Water Well Age Told Me Nothing About Aquifer Recovery

I used to believe a recently drilled well was a green light on water supply. Got burned badly enough that I'd argue well age is close to irrelevant without aquifer recovery rate data specific to your area. Before buying my second parcel, I hired a hydrologist to pull historical static water level records from the state database for every permitted well within two miles. What I found: a well drilled just four years prior was already showing a 40-foot static level decline from initial completion depth. The aquifer was dropping faster than seasonal recharge could offset. The seller wasn't hiding anything — they genuinely didn't know. But a standard well inspection wouldn't have caught it either. Recovery rate testing tells you how fast the well refills after draw-down. Aquifer trend data tells you whether that recovery is itself declining year over year. In the Hill Country especially, conventional due diligence on water is dangerously shallow. Anyone else pulling groundwater district monitoring well records before closing, or is that still considered overkill in your region?