What to Expect from a Well in Adams County

How deep are wells around Adams County?

How much water do wells make near Adams County?

Why Adams County's Shallow Median Can Mislead

Of the 15,156 wells reporting depth, the median is 55 ft, and 60% are under 100 ft. Yet 21% fall in the 300-600 ft range and 9% are 600+ ft. The 90th-percentile depth is 560 ft. This is not a county where a single depth allowance fits every parcel.

Permits name Alluvial and Upper Arapahoe aquifers, while many leave the aquifer unnamed or use a broad bedrock label. Alluvial deposits and Denver Basin sedimentary formations present different drilling targets. The 30-352 ft middle-half range means a bid should identify the intended aquifer and explain extra-depth charges. Compare construction logs around your lot in Brighton or Henderson rather than pricing from the county median alone.

Reported Yields Are Encouraging, but Test the Well

The 4,286 records with pump yields show a 12.0 gpm median, with the middle half between 10.0 and 15.0 gpm. Those rates can support ordinary household demand when the well sustains its output and the pump system is properly sized. Recorded output is not a promise of current performance.

The reported share under 1 gpm is 0%, while 2% fall in the 1-5 gpm range. That gives little indication of widespread very-low-yield performance in the reporting subset, but it does not prove dry holes or weak wells are absent. For an existing home, request a pumping and recovery test. Also check permitted uses: a productive well does not automatically authorize irrigation, livestock watering or additional residences.

Water Levels Do Not Show a Steady Countywide Decline

Static water level is where water stands in an idle well, not the bottom of the drilled hole. Among 1,280 reporting records, the median depth to water is 36 ft, with a middle-half range of 12-120 ft. Pump placement must account for the water level while pumping, not just this resting measurement.

The decade medians fluctuate rather than decline consistently: 30 ft in the 1950s, 85 ft in the 1970s, 170 ft in the 1990s, 33 ft in the 2000s, 70 ft in the 2010s and 33 ft in the 2020s. These are different measurement groups, not a continuous record from the same wells. They do not establish a countywide falling water table or rule out localized declines.

A Long Permit History, Not Just Household Wells

Adams County's permit history extends from 1,001 permits in the 1950s to 4,860 in the 2000s. Records show 3,924 in the 2010s and 2,038 in the still-incomplete 2020s, with the newest permit year listed as 2026. Do not treat that partial decade as a completed comparison.

The use mix matters when screening neighbors: 39% are domestic/household and 35% are monitoring wells. A nearby monitoring record is not a household performance benchmark.

Named drillers include Crandall Drilling & Pump Service (Crandall Jr., Howard H.), with 1,322 records, and John'S Drilling Inc. (John, Lloyd), with 744. The largest listed entry, Authorized (Pe, Pg), has 4,576 records but is not a clearly identified drilling business. Historical listings do not establish current availability.

Budgeting a New Well in Denver Basin Ground

The supplied Adams County cost model assumes Denver Basin sedimentary bedrock at $50-$70 per foot. At the 55 ft median depth, it estimates about $2,800-$3,800 for the drilled hole and $8,800-$15,800 for a finished well with pump, tank, trenching and electrical.

Use that as a starting allowance, not a parcel-specific quote. The county's broad depth range makes the target formation especially important. A lot requiring deeper drilling will not fit a median-depth budget. Ask the contractor to separate drilling, casing and grout, pump equipment, testing, trenching and electrical work. Confirm what happens if the target produces poorly and whether access preparation or unusual site conditions change the price.

Environmental Flags and Site Constraints to Check

The supplied environmental mapping lists 1,344 PFAS sampling/contamination sites, 194 EPA Superfund/cleanup sites and 13 historic mine features within about 10 miles. Those counts are screening flags, not evidence that a particular Adams County well is contaminated. Sampling locations and confirmed contamination are not interchangeable.

Before closing, obtain current water testing and use nearby site records to decide whether additional analytes are warranted. Check casing, grout, the well cap and drainage around the wellhead. A reported yield cannot establish drinking-water safety. For a building lot, have the well and septic layout reviewed together, including required separation, replacement space and drilling access. No dry-hole statistic is supplied, so the yield records should not be read as a drilling-success guarantee.

Before Buying a Lot in Todd Creek, Brighton or Henderson

Start with the actual parcel, not a countywide average. Locate nearby constructed domestic wells and compare their depths, aquifers, completion logs and reported yields. Separate those from monitoring wells and permits that never became completed wells. Ask for the existing well's permit, construction report, pump information, recent water test and service history.

For an undeveloped lot in Todd Creek, Brighton or Henderson, confirm the legal water supply with DWR before committing to construction. Household-use restrictions may not cover the outdoor uses you intend, and some proposals require augmentation. Then coordinate the house, septic system, driveway, well location and utility route. Get a written drilling scope tied to nearby logs and a clear plan for poor production or additional depth.

Well permits by decade near Adams County

What a new well costs in Adams County

How this is built: the median permitted depth here times the per-foot range for this ground, plus the normal system costs. A lot at the 75th-percentile depth (352 ft) would run roughly $23,600–$36,640. See the full Colorado well cost guide.

Environmental sites mapped within about 10 miles

Counts come from EPA, USGS and state datasets layered on the Colorado Well Finder map. A count is not a verdict on any one well; it tells you what to test for.

Buying land near Adams County? Know what it costs to build before you buy the dirt.

A listing photo can't tell you whether a lot is a dream or a money pit. Two parcels near Adams County can carry the same asking price while one needs an $80,000 driveway and a $45,000 engineered septic the other doesn't. The well numbers on this page are the start of that answer. A Tri-Lakes Site Feasibility Report is the rest of it: a licensed general contractor, excavator and septic installer reads the parcel the way we would if we were about to build on it, and puts the real cost in writing before your money is committed.

Spend a little to know. Or gamble a lot to guess. Realtors sell the view and inspectors look at houses that already exist. We're the people who'd build it, so we catch what quietly turns a "great deal" into a budget disaster: bad access, buried rock, steep grade, soil that won't pass for a normal septic, water that's a fortune to reach. And if the lot is good, you've already got a builder ready to do the work, driveway to drywall.

• Instant Online Report, $99 — type the address and get a buildability read on the spot: parcel, terrain and slope, soil and septic outlook. Cheap enough to run on every lot you're shopping.
• Desktop Report, $500 — a contractor's from-the-desk feasibility read: Regulation 43 and county code, GIS parcel data, terrain, flood and drainage, soil and septic viability, setbacks and buildable envelope, nearby well depths from our 591,000-well database, the likely driveway route, and a preliminary site-development cost breakdown.
• On-Site Report, $2,000 — everything above, then boots and a drone on the actual ground: house pad and septic zone located, access and winter conditions checked, rock and soil observed in person, a 15 to 20 page written opinion you can hand a lender or seller. Credited toward your project if you build with us.

Under contract, comparing parcels, or a realtor with a rural listing whose buyers keep asking "what will it cost to build here?" This is the due-diligence step almost everyone skips, and the one that saves the most.

Common questions about wells in Adams County

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Towns and areas in Adams County

Neighboring counties