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Water wells in the Edwards-Trinity (Plateau) Aquifer, Sterling County, Texas

Only 10 home water wells that draw from the Edwards-Trinity (Plateau) Aquifer in Sterling County, Texas have been reported since 2001, so treat this as a rough guide: the middle half are 125 to 274 feet deep (median 212 ft). It accounts for 18% of the 57 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 (75%). Most of these reports do not say where the water enters, so the formation is a rough guide. They run about 92 feet deeper than the county's median well (120 ft). Estimated cost of a complete well at the median depth: $8,000 to $19,000.

Checked against the state's own aquifer codes: where our method names this group, the state agrees in 70% of 4,432 wells (64% for the 571 with a screened interval on their report). Read it as the likely group, not a certain one.

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.

All wells in Sterling CountyEdwards-Trinity (Plateau) Aquifer across Texas

Which layer Sterling County wells draw from

County home wells covered by the High Plains Aquifer System model (since 2001).

Home wells in Sterling 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: Sterling County

Key figures

Typical depth (middle half)
125 to 274 feet
Median depth
212 feet
Deepest 10% are past
298 feet
Wells used
10
Since 2001
Share of the county's wells
18%
All years on file
10
median 212 ft, since 2004
Confidence
Few wells (10 to 29)

What this layer is

Under the Ogallala, in many places, lie Cretaceous rocks: the Antlers (Trinity) sand and the Edwards limestones. They form the Edwards-Trinity (High Plains) Aquifer around and south of Lubbock and the Edwards-Trinity (Plateau) Aquifer around Midland and Odessa, and older Cretaceous and Jurassic sandstones form the Rita Blanca Aquifer in Dallam and Hartley counties. Many home wells in Midland, Martin, Terry, Lynn and Hockley counties draw from them.

More about the Edwards-Trinity (Plateau) Aquifer

Depth over time

Too few wells per period in this layer in Sterling County to compare depth over time. Since 2004, 10 home wells have been reported, with a median of 212 feet.

PeriodMedian depth (ft)Wells
2001–2005under 10 wells2
2006–2010under 10 wells3
2016–2020under 10 wells2
2021–2025under 10 wells3

Common questions

How deep is a well in the Edwards-Trinity (Plateau) Aquifer in Sterling County?

Only 10 home water wells that draw from the Edwards-Trinity (Plateau) Aquifer in Sterling County, Texas have been reported since 2001, so treat this as a rough guide: the middle half are 125 to 274 feet deep (median 212 ft).

How many Sterling County wells draw from this layer?

It accounts for 18% of the 57 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 (75%). Only 50% 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.

What a well costs here

At the median depth for this layer in Sterling County (212 feet), a complete home well would cost roughly $8,000 to $19,000: $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 (125 to 274 feet) the range runs from $5,500 to $23,000. 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.

Only 50% 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/sterling-county/edwards-trinity. License CC BY 4.0. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.24126380.

Sources