St. James Parish, LA Water Table Trend
St. James Parish's groundwater trend, from USGS's own readings
St. James Parish's long-term well puts the trend at 2.1 ft per decade, rising, getting shallower over time, based on 141 measurements since 1975.
One well stands in for St. James Parish's whole aquifer here, the honest simplification every page on this site carries.
What the well actually measured
The most recent reading put water 5.8 ft below land surface. Readings span 1975-02-19 to 2026-09-29, 141 measurements from USGS well USGS-300445090520301 (Sj-203), part of the National Water Information System. The qualifying bar and the OLS fit behind this trend are documented in the methodology guide.
Where St. James Parish ranks
Of the 1,449 US counties with a usable trend, St. James Parish ranks 119th from fastest-rising to fastest-declining, 1 is the fastest-rising water table measured, 1449 the fastest-declining. About 19,110 people live in St. James Parish, Louisiana. See the fastest-moving counties guide for how St. James Parish stacks up against the most extreme cases nationally.
A dropping table says nothing about water quality
Whether St. James Parish'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.