Bell County, KY Water Table Trend
Is the water table dropping in Bell County, KY?
Bell County's long-term well puts the trend at 1.5 ft per decade, rising, getting shallower over time, based on 50 measurements since 1964.
This is one representative well, not a county-wide survey, the same grain limit every page here discloses.
Bell County's source well, in detail
Depth to water at the last reading was 8.2 ft below land surface. Readings span 1964-05-21 to 2026-06-16, 50 measurements from USGS well USGS-363749083430701 (K25a0041 - Middlesboro), part of the National Water Information System. The qualifying bar and the OLS fit behind this trend are documented in the methodology guide.
How Bell County compares nationally
Bell County sits at rank 172nd 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. Bell County, Kentucky is home to about 23,051 people. See the fastest-moving counties guide for how Bell County stacks up against the most extreme cases nationally.
Depth and quality are separate questions
This page answers a depth question, not a quality one. A well in Bell 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.