New Mexico Soil Drainage Rankings

New Mexico

How well does the soil drain across New Mexico? We ranked every USDA survey area by the percentage of land classified as "well drained." Areas at the top of the list have soils where water moves through at a healthy rate — favorable for building, septic, and gardening. Areas at the bottom have more waterlogged or slowly-draining soils that may require engineered solutions.

The best-drained survey area is De Baca County, New Mexico at 100% well-drained soils. The most drainage-challenged is White Sands National Monument, New Mexico at 26%.

#Survey AreaWell DrainedPoorly DrainedDominant Class
1 De Baca County, New Mexico 100% 0% Well drained
2 Mescalero-Apache Area, New Mexico 100% 0% Well drained
3 Lincoln County Area, New Mexico 99% 0% Well drained
4 Grant County, New Mexico, Central and Southern Parts 99% 0% Well drained
5 Chaves County, New Mexico, Northern Part 99% 0% Well drained
6 Guadalupe County, New Mexico 99% 0% Well drained
7 Union County, New Mexico 99% 0% Well drained
8 Cibola Area, New Mexico, Parts of Cibola, McKinley, and Valencia Counties 98% 0% Well drained
9 San Miguel County Area, New Mexico 98% 0% Well drained
10 Jicarilla Apache Nation, Parts of Rio Arriba and Sandoval Counties, New Mexico 98% 1% Well drained
11 Chaves County, New Mexico, Southern Part 98% 0% Well drained
12 Carson National Forest, New Mexico, Part of Rio Arriba County 97% 0% Well drained
13 Mora County Area, New Mexico 97% 0% Well drained
14 Sierra County Area, New Mexico 97% 0% Well drained
15 Colfax County, New Mexico 97% 0% Well drained
16 Curry County and Southwest Part of Quay County, New Mexico 96% 0% Well drained
17 Otero Area, New Mexico, Parts of Otero, Eddy and Chaves Counties 96% 0% Well drained
18 Santa Fe National Forest Area, New Mexico, Parts of Los Alamos, Mora, Rio Arriba, Sandoval, San Miguel and Santa Fe Counties 96% 1% Well drained
19 Taos County and Parts of Rio Arriba and Mora Counties, New Mexico 95% 0% Well drained
20 Roosevelt County, New Mexico 95% 0% Well drained
21 Catron County, New Mexico, Northern Part 94% 0% Well drained
22 Torrance Area, New Mexico 94% 0% Well drained
23 Rio Arriba Area, New Mexico, Parts of Rio Arriba and Sandoval Counties 94% 2% Well drained
24 Hidalgo County, New Mexico 94% 0% Well drained
25 Tucumcari Area, Northern Quay County, New Mexico 94% 0% Well drained
26 Carlsbad Caverns National Park, New Mexico 94% 0% Well drained
27 Dona Ana County Area, New Mexico 93% 0% Well drained
28 Luna County, New Mexico 91% 0% Well drained
29 Harding County, New Mexico 90% 0% Well drained
30 Lea County, New Mexico 89% 0% Well drained
31 Socorro County Area, New Mexico 89% 0% Well drained
32 Shiprock Area, Parts of San Juan County, New Mexico and Apache County, Arizona 88% 0% Well drained
33 McKinley County Area, New Mexico, McKinley County and Parts of Cibola and San Juan Counties 88% 0% Well drained
34 Eddy Area, New Mexico 87% 0% Well drained
35 Cabezon Area, New Mexico 86% 0% Well drained
36 Valencia County, New Mexico, Eastern Part 83% 0% Well drained
37 Sandoval County Area, New Mexico, Parts of Los Alamos, Sandoval, and Rio Arriba Counties 83% 2% Well drained
38 Santa Fe County Area, New Mexico 82% 0% Well drained
39 Bernalillo County and Parts of Sandoval and Valencia Counties, New Mexico 76% 0% Well drained
40 Fort Bliss Military Reservation, New Mexico and Texas 76% 0% Well drained
41 White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, Parts of Dona Ana, Lincoln, Otero, Sierra and Socorro Counties 74% 5% Well drained
42 San Juan County, New Mexico, Eastern Part 73% 2% Well drained
43 White Sands National Monument, New Mexico 26% 28% Excessively drained

See also: national drainage rankings | New Mexico gardening soil rankings | all New Mexico survey areas