Richland County, OH Water Table Trend
Richland County, OH: what the water table is actually doing
Over 61 years of USGS readings, the well tracking Richland County's aquifer is rising, getting shallower over time: 6.5 ft per decade.
One well stands in for Richland 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 2.8 ft below land surface. Readings span 1965-10-01 to 2026-07-14, 65 measurements from USGS well OH015-404625082305100 (R-4 Oh), part of the National Water Information System. The qualifying bar and the OLS fit behind this trend are documented in the methodology guide.
Where Richland County ranks
Of the 1,449 US counties with a usable trend, Richland County ranks 42nd from fastest-rising to fastest-declining, 1 is the fastest-rising water table measured, 1449 the fastest-declining. About 124,853 people live in Richland County, Ohio. See the fastest-moving counties guide for how Richland County stacks up against the most extreme cases nationally.
A dropping table says nothing about water quality
Whether Richland 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.