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Water wells in the Chicot Aquifer, Orange County, Texas

Home water wells that draw from the Chicot Aquifer in Orange County, Texas are typically 315 to 456 feet deep (median 405 ft, 649 wells drilled in the last 10 years). It is the county's main layer: 100% of the 649 wells the state's model covers. They are about as deep as the county's median well (405 ft). Estimated cost of a complete well at the median depth: $12,500 to $31,000.

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 Orange CountyChicot Aquifer across Texas

Which layer Orange County wells draw from

  • Chicot Aquifer 100% · 649 wells

Under Orange, Orange County

County home wells covered by the northern Gulf Coast Aquifer model (in the last 10 years).

Home wells in Orange 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: Orange County

Key figures

Typical depth (middle half)
315 to 456 feet
Median depth
405 feet
Deepest 10% are past
500 feet
Water level (median)
36 feet
639 wells
Yield (median)
15 gpm
238 wells, gallons per minute
Wells used
649
In the last 10 years
Share of the county's wells
100%
All years on file
1,602
median 400 ft, since 1999
Confidence
Standard (30 or more wells)

When the wells were finished, the water stood a median 36 feet below the surface (639 wells), well above the bottom: the typical well holds about 369 feet of water.

Which layer Orange County wells draw from

  • Chicot Aquifer 100% · 649 wells
County home wells covered by the northern Gulf Coast Aquifer model (in the last 10 years).

What this layer is

The Chicot is the youngest and shallowest part of the Gulf Coast Aquifer: beds of sand, silt and clay laid down by rivers and the sea over the last two million years or so (Beaumont, Lissie and Willis). It is at the surface across most of the coastal plain, so most home wells in Harris, Brazoria, Fort Bend, Galveston, Liberty and Jefferson counties draw from it.

Checked against the state's own aquifer codes: where our method names this group, the state agrees in 84% of 9,234 wells.

More about the Chicot Aquifer

Depth over time

Home well depth in this layer in Orange County has not changed meaningfully in 20 years: the median was 410 feet in 2003 to 2007 and 400 feet in 2021 to 2025 (a difference under 10% or within the margin of error).

PeriodMedian depth (ft)Wells
2001–2005420283
2006–2010410374
2011–2015375244
2016–2020420367
2021–2025400305
202638228

Places in Orange County with wells in this layer

Common questions

How deep is a well in the Chicot Aquifer in Orange County?

Home water wells that draw from the Chicot Aquifer in Orange County, Texas are typically 315 to 456 feet deep (median 405 ft, 649 wells drilled in the last 10 years).

How many Orange County wells draw from this layer?

It is the county's main layer: 100% of the 649 wells the state's model covers. 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 36 feet below the surface (639 wells), well above the bottom: the typical well holds about 369 feet of water.

What a well costs here

At the median depth for this layer in Orange County (405 feet), a complete home well would cost roughly $12,500 to $31,000: $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 (315 to 456 feet) the range runs from $10,500 to $34,000. 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 14,333 wells in the area of the state's northern Gulf Coast Aquifer model (Houston and Southeast Texas) 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 83% of them, and that formation or the one next to it in at least 99%; of the 3,578 of those wells that the state records in the Evangeline, it names the Evangeline for about 51% and the Chicot for most of the rest.

  • The layers come from the Texas Water Development Board's northern Gulf Coast Aquifer model, with cells of about 0.62 mile (1 km). It is a regional model, not a survey of any lot.
  • The state's model has cells of about 3,277 ft (1 km, 0.62 mile); we read it on a grid of about 0.6 by 0.7 miles. It is not a survey of any lot, so we give ranges.
  • Figures go by three groups: Chicot, Evangeline, and Jasper and Catahoula with the Burkeville. The state's records cannot tell the Burkeville, the Jasper and the Catahoula apart at a well (alone, the Burkeville matched 33% and the Catahoula 50%), so they are never named one by one as the formation of a well or a place.
  • The line between the Chicot and the Evangeline is drawn differently by different studies. The state's records put about half of their Evangeline wells in what the model draws as the Chicot, mostly deeper wells in Harris, Montgomery, Waller, Liberty and Austin counties. Where both appear, the split is approximate.
  • "Near or below the base" means the well ends near or below the base of the Gulf Coast Aquifer (under the Catahoula: Jackson Group, Yegua and older). It is 1.3% of home wells; half of them end within about 85 ft of the base. That is not an error: the model simply ends there.
  • The model's top layer is a uniform 49 ft slab for the water table zone, not a rock unit; we merge it into the unit beneath. The model also covers Colorado, Lavaca, Fayette, Wharton and Matagorda counties (outside Groundwater Management Area 14), with the same framework. Texas part only.
  • 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/orange-county/chicot. License CC BY 4.0. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.24126380.

Sources