Water wells in the Ogallala Aquifer, Randall County, Texas
Home water wells that draw from the Ogallala Aquifer in Randall County, Texas are consistently 270 to 312 feet deep (median 285 ft, 1,459 wells drilled in the last 10 years). It accounts for 38% of the 3,863 county wells the state's model covers; the main layer is at or just below the base of the Ogallala, in the top of the Dockum (62%). They run about 59 feet shallower than the county's median well (344 ft). Estimated cost of a complete well at the median depth: $9,500 to $23,500.
Updated every day from Texas Water Development Board driller reports. Last update: November 11, 2026, using the state file of November 10, 2026.
Which layer Randall County wells draw from
- Dockum Group (at or just below the base of the Ogallala) 62% · 2,403 wells
- Ogallala Aquifer 38% · 1,459 wells
- Near or below the base of the Dockum (or of the Ogallala) <1% · 1 wells
Under Rockwell Place, Randall County
County home wells covered by the High Plains Aquifer System model (in the last 10 years).
Digging in…
Home wells in Randall 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.
Well depth (ft)
- <100
- 100
- 200
- 300
- 400
- 600
- 800+
Dark line: Randall County
Green: aquifer mapped by the state
Key figures
- Typical depth (middle half)
- 270 to 312 feet
- Median depth
- 285 feet
- Deepest 10% are past
- 345 feet
- Water level (median)
- 210 feet
- 1,282 wells
- Yield (median)
- 15 gpm
- 863 wells, gallons per minute
- Wells used
- 1,459
- In the last 10 years
- Share of the county's wells
- 38%
- All years on file
- 2,175
- median 284 ft, since 2000
- Confidence
- Standard (30 or more wells)
When the wells were finished, the water stood a median 210 feet below the surface (1,282 wells).
Which layer Randall County wells draw from
- Dockum Group (at or just below the base of the Ogallala) 62% · 2,403 wells
- Ogallala Aquifer 38% · 1,459 wells
- Near or below the base of the Dockum (or of the Ogallala) <1% · 1 wells
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.
Depth over time
New home wells in this layer in Randall County are deeper than 20 years ago: the median went from 245 feet (2003 to 2007) to 284 feet (2021 to 2025), 16% more. Deeper wells do not always mean the water dropped: a driller may be going for another layer, better water or more reserve.
| Period | Median depth (ft) | Wells |
|---|---|---|
| 2001–2005 | 240 | 153 |
| 2006–2010 | 255 | 263 |
| 2011–2015 | 290 | 198 |
| 2016–2020 | 285 | 660 |
| 2021–2025 | 284 | 797 |
| 2026 | 283 | 103 |
Places in Randall County with wells in this layer
- Amarillo 46% of its wells
- Bushland 94% of its wells
- Canyon 24% of its wells
- Rockwell Place 15% of its wells
- Lake Tanglewood 52% of its wells
- Palisades 27% of its wells
- Timbercreek Canyon 11% of its wells
- Umbarger 67% of its wells
- Happy 56% of its wells
Common questions
How deep is a well in the Ogallala Aquifer in Randall County?
Home water wells that draw from the Ogallala Aquifer in Randall County, Texas are consistently 270 to 312 feet deep (median 285 ft, 1,459 wells drilled in the last 10 years).
How many Randall County wells draw from this layer?
It accounts for 38% of the 3,863 county wells the state's model covers; the main layer is at or just below the base of the Ogallala, in the top of the Dockum (62%). For 99% 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 210 feet below the surface (1,282 wells).
What a well costs here
At the median depth for this layer in Randall County (285 feet), a complete home well would cost roughly $9,500 to $23,500: $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 (270 to 312 feet) the range runs from $9,500 to $25,000. 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 99% 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/randall-county/ogallala. License CC BY 4.0. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.24126380.
Sources
- Submitted Driller's Reports database, Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) (file of November 10, 2026)
- Numerical Model Report for the High Plains Aquifer System Groundwater Availability Model. Deeds, N.E., and Jigmond, M. (INTERA Incorporated), for the Texas Water Development Board; extension through 2020 by Cawthon, T., and Wade, S. (TWDB, 2025), 2015, GAM v1.01 (layers unchanged in the 2025 extension, version 1.02). TWDB groundwater availability model.
- Ground elevation: Terrain Tiles (Mapzen), Registry of Open Data on AWS
- TWDB well report viewer (each well's official report)
