Shelby County, IN Water Table Trend
Shelby County, IN: what the water table is actually doing
Shelby County's long-term well puts the trend at 0.1 ft per decade, holding roughly steady, based on 299 measurements since 1966.
One well stands in for Shelby 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 19.5 ft below land surface. Readings span 1966-06-21 to 2026-09-02, 299 measurements from USGS well USGS-393943085490901 (Shelby 2 (Sh 2)), part of the National Water Information System. The qualifying bar and the OLS fit behind this trend are documented in the methodology guide.
Where Shelby County ranks
Of the 1,449 US counties with a usable trend, Shelby County ranks 744th from fastest-rising to fastest-declining, 1 is the fastest-rising water table measured, 1449 the fastest-declining. About 45,654 people live in Shelby County, Indiana. See the fastest-moving counties guide for how Shelby County stacks up against the most extreme cases nationally.
A dropping table says nothing about water quality
Whether Shelby 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.