Bates County, MO Water Table Trend
Is the water table dropping in Bates County, MO?
Over 74 years of USGS readings, the well tracking Bates County's aquifer is declining faster than most declining counties: 4.2 ft per decade.
This is one representative well, not a county-wide survey, the same grain limit every page here discloses.
Bates County's source well, in detail
Depth to water at the last reading was 105.8 ft below land surface. Readings span 1952-04-01 to 2026-04-22, 47 measurements from USGS well MO005-380545094213501 (Rich Hill), part of the National Water Information System. The qualifying bar and the OLS fit behind this trend are documented in the methodology guide.
How Bates County compares nationally
Bates County sits at rank 1285th of 1,449 ranked counties, ordered rising-to-declining, so a low number means a rising water table and a high one means fast decline. Bates County, Missouri is home to about 16,394 people. See the fastest-moving counties guide for how Bates County stacks up against the most extreme cases nationally.
If you own a well in Bates County
A dropping water table means a residential pump has to reach deeper and work harder, which shortens its life. In Bates County, that trend is real, not assumed: 4.2 ft per decade over 74 years.
Depth and quality are separate questions
This page answers a depth question, not a quality one. A well in Bates County can be stable in depth and still worth testing for quality, or declining and still test clean, the two are measured separately, and only a direct test settles the second one.