Columbia County, WI Water Table Trend
Is the water table dropping in Columbia County, WI?
Columbia County's representative monitoring well shows depth to water declining, slower than most declining counties, a fitted trend of 0.7 ft per decade over 46 years of readings.
One well stands in for Columbia 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 30.1 ft below land surface. Readings span 1974-12-20 to 2020-06-11, 395 measurements from USGS well USGS-432921089245901 (Co-12/09e/27-0620), part of the National Water Information System. The qualifying bar and the OLS fit behind this trend are documented in the methodology guide.
Where Columbia County ranks
Of the 1,449 US counties with a usable trend, Columbia County ranks 1019th from fastest-rising to fastest-declining, 1 is the fastest-rising water table measured, 1449 the fastest-declining. About 58,113 people live in Columbia County, Wisconsin. See the fastest-moving counties guide for how Columbia County stacks up against the most extreme cases nationally.
What a declining table means for a well pump
Because Columbia 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 Columbia 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.