Meade County, SD Water Table Trend
Meade County's groundwater trend, from USGS's own readings
Over 42 years of USGS readings, the well tracking Meade County's aquifer is rising, getting shallower over time: 11.1 ft per decade.
This is one representative well, not a county-wide survey, the same grain limit every page here discloses.
Meade County's source well, in detail
Depth to water at the last reading was 31.3 ft below land surface. Readings span 1984-07-17 to 2026-10-06, 320 measurements from USGS well USGS-441759103261201 (04n06e19aaba Tilford North Minnelusa), part of the National Water Information System. The qualifying bar and the OLS fit behind this trend are documented in the methodology guide.
How Meade County compares nationally
Meade County sits at rank 25th 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. Meade County, South Dakota is home to about 30,918 people. See the fastest-moving counties guide for how Meade 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 Meade 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.