Sinkhole risk in Bowman County, ND: No soluble rock mapped

The next step for one property

No soluble bedrock is mapped here, so natural sinkholes are unlikely. Collapses from broken pipes or old mines are a separate risk.

Across 1,162 square miles, under one square mile of Bowman County maps onto soluble rock. With about 2,886 residents (2 per square mile), much of the land is open, and the mapped rock may sit far from where people actually live. The figures come from 385 map points about 1.7 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Two things to read before deciding: why gypsum and salt move faster than limestone, and how these percentages are measured.

Counties around Bowman County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Fall River County, SD, about 200 miles south. 3 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band; the ground changes quickly around here.

• Slope County, ND 23 mi north · under 1% at surface
• Harding County, SD 36 mi south · 0% at surface
• Fallon County, MT 45 mi west · 0% at surface
• Adams County, ND 47 mi east · 0% at surface
• Hettinger County, ND 55 mi northeast · 0% at surface
• Golden Valley County, ND 59 mi north · 0% at surface

Against the rest of North Dakota

Bowman County ranks 11 of 53 in North Dakota for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 0% of US counties on that measure.

• Cavalier County 2%
• Ransom County under 1%
• Dunn County under 1%
• Barnes County under 1%
• Slope County under 1%