Sinkhole risk in Towner 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 1,025 square miles, under one square mile of Towner County maps onto soluble rock. With about 2,051 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 378 map points about 1.6 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 Towner County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Boyd County, NE, about 401 miles south. 4 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band, so this is a regional pattern rather than a local quirk.

• Rolette County, ND 28 mi west · 0% at surface
• Cavalier County, ND 36 mi east · 2% at surface
• Ramsey County, ND 37 mi southeast · 0% at surface
• Benson County, ND 42 mi south · 0% at surface
• Pierce County, ND 45 mi southwest · 0% at surface
• Eddy County, ND 68 mi south · 0% at surface

Against the rest of North Dakota

Towner County ranks 49 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%