest 10% are past
251 feet
Water level (median)
70 feet
35 wells
Yield (median)
22 gpm
34 wells, gallons per minute
Wells used
55
In the last 10 years
Counties
1
All years on file
190
median 160 ft, since 2002
Confidence
Standard (30 or more wells)

When the wells were finished, the water stood a median 70 feet below the surface (35 wells), well above the bottom: the typical well holds about 90 feet of water.

Map of the Lone Wolf Groundwater Conservation DistrictDistrict boundary (Mitchell County) with the places that have the most home wells.Colorado City: 220 ftColorado CityLake Colorado City: 128 ftLake Colorado CityLoraine: 228 ft10 miles
District boundary from TWDB's file current as of November 2019. Later changes are not shown.

New home wells per year

Drillers reported 6 new home wells in 2025, less than half the peak of 18 in 2014.

Home wells reported per year in the Lone Wolf GCDFrom 2002 to 2026. The table below has every year.051015202002: 12003: 172004: 1220042005: 82006: 52007: 72008: 420082009: 52010: 142011: 102012: 1420122013: 132014: 182015: 12016: 620162017: 12018: 32019: 82021: 52022: 172023: 62024: 620242025: 62026: 3
Domestic wells with a depth, by the year they were finished. 2026 is still in progress.
Show the data table
YearWells
20021
200317
200412
20058
20065
20077
20084
20095
201014
201110
201214
201313
201418
20151
20166
20171
20183
20198
20215
202217
20236
20246
20256
20263

Which formation the wells draw from

Nearly all end at or just below the base of the Ogallala, in the top of the Dockum (87%), according to the state's High Plains Aquifer System model (TWDB). Read that as the base of the Ogallala or the top of the Dockum, not a certainty: where our method names the Dockum, the state's own record agrees only about 33% of the time (61% for wells with a screened interval), and most of the others are recorded as Ogallala wells.

Layer (state's model)ShareWellsTypical depth (ft)
Dockumat or just below the base of the Ogallala87%47140–220
Near or below the base of the Dockumor of the Ogallala13%7170–198

For 98% of these wells the report says where the water enters (the screen or the open hole), and we use the middle of that interval.

Places with the most wells in the district

PlaceMedian depth (ft)Middle half (ft)WellsMain layer
Colorado City220160–24036Dockum Group (at or just below the base of the Ogallala)
Lake Colorado City128111–14020Dockum Group (at or just below the base of the Ogallala)
Loraine228181–24112Near or below the base of the Dockum (or of the Ogallala)

Counties

Depth over time

Home well depth in the district has not changed meaningfully in 20 years: the median was 140 feet in 2003 to 2007 and 160 feet in 2021 to 2025 (a difference under 10% or within the margin of error).

PeriodMedian depth (ft)Wells
2001–200514038
2006–201018035
2011–201518456
2016–202017018
2021–202516040
2026under 10 wells3

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Common questions

How deep are wells in the Lone Wolf GCD?

Home water wells inside the Lone Wolf Groundwater Conservation District (Mitchell County, Texas) are typically 140 to 220 feet deep (median 160 ft, 55 wells drilled in the last 10 years).

Which formation do wells in the district draw from?

Nearly all end at or just below the base of the Ogallala, in the top of the Dockum (87%), according to the state's High Plains Aquifer System model (TWDB). Read that as the base of the Ogallala or the top of the Dockum, not a certainty: where our method names the Dockum, the state's own record agrees only about 33% of the time (61% for wells with a screened interval), and most of the others are recorded as Ogallala wells.

What does a groundwater conservation district do?

In Texas, districts are the local authority over groundwater: they can require registration or permits for new wells, set spacing from other wells and property lines, and limit pumping. Each district writes its own rules, so ask the Lone Wolf Groundwater Conservation District before drilling inside it.

What a well costs here

At the median depth for the district (160 feet), a complete home well would cost roughly $6,500 to $16,000: $25 to $60 per foot for drilling, casing and seal, plus $2,500 to $6,500 for the pump, pressure tank, controls and hookup at the well. Across the whole middle half of depths (140 to 220 feet) the range runs from $6,000 to $19,500. This is TerraFunded's estimate from published Texas prices, not a quote, and it leaves out trenching and the line to the house. Get prices from at least two licensed drillers.

How these numbers are made

We count new and replacement domestic (home) wells whose coordinates fall inside the district boundary. We use the last 10 years when there are at least 30 wells; otherwise all since 2001. The median is the middle well and the middle half runs from the 25th to the 75th percentile.

To tell which layer a well draws from, we take the ground elevation at its location, subtract the depth of the interval where water enters (or the bottom of the hole when the report does not give one) and see which layer of the state's model that point falls in.

For 98% of these wells the report says where the water enters (the screen or the open hole), and we use the middle of that interval.

How well it works: In 22,814 wells in the Texas part of the state's High Plains Aquifer System model (the Panhandle, the South Plains and the Permian Basin) where the State of Texas recorded the aquifer, the formation our method says the well draws from (as grouped on these pages) is the one the state recorded in about 75% of them; when it names the Dockum (4,542 wells), the state's record agrees only about 33% of the time, and most of the others are recorded as Ogallala wells.

  • The layers come from the Texas Water Development Board's High Plains Aquifer System model, with half mile cells, read here on a grid of about 1.2 by 1.4 miles. It is a regional model, not a survey of any lot.
  • The state's model has half mile cells; we read it on a grid of about 1.2 by 1.4 miles, Texas part only. Layers from version 1.01 (2015); the 2025 extension (1.02) did not change them. It is not a survey of any lot, so we give ranges.
  • Figures go by four groups: Ogallala; Pecos Valley; Edwards-Trinity and Rita Blanca (Cretaceous rock under the Ogallala; the Rita Blanca alone matched the state 19%); Dockum (upper and lower together: the state's codes almost never say which). The Edwards-Trinity group joins three aquifers in different places (High Plains around Lubbock, Plateau around Midland and Odessa, Rita Blanca in Dallam and Hartley): county and place pages name the local one where they can.
  • Dockum: when our method names the Dockum, the state's record agrees only 33% of the time over all years (61% for wells with a screened interval, which is 93% of home wells of the last 10 years); most of the rest are recorded as Ogallala wells. The median well we put in the Dockum ends about 18 ft under the base of the Ogallala as the model draws it. So these pages say "at or just below the base of the Ogallala, in the top of the Dockum", never a certain formation. The state's own 2025 report on this model says depth alone overstates the upper Dockum.
  • "Near or below the base" means the well ends near or below the base of the Dockum, or of the Ogallala where there is no Dockum (Permian red beds; Gray, Carson, Donley, Moore and north Potter counties). Half of these wells end within about 51 ft of the base, and the state usually records them as Ogallala or Dockum wells. That is not an error: the model simply ends there.
  • For old wells without a screened interval (bottom of the hole) the method is only a little better than always saying Ogallala (65% against 58%); with an interval it is 89% against 80%. Figures over all years carry that weakness; last 10 years figures rest almost entirely on intervals.
  • We never use the model's water levels. The water level on this page is the one each driller measured when the well was finished.

These are depths of real wells drilled nearby, not a promise about any property. Groundwater can change over short distances and with drought. A licensed water well driller can tell you what to expect on a specific tract.

Read the full methodology · Download the data (CSV, CC BY 4.0)

How to cite

TerraFunded (2026). Texas Well Atlas: Underground. From Texas Water Development Board driller reports and groundwater availability models (data as of November 10, 2026). https://terrafunded.com/wells/districts/lone-wolf-groundwater-conservation-district. License CC BY 4.0. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.24126380.

Sources