Fourteen million wells: the map of where America actually pumps
A 2024 database compiled state well records into one national picture of depth, location and construction. Drought models have rarely had this much detail.
- Jasechko and colleagues compiled over 14 million US groundwater wells from state-level records (Scientific Data, 2024).
- Each well carries depth, location and construction details.
- Well depth is the key variable for drought risk: shallow wells fail first when water tables fall.
Groundwater models usually know a lot about aquifers and very little about the wells that tap them. Yet when a drought lowers the water table, it is the depth of individual wells that decides who loses water first.
The database published by Jasechko, Seybold, Perrone and colleagues in 2024 fills that gap. It brings together over 14 million wells from state records, with depth, location and construction details for each.
From aquifer risk to household risk
With well depths in hand, a model can move from “the aquifer is declining” to “these communities have wells within a few metres of the projected water table.” That is the difference between a research result and a warning someone can act on.