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Water wells in the Ogallala Aquifer, Hemphill County, Texas

Home water wells that draw from the Ogallala Aquifer in Hemphill County, Texas are typically 186 to 335 feet deep (median 240 ft, 117 wells reported since 2001). It is the county's main layer: 67% of the 36 wells the state's model covers. They run about 50 feet shallower than the county's median well (290 ft). Estimated cost of a complete well at the median depth: $8,500 to $21,000.

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 Hemphill CountyOgallala Aquifer across Texas

Which layer Hemphill County wells draw from

  • Ogallala Aquifer 67% · 24 wells
  • Near or below the base of the Dockum (or of the Ogallala) 33% · 12 wells

Under Canadian, Hemphill County

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

Home wells in Hemphill 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: Hemphill County

Key figures

Typical depth (middle half)
186 to 335 feet
Median depth
240 feet
Deepest 10% are past
400 feet
Water level (median)
105 feet
113 wells
Yield (median)
30 gpm
93 wells, gallons per minute
Wells used
117
Since 2001
Share of the county's wells
67%
All years on file
117
median 240 ft, since 1982
Confidence
Standard (30 or more wells)

When the wells were finished, the water stood a median 105 feet below the surface (113 wells), well above the bottom: the typical well holds about 135 feet of water.

Which layer Hemphill County wells draw from

  • Ogallala Aquifer 67% · 24 wells
  • Near or below the base of the Dockum (or of the Ogallala) 33% · 12 wells
County home wells covered by the High Plains Aquifer System model (in the last 10 years).

What this layer is

The Ogallala is sand, gravel, silt and caliche that rivers spread east from the Rocky Mountains millions of years ago. It lies under almost all of the Texas Panhandle and the South Plains and is the main source of water there, for farms, towns and homes alike. Most home wells from Dallam County to Gaines County draw from it.

Checked against the state's own aquifer codes: where our method names this group, the state agrees in 98% of 11,766 wells.

More about the Ogallala Aquifer

Depth over time

There are not enough wells in both 2003 to 2007 and 2021 to 2025 (at least 30 in each) to say with confidence whether wells in this layer in Hemphill County are getting deeper. For reference, the median was 225 feet in 2001 to 2005 (27 wells) and 265 feet in 2021 to 2025 (18 wells).

PeriodMedian depth (ft)Wells
2001–200522527
2006–201023018
2011–201522037
2016–202031214
2021–202526518

Places in Hemphill County with wells in this layer

Common questions

How deep is a well in the Ogallala Aquifer in Hemphill County?

Home water wells that draw from the Ogallala Aquifer in Hemphill County, Texas are typically 186 to 335 feet deep (median 240 ft, 117 wells reported since 2001).

How many Hemphill County wells draw from this layer?

It is the county's main layer: 67% of the 36 wells the state's model covers. Only 37% of these wells have the water-bearing interval on their report (reports before about 2012 rarely do). For the others we use the bottom of the hole, which tends to read one layer deeper than where the water actually comes from.

How deep does the water stand?

When the wells were finished, the water stood a median 105 feet below the surface (113 wells), well above the bottom: the typical well holds about 135 feet of water.

What a well costs here

At the median depth for this layer in Hemphill County (240 feet), a complete home well would cost roughly $8,500 to $21,000: $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 (186 to 335 feet) the range runs from $7,000 to $26,500. 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.

Only 37% of these wells have the water-bearing interval on their report (reports before about 2012 rarely do). For the others we use the bottom of the hole, which tends to read one layer deeper than where the water actually comes from.

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/hemphill-county/ogallala. License CC BY 4.0. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.24126380.

Sources