Centre County, PA Water Table Trend
Centre County's groundwater trend, from USGS's own readings
Centre County's representative monitoring well shows depth to water declining at a typical pace for a declining county, a fitted trend of 1.8 ft per decade over 60 years of readings.
One well stands in for Centre County's whole aquifer here, the honest simplification every page on this site carries.
What the well actually measured
The most recent reading put water 72.1 ft below land surface. Readings span 1967-01-18 to 2026-08-20, 293 measurements from USGS well USGS-404518077575501 (Ce 118 Centre County Observation Well), part of the National Water Information System. The qualifying bar and the OLS fit behind this trend are documented in the methodology guide.
Where Centre County ranks
Of the 1,449 US counties with a usable trend, Centre County ranks 1161st from fastest-rising to fastest-declining, 1 is the fastest-rising water table measured, 1449 the fastest-declining. About 159,805 people live in Centre County, Pennsylvania. See the fastest-moving counties guide for how Centre County stacks up against the most extreme cases nationally.
What a declining table means for a well pump
Because Centre County's water table is actually declining, not just a general worry, a well owner here should consider comparing home-warranty plans that cover well-pump failure before one happens.
A dropping table says nothing about water quality
Whether Centre County's water table is rising or falling is independent of what's actually in the water. Depletion can concentrate naturally-occurring minerals, so it's worth checking directly with a water test rather than assuming a depth trend says anything about quality.