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Water wells in the Dockum Group, Howard County, Texas

Home water wells that end at or just below the base of the Ogallala, in the top of the Dockum, in Howard County, Texas are typically 80 to 150 feet deep (median 112 ft, 144 wells drilled in the last 10 years). It is the county's main layer: 44% of the 325 wells the state's model covers. They are about as deep as the county's median well (110 ft). Estimated cost of a complete well at the median depth: $5,500 to $13,000.

Be careful with this group: where our method names the Dockum, the state's own record agrees in only 33% of 4,542 wells (61% for the 1,168 with a screened interval on their report); most of the others are recorded as Ogallala wells. The typical well we put here barely passes the base of the Ogallala, so read it as "at or just below the base of the Ogallala, in the top of the Dockum", not as a confirmed formation.

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 Howard CountyDockum Group across Texas

Which layer Howard County wells draw from

Under Big Spring, Howard County

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

Home wells in Howard 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: Howard County

Key figures

Typical depth (middle half)
80 to 150 feet
Median depth
112 feet
Deepest 10% are past
216 feet
Water level (median)
60 feet
101 wells
Yield (median)
10 gpm
89 wells, gallons per minute
Wells used
144
In the last 10 years
Share of the county's wells
44%
All years on file
408
median 100 ft, since 2003
Confidence
Standard (30 or more wells)

When the wells were finished, the water stood a median 60 feet below the surface (101 wells).

Which layer Howard County wells draw from

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

What this layer is

The Dockum is red mudstone, sandstone and conglomerate more than 200 million years old (Triassic) that lies under the Ogallala and the Cretaceous rocks; drillers often call it the red beds. Its sandstones, mostly the lower ones (Santa Rosa), give water to some home wells, for example in Randall and Potter counties. Many wells that just reach the top of the Dockum still draw from the base of the Ogallala, and the state's records usually list them as Ogallala wells.

More about the Dockum Group

Depth over time

Home well depth in this layer in Howard County has not changed meaningfully in 20 years: the median was 98 feet in 2003 to 2007 and 110 feet in 2021 to 2025 (a difference under 10% or within the margin of error).

PeriodMedian depth (ft)Wells
2001–20059522
2006–201010094
2011–2015100134
2016–202011078
2021–202511074
2026under 10 wells6

Places in Howard County with wells in this layer

Common questions

How deep is a well in the Dockum Group in Howard County?

Home water wells that end at or just below the base of the Ogallala, in the top of the Dockum, in Howard County, Texas are typically 80 to 150 feet deep (median 112 ft, 144 wells drilled in the last 10 years).

How many Howard County wells draw from this layer?

It is the county's main layer: 44% of the 325 wells the state's model covers. For 85% of these wells the report says where the water enters and we use the middle of that interval; for the rest we use the bottom of the hole, which tends to read one layer too deep.

How deep does the water stand?

When the wells were finished, the water stood a median 60 feet below the surface (101 wells).

What a well costs here

At the median depth for this layer in Howard County (112 feet), a complete home well would cost roughly $5,500 to $13,000: $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 (80 to 150 feet) the range runs from $4,500 to $15,500. 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 85% of these wells the report says where the water enters and we use the middle of that interval; for the rest we use the bottom of the hole, which tends to read one layer too deep.

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/howard-county/dockum. License CC BY 4.0. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.24126380.

Sources