Orleans County, NY Water Table Trend
Is the water table dropping in Orleans County, NY?
Over 23 years of USGS readings, the well tracking Orleans County's aquifer is declining at a typical pace for a declining county: 1.6 ft per decade.
This is one representative well, not a county-wide survey, the same grain limit every page here discloses.
Orleans County's source well, in detail
Depth to water at the last reading was 24 ft below land surface. Readings span 2003-11-12 to 2026-07-09, 98 measurements from USGS well USGS-431045078160401 (Local Number, Ol-20, Barre Ny), part of the National Water Information System. The qualifying bar and the OLS fit behind this trend are documented in the methodology guide.
How Orleans County compares nationally
Orleans County sits at rank 1154th 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. Orleans County, New York is home to about 39,686 people. See the fastest-moving counties guide for how Orleans County stacks up against the most extreme cases nationally.
If you own a well in Orleans County
A dropping water table means a residential pump has to reach deeper and work harder, which shortens its life. In Orleans County, that trend is real, not assumed: 1.6 ft per decade over 23 years.
Depth and quality are separate questions
This page answers a depth question, not a quality one. A well in Orleans 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.