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How deep are water wells in Garden City, Texas?

Only 26 home water wells in and around Garden City, Texas have been reported since 2001, so treat this as a rough guide: the middle half are 272 to 314 feet deep (median 300 ft). Most are completed in the Edwards-Trinity (Plateau) Aquifer (65%), and 35% end at or just below the base of the Ogallala, in the top of the Dockum, according to the state's High Plains Aquifer System model (TWDB). Most of these reports do not say where the water enters, so the formation is a rough guide. Estimated cost of a complete well at the median depth: $10,000 to $24,500.

This page is based on fewer than 30 wells, so it is kept out of search engines until more reports come in. Treat every figure as a rough guide.

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

See the wells and layers at an exact pointGlasscock County
What is under Garden City, TexasUnderground column at the center of Garden City: median well 300 ft, middle half 272 to 314 ft, water at 175 ft, and the layers of the state's model with their thickness.Edwards-Trinity (Plateau): 0 to 246 ftEdwards-Trinity (Plat…Dockum: 246 to 1,057 ftDockumcontinues to 1,057 ft0100200300400ftGround level · 2,648 ft above sea levelMedian well: 300 ftWater standing in the well from 175 ftWater level175 ftMiddle half272–314 ftMedian well300 ft

Under Garden City, Glasscock County

Layers at the center of Garden City from TWDB's High Plains Aquifer System model (half mile cells, read here on a grid of about 1.2 by 1.4 miles), at true depth scale. The well and the water are the median of 26 real wells.

Home wells in and around Garden City

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+

Dashed line: Garden City and about 2 miles around it

Key figures

Typical depth (middle half)
272 to 314 feet
Median depth
300 feet
Deepest 10% are past
320 feet
Water level (median)
175 feet
23 wells
Yield (median)
30 gpm
22 wells, gallons per minute
Wells used
26
Since 2001
Inside the city limits
9
the rest within 2 miles
All years on file
26
median 300 ft, since 2004
Confidence
Few wells (10 to 29)

When the wells were finished, the water stood a median 175 feet below the surface (23 wells).

What is under Garden City, TexasUnderground column at the center of Garden City: median well 300 ft, middle half 272 to 314 ft, water at 175 ft, and the layers of the state's model with their thickness.Edwards-Trinity (Plateau): 0 to 246 ftEdwards-Trinity (Plat…Dockum: 246 to 1,057 ftDockumcontinues to 1,057 ft0100200300400ftGround level · 2,648 ft above sea levelMedian well: 300 ftWater standing in the well from 175 ftWater level175 ftMiddle half272–314 ftMedian well300 ft
Layers at the center of Garden City from TWDB's High Plains Aquifer System model (half mile cells, read here on a grid of about 1.2 by 1.4 miles), at true depth scale. The well and the water are the median of 26 real wells.

Which formation do wells in Garden City draw from?

Most are completed in the Edwards-Trinity (Plateau) Aquifer (65%), and 35% end at or just below the base of the Ogallala, in the top of the Dockum, 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. Most of these wells have no screened interval on their report, and for those the method is only a little better than always answering the Ogallala (it matches the state's record about 65% of the time, against 58%): read the formation as a rough guide.

The bottom of the hole tells a different story: 81% end at or just below the base of the Ogallala, in the top of the Dockum, although only 35% take their water from there. Many drillers go past the producing layer to leave a reserve.

Layer (state's model)ShareWellsTypical depth (ft)
Edwards-Trinity (Plateau)65%17265–320
Dockumat or just below the base of the Ogallala35%9300–310

Only 54% 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.

The layers under the center of Garden City

From the state's model, at 2,648 feet above sea level. These are the model's depths at that one point, not those of any particular lot.

Depths in feet below ground.
Layer (state's model)Top (ft)Bottom (ft)Thickness (ft)
Edwards-Trinity (Plateau)sand, sandstone and limestone0246246
Dockumred mudstone, sandstone and conglomerate2461,057811

Depth over time

Too few wells per period in and around Garden City to compare depth over time. Since 2004, 26 home wells have been reported, with a median of 300 feet.

PeriodMedian depth (ft)Wells
2001–2005under 10 wells1
2006–2010under 10 wells4
2011–2015under 10 wells7
2016–2020under 10 wells6
2021–2025under 10 wells8

What a well costs in Garden City

At the median depth for Garden City (300 feet), a complete home well would cost roughly $10,000 to $24,500: $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 (272 to 314 feet) the range runs from $9,500 to $25,500. 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.

Where it sits

Nearby places

Median depth of home wells in each place.

All Texas cities and towns

Common questions

How deep do you have to drill a well in Garden City, Texas?

Only 26 home water wells in and around Garden City, Texas have been reported since 2001, so treat this as a rough guide: the middle half are 272 to 314 feet deep (median 300 ft). One in ten goes past 320 feet. The depth a given tract needs depends on where it sits and what layers the driller hits.

What aquifer or formation do wells in Garden City draw from?

Most are completed in the Edwards-Trinity (Plateau) Aquifer (65%), and 35% end at or just below the base of the Ogallala, in the top of the Dockum, 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. Most of these wells have no screened interval on their report, and for those the method is only a little better than always answering the Ogallala (it matches the state's record about 65% of the time, against 58%): read the formation as a rough guide. This is an estimate from the state's regional model, not a survey of the lot.

How much does a water well cost in Garden City?

At the median depth (300 feet), a complete well would cost roughly $10,000 to $24,500, by TerraFunded's estimate from published Texas driller prices. The real price comes from a licensed driller's quote.

How deep is the water in Garden City?

When the wells were finished, the water stood a median 175 feet below the surface (23 wells). The level moves with drought and from one well to the next.

Do I need a permit to drill a well in Garden City?

Garden City is inside the Glasscock Groundwater Conservation District. Groundwater conservation districts in Texas can require registering or permitting a new well, keeping set distances from property lines and other wells, and paying fees. Rules differ from district to district: ask the district before drilling.

How these numbers are made

We count new and replacement domestic (home) wells whose coordinates fall inside the place boundary or within 2 miles of it. 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 54% 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/places/garden-city-tx. License CC BY 4.0. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.24126380.

Sources