Alabama / Geneva County

Score 24 · moderate · #27 of 67 in AL

Crawl space moisture in Geneva County, AL

Geneva County scores moderate: no single wet-soil signal dominates its mapped acres. Where a seasonal water table is reported — 63% of acres — it averages 2.8 ft below grade.

Size venting or encapsulation

1234
  1. 1Water table 2.8 ft
  2. 2Wet soils 21%
  3. 3Moisture score 24
  4. 4EPA radon zone 3
Excessively5%Somewhat excessively10%Well62%Moderately well2%Somewhat poorly7%Poorly14%Very poorly1%
Share of mapped soil acres in Geneva County, AL by NRCS drainage class (dominant condition), bars to scale; wetter classes highlighted. Covers 100% of mapped acres.
Dominant drainage
Well drained
62% of acres
Group D soils
21%
slow infiltration
Flood-prone acres
14%
any flooding frequency
Ponding
22.6%
acres where water ponds

Reading the Geneva County soil survey

The score of 24 combines four parts, each from the USDA survey: wet drainage classes contribute 19.5 points of 100 on their own scale, group D soils 26.6, a shallow water table 36.2, and flooding 9.4; the weights are on the methodology page. The dominant hydrologic group is C (44% of acres): slow infiltration (clay layers).

22%A12%B44%C1%D1%A/D9%B/D10%C/D
Hydrologic soil groups in Geneva County by share of acres, columns to scale. Group D and dual groups (x/D) shed water slowly and hold it near the surface.

At 2.8 ft the seasonal water table is usually below a crawl-space floor, but the 63% of acres that report one are by definition the wettest parts of the county; on those lots, a wet spring can bring water close to the footings.

Geneva County against the rest of Alabama

Geneva County ranks 27 of 67 Alabama counties, 2 points above the state median of 22. That places it in the middle range, nationally and for the state. Statewide, 16% of mapped soil is in the wet drainage classes; here it is 21%. After well drained, the next most common class is poorly drained at 14%.

Flooding. 7.6% of acres with a flooding class are rated frequent; 1.3% of acres with a flooding class are rated occasional; 5% of acres with a flooding class are rated rare. Flood-prone soils are a minority here, concentrated along streams; the score mostly reflects what happens between floods. Ponding — water standing at the surface with nowhere to go — affects 22.6% of acres.

What it means for a crawl space here

In a moderate county the soil record is mixed rather than uniformly wet, so conditions vary from lot to lot. Where the lot drains, the model-code default — a vented crawl space with 1 sq ft of net vent per 150 sq ft of floor, or 1 per 1500 with a Class I vapor retarder on the ground — is a reasonable starting point; where the sections above point to a shallow water table or flood-prone soil on your lot, plan as for an elevated county. Either way, check the site first: grading that falls away from the foundation, gutters and downspouts that discharge well clear of it, and a ground cover over bare earth. A wet crawl space in a moderate county points to one of those first.

Radon. EPA radon zone 3. The zone is a county-level prediction; EPA says elevated levels occur in every zone and every home should be tested.

Near Geneva County by score

All 67 Alabama counties

Sources: USDA NRCS SSURGO via Soil Data Access (muaggatt: drclassdcd, hydgrpdcd, flodfreqdcd, pondfreqprs, wtdepannmin), acreage-weighted (survey area AL061; drainage covers 100% of 370,340 mapped acres); EPA Map of Radon Zones, county table (June 2024 JSON); IRC R408.3 Unvented crawl space, as adopted in S.C. Code Regs. 8-1221 (LII). Checked 2026-10-23.