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Water wells in the Edwards-Trinity (High Plains) Aquifer, Gaines County, Texas

Home water wells that draw from the Edwards-Trinity (High Plains) Aquifer in Gaines County, Texas are typically 194 to 230 feet deep (median 210 ft, 1,058 wells drilled in the last 10 years). It accounts for 30% of the 3,504 county wells the state's model covers; the main layer is the Ogallala Aquifer (56%). They are about as deep as the county's median well (200 ft). Estimated cost of a complete well at the median depth: $8,000 to $19,000.

Checked against the state's own aquifer codes: where our method names this group, the state agrees in 70% of 4,432 wells (64% for the 571 with a screened interval on their report). Read it as the likely group, not a certain one.

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

All wells in Gaines CountyEdwards-Trinity (High Plains) Aquifer across Texas

Which layer Gaines County wells draw from

Under Seminole, Gaines County

County home wells covered by the High Plains Aquifer System model (in the last 10 years).

Home wells in Gaines County

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: Gaines County

Key figures

Typical depth (middle half)
194 to 230 feet
Median depth
210 feet
Deepest 10% are past
255 feet
Water level (median)
120 feet
150 wells
Yield (median)
23 gpm
13 wells, gallons per minute
Wells used
1,058
In the last 10 years
Share of the county's wells
30%
All years on file
1,825
median 200 ft, since 2002
Confidence
Standard (30 or more wells)

When the wells were finished, the water stood a median 120 feet below the surface (150 wells).

Which layer Gaines County wells draw from

County home wells covered by the High Plains Aquifer System model (in the last 10 years).

What this layer is

Under the Ogallala, in many places, lie Cretaceous rocks: the Antlers (Trinity) sand and the Edwards limestones. They form the Edwards-Trinity (High Plains) Aquifer around and south of Lubbock and the Edwards-Trinity (Plateau) Aquifer around Midland and Odessa, and older Cretaceous and Jurassic sandstones form the Rita Blanca Aquifer in Dallam and Hartley counties. Many home wells in Midland, Martin, Terry, Lynn and Hockley counties draw from them.

More about the Edwards-Trinity (High Plains) Aquifer

Depth over time

New home wells in this layer in Gaines County are deeper than 20 years ago: the median went from 180 feet (2003 to 2007) to 210 feet (2021 to 2025), 17% more. Deeper wells do not always mean the water dropped: a driller may be going for another layer, better water or more reserve.

PeriodMedian depth (ft)Wells
2001–200518082
2006–2010175206
2011–2015183420
2016–2020204366
2021–2025210662
202622089

Places in Gaines County with wells in this layer

Common questions

How deep is a well in the Edwards-Trinity (High Plains) Aquifer in Gaines County?

Home water wells that draw from the Edwards-Trinity (High Plains) Aquifer in Gaines County, Texas are typically 194 to 230 feet deep (median 210 ft, 1,058 wells drilled in the last 10 years).

How many Gaines County wells draw from this layer?

It accounts for 30% of the 3,504 county wells the state's model covers; the main layer is the Ogallala Aquifer (56%). For 97% 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 deep does the water stand?

When the wells were finished, the water stood a median 120 feet below the surface (150 wells).

What a well costs here

At the median depth for this layer in Gaines County (210 feet), a complete home well would cost roughly $8,000 to $19,000: $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 (194 to 230 feet) the range runs from $7,500 to $20,500. 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 with a valid depth on their report. 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 97% 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/gaines-county/edwards-trinity. License CC BY 4.0. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.24126380.

Sources