Cottle County’s Well File Is Mostly Non-Domestic

Cottle County has 209 submitted driller records in the supplied file. Stock use accounts for 134 of them, while only 35 are domestic. That imbalance matters for buyers and landowners around Paducah, Cee Vee, and the rural acreage between them. A countywide number dominated by livestock wells would not be a clean household comparison.

The irrigation, monitor, industrial, test, and rig-supply entries also answer different questions. A shallow monitor well is not evidence for a kitchen faucet, and an irrigation completion may be designed around demand far beyond a residence. Use class must stay attached to every depth before a record is treated as relevant.

Begin with the Texas water well records lookup while screening land. Once a tract becomes a serious purchase, construction, or replacement candidate, a Pre-Drill Intelligence Report can organize nearby records and open questions. TurnKey Wells organizes public evidence; it does not drill wells or guarantee field results.

What 35 Domestic Depth Logs Show

The domestic subset has an average reported total depth of 132.5 feet and a median of 124 feet. The middle half runs from 100 to 159 feet. Ninety percent of the positive-depth domestic filings are at or below 198.4 feet, and the full recorded range is 23 to 300 feet.

Those markers describe 35 historical records. They do not establish a typical depth for every Cottle County tract. With a sample this size, a few unusual entries can move the average, and a countywide midpoint can hide meaningful differences in location, date, elevation, completion details, intended demand, and the water-bearing interval encountered.

The 23-foot minimum should not become a best-case budget, and 300 feet is not a drilling ceiling. The useful comparison set begins only after records are plotted, sorted by domestic use, and checked against source documents.

Data snapshot: These figures use the 209 Cottle County rows in the TurnKey Wells Submitted Driller Reports database snapshot dated August 10, 2026. The domestic depth statistics use only the 35 records labeled Domestic with a positive reported total depth. Source: Texas Water Development Board Submitted Driller Reports. Public records may contain errors, omissions, or later corrections.

• Total Cottle County submitted driller records: 209
• Usable domestic total-depth logs: 35
• Median domestic total depth: 124 ft
• Average domestic total depth: 132.5 ft
• Domestic total-depth middle band: 100 to 159 ft
• Domestic 90th-percentile marker: 198.4 ft
• Recorded domestic total-depth range: 23 to 300 ft

Thirteen Pump-Depth Filings Need a Large Warning Label

Only 13 domestic filings in the supplied county data report a positive pump depth. Their median is 116 feet, the middle half runs from 96 to 140 feet, and the average is 117.4 feet. The reported range is 22 to 185 feet, with 90 percent at or below 159.2 feet.

That is a small historical subset, not a county standard. Total depth describes how far the completed hole extends. Pump setting reflects the completed well, static water level, expected drawdown, intended demand, equipment selection, and the contractor’s judgment. Two wells with similar total depth can still call for different pump decisions.

If a nearby filing lists pump depth, confirm that the value belongs to the same well and read it beside construction details and record date. Equipment should be selected for the actual completed well, not copied from a county statistic.

Stock and Irrigation Records Belong in Separate Lanes

Stock wells are the largest local group: 134 positive-depth records averaging 145.8 feet. The file also contains 25 irrigation records averaging 174.3 feet and 11 monitor records averaging only 25.4 feet. Industrial, test, and rig-supply entries make up the remaining small groups.

Blending those uses would create a precise-looking number with no clear customer. A stock well can still add context for ranch acreage after domestic records are considered, but its intended demand and system design may differ. Irrigation and monitor records require even more care because their purposes can sit far from a household need.

Keep coordinates, use, date, total depth, pump information, and the original report together. A nearby record is useful only when its purpose and location make sense for the question being asked.

Paducah and Cee Vee Are Search Aids, Not Boundaries

Paducah appears in several capitalization variants in the local file, and Cee Vee appears on a smaller set of records. Other rows have blank, ambiguous, or out-of-county place labels. That makes the city field useful for orientation but unsafe as the final location filter.

Plot the coordinates before calling a record nearby. A mailing place can describe an address or route rather than the well’s exact physical position. Two entries labeled Paducah can serve different uses, sit miles apart, and carry different construction histories.

The physical site adds another layer. Gate width, overhead lines, slope, wet-weather access, septic placement, distance to power, and room for support equipment can change the work plan without changing a database depth. Record research works best when it is tied back to the actual tract.

Blaine Is a Historical Label, Not a Tract Answer

The groundwater database includes 59 Cottle County rows. Blaine appears on 30, Other appears on 28, and one carries a Blaine/Other label. That split is useful regional history, but none of those labels assigns an aquifer to an unreviewed property.

Aquifer names in historical databases can be reported, interpreted, generalized, or incomplete. The label should be read with coordinates, well depth, construction details, the original record, and current professional interpretation. “Other” and mixed labels are reminders that the county does not reduce neatly to one groundwater source.

Use the Texas water wells guide to understand how total depth, casing, completion, water level, pump setting, and intended use answer different questions. Nearby evidence can form a working hypothesis. It cannot promise the producing interval, yield, or water chemistry for a new well.

District and Permit Questions Start With the Exact Tract

Cottle County by itself is not enough to establish groundwater-district coverage or current rules. Enter the property’s address or coordinates in the Texas groundwater conservation district lookup, then confirm the returned authority and current requirements directly before relying on the result.

Ask about registration, spacing, permitting, replacement-well procedures, production limits, reporting, and plugging obligations that apply to the proposed use and location. Boundary details and exemptions can matter. A result for one Paducah-area property should not be copied onto another tract without checking it.

The database also contains 32 plugged-well rows assigned to Cottle County. That is county history only. It does not prove a plugged, abandoned, or undocumented well exists on a property. Existing-well questions require tract records, a site review, and seller documentation.

Depth Cannot Promise Yield or Water Quality

A 124-foot median says nothing about how much water a well will provide today. Yield depends on the water-bearing interval, construction, well condition, pumping rate, recovery, seasonal and longer-term groundwater conditions, and the demand placed on the system. A nearby depth report is not a production test.

Depth also cannot tell a buyer what will come from a faucet. Water chemistry can vary with the producing interval, well construction, well condition, nearby activity, treatment equipment, storage, and household plumbing. An operating well needs a current sample collected properly and analyzed by a qualified laboratory for the property and intended use.

For an existing system, gather construction reports, service invoices, equipment information, treatment records, and recent test results. The Texas water-well disclosure guide provides a practical structure for organizing those materials during a property transaction.

Price the Complete Private-Water System

The domestic depth distribution is not a contractor quote. A full Cottle County budget may include mobilization, drilling, casing, completion materials, pump and controls, pressure equipment, trenching, electrical work, storage, testing, treatment, freeze protection, and cleanup.

The Texas water well drilling cost guide explains the categories behind a headline estimate. Ask each licensed contractor what is included, what remains an allowance, how added footage is priced, who coordinates power and testing, and how the proposal changes if the completed well needs different equipment.

Existing wells require the same discipline. Low pressure might involve the pump, pressure tank, controls, power, water level, well condition, plumbing, or more than one issue. The Texas private-well maintenance guide can help organize questions while diagnosis and repair pricing remain with qualified professionals.

Three Regional County Files for Comparison

Childress County shares Cottle County’s northern boundary and offers the closest published comparison. Collingsworth provides another Rolling Plains file, while Baylor adds a regional example to the east. None substitutes for Cottle County data, but all three show why use mix, record count, depth distribution, and aquifer labels must be sorted locally.

• Water well drilling records in neighboring Childress County
• Water well drilling records in regional Collingsworth County
• Water well drilling records in regional Baylor County

Turn the Cottle County File Into a Property Decision

This page is for buyers, landowners, agents, and rural sellers working around Paducah, Cee Vee, and the acreage between them. The county file becomes useful after domestic records are separated from stock, irrigation, monitor, and other use lanes, then narrowed to the exact location.

If you are screening several properties, start with the Free Well Check. If one tract has reached the inspection, negotiation, financing, or building stage, use the Pre-Drill Intelligence Report to assemble nearby records and unresolved questions in one place.