Orange County, VA Water Table Trend
Is the water table dropping in Orange County, VA?
Orange County's long-term well puts the trend at 1 ft per decade, declining, slower than most declining counties, based on 2063 measurements since 1965.
This is one representative well, not a county-wide survey, the same grain limit every page here discloses.
Orange County's source well, in detail
Depth to water at the last reading was 34.2 ft below land surface. Readings span 1965-02-20 to 2026-08-13, 2063 measurements from USGS well USGS-381002078094201 (45p 1 Sow 030), part of the National Water Information System. The qualifying bar and the OLS fit behind this trend are documented in the methodology guide.
How Orange County compares nationally
Orange County sits at rank 1074th 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. Orange County, Virginia is home to about 38,986 people. See the fastest-moving counties guide for how Orange County stacks up against the most extreme cases nationally.
If you own a well in Orange County
A dropping water table means a residential pump has to reach deeper and work harder, which shortens its life. In Orange County, that trend is real, not assumed: 1 ft per decade over 62 years.
Depth and quality are separate questions
This page answers a depth question, not a quality one. A well in Orange 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.