Sinkhole risk in Brewster County, TX: Pockets of it

Pockets of it

Soluble rock at the surface or under thin cover in part of the county.

On soluble rock: 32%
At or near the surface: 32%
Buried under cover: 0%

What to do about a house in Brewster County

Check the parcel against your state survey sinkhole map, and ask for an inspection if cracks, depressions or sticking doors show up.

That works out to roughly 1,985 of Brewster County's 6,184 square miles on soluble rock, 1,985 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 9,508 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 243 map points about 5.0 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Counties around Brewster County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Loving County, TX, about 142 miles north. 3 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band; the ground changes quickly around here.

Presidio County, TX 62 mi west · 3% at surface
Pecos County, TX 74 mi northeast · 31% at surface
Terrell County, TX 76 mi northeast · 88% at surface
Jeff Davis County, TX 80 mi northwest · 3% at surface
Reeves County, TX 107 mi north · 9% at surface
Ward County, TX 118 mi north · 26% at surface

What Brewster County is built on

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Santa Elena Limestone (limestone), Early Cretaceous in age, covering about 11% of the county. Next is the Bouquillas Formation at 6%.

Against the rest of Texas

Brewster County ranks 80 of 254 in Texas for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 80% of US counties on that measure.