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

What to do about a house in Kidder County

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

Across 1,351 square miles, under one square mile of Kidder County maps onto soluble rock. With about 2,371 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 373 map points about 1.9 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Two things to read before deciding: how these percentages are measured, and the warning signs that apply anywhere.

Counties around Kidder County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Boyd County, NE, about 283 miles south. 6 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band, so this is a regional pattern rather than a local quirk.

• Logan County, ND 34 mi south · 0% at surface
• Burleigh County, ND 35 mi west · 0% at surface
• Stutsman County, ND 37 mi east · 0% at surface
• Wells County, ND 44 mi north · 0% at surface
• Emmons County, ND 51 mi southwest · 0% at surface
• Sheridan County, ND 53 mi northwest · 0% at surface

Against the rest of North Dakota

Kidder County ranks 25 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%