Sinkhole risk in Kiowa County, CO: Pockets of it
Pockets of it
Soluble rock at the surface or under thin cover in part of the county.
- On soluble rock
- 30%
- At or near the surface
- 30%
- Buried under cover
- 0%
What to do about a house in Kiowa 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 530 of Kiowa County's 1,768 square miles on soluble rock, 530 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 1,392 residents (1 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 383 map points about 2.1 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.
Read next: why gypsum and salt move faster than limestone, and the signs to look for and how an inspection works.
Counties around Kiowa County
The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Clark County, KS, about 179 miles southeast. 2 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band; the ground changes quickly around here.
- Cheyenne County, CO 32 mi north · 0% at surface
- Prowers County, CO 36 mi southeast · 35% at surface
- Bent County, CO 36 mi southwest · 44% at surface
- Greeley County, KS 52 mi east · 7% at surface
- Crowley County, CO 55 mi west · 4% at surface
- Lincoln County, CO 58 mi northwest · 0% at surface
What Kiowa County is built on
The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Niobrara Fm (shale), Cretaceous in age, covering about 30% of the county.
The county also lies over the Permian Basin, Anadarko Basin,Dalhart Basin, Palo Duro Basin, a deep salt or gypsum basin. Deep beds rarely cause surface collapse on their own, but wells and mining into them have.
Against the rest of Colorado
Kiowa County ranks 5 of 64 in Colorado for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 79% of US counties on that measure.
- Pueblo County 45%
- Bent County 44%
- Otero County 42%
- Prowers County 35%
- Las Animas County 29%