Clay County, MO Water Table Trend
Is the water table dropping in Clay County, MO?
Over 28 years of USGS readings, the well tracking Clay County's aquifer is declining at a typical pace for a declining county: 3.4 ft per decade.
This is one representative well, not a county-wide survey, the same grain limit every page here discloses.
Clay County's source well, in detail
Depth to water at the last reading was 19.4 ft below land surface. Readings span 1998-06-05 to 2026-05-04, 23 measurements from USGS well USGS-390955094244001 (Independence 16a), part of the National Water Information System. The qualifying bar and the OLS fit behind this trend are documented in the methodology guide.
How Clay County compares nationally
Clay County sits at rank 1258th 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. Clay County, Missouri is home to about 263,370 people. See the fastest-moving counties guide for how Clay County stacks up against the most extreme cases nationally.
If you own a well in Clay County
A dropping water table means a residential pump has to reach deeper and work harder, which shortens its life. In Clay County, that trend is real, not assumed: 3.4 ft per decade over 28 years.
Depth and quality are separate questions
This page answers a depth question, not a quality one. A well in Clay 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.