What Alpine Wells Cost, Produce, and Require

How deep are wells around Alpine?

How much water do wells make near Alpine?

Alpine well depths vary sharply by ground and aquifer

Depth records around Alpine are weighted toward relatively shallow wells. About 61% are under 100 feet, while 21% fall between 100 and 300 feet. Another 15% are between 300 and 600 feet, and 4% exceed 600 feet.

For a drilling bid, the 61-foot median is a useful starting point, not a promise. The middle-half range of 45 to 210 feet shows why a neighboring well at a similar address may still not predict your exact depth. Permits commonly identify unnamed or fractured-bedrock conditions, along with the Unconfined San Luis Valley aquifer. Fractured ground can change quickly over short distances, so a driller should review nearby logs and access conditions before setting a price.

Alpine well yields are usually adequate, but not uniform

Among the Alpine-area records that report pump yield, the median is 13.0 gallons per minute, with the middle half from 10.0 to 15.0 gallons per minute. The distribution is split between stronger and moderate wells: 46% report more than 15 gallons per minute, while 45% fall from 5 to 15 gallons per minute.

Low-yield wells are not the dominant pattern, but they are part of the local risk. About 7% report 1 to 5 gallons per minute, and 2% report under 1 gallon per minute. A buyer should ask how yield was measured and whether the result supports the planned home, livestock, irrigation, or other use. A storage tank can help manage a slower well, but it does not create more groundwater.

Water levels around Alpine do not show a simple steady decline

Reported static water levels have a median depth of 30 feet below the surface, with the middle half from 14 to 87 feet. That range matters for pump setting, construction planning, and understanding how much lift the system may need. Static level is measured when the well is not being pumped and is different from the depth of the well itself.

The decade pattern is mixed rather than a straight downward trend. The median was 30 feet in the 2000s, 42 feet in the 2010s, and 30 feet in the 2020s. Only 165 records report a static water level, so this is useful local context but not a complete groundwater study. Have the driller check the specific parcel and nearby well logs before relying on a regional median.

Alpine has a long permit history and recurring local drillers

Colorado DWR records contain 2,037 permitted wells within the mapped area, with 1,431 recorded as constructed. Permitting activity was highest in the 1990s, with 482 permits, followed by 468 in the 2000s. The newest permit year in the records is 2026, so the area continues to see well activity.

The most frequent names in the records are Valley Pump Company (Self, Clinton L.), with 413 wells; American Drilling Service (Dewberry, Bradford W.), with 256; and L D Spencer Drilling And Pump (Spencer, Lonnie D.), with 118. These records show who has worked locally, but you should still confirm current licensing, availability, scope, and references before hiring.

A median-depth Alpine well can cost $9,000 to $16,600 finished

The local cost model assumes mixed sedimentary and alluvial ground. Drilling is estimated at $50 to $75 per foot. At the 61-foot median depth, that puts the drilled hole at roughly $3,000 to $4,600.

A usable water system costs more than the hole. The estimated finished-well range, including pump, pressure tank, trenching, and electrical, is $9,000 to $16,600 at the median depth. A shallow estimate should not be treated as a fixed bid: difficult access, casing and grout requirements, deeper drilling, fractured rock, water testing, and site-specific electrical or trench work can change the total. Get the written scope before comparing bids, especially on undeveloped land near South Fork or Gerrard.

Check Alpine contamination, dry-hole, septic, and building risks

Mapped environmental information within about 10 miles includes 2 PFAS sampling or contamination sites and 64 historic mine features. There are 0 EPA Superfund or cleanup sites in that mapping. Those figures do not prove that a particular well is safe or unsafe. Test the water from an existing well, and ask a qualified professional what testing fits the parcel and its nearby land uses.

Low yield and a dry hole remain possible even where nearby wells produce well. Septic setbacks, driveway layout, building location, and well access need to work together before construction starts. Confirm the permit and intended household use with Colorado DWR. In an over-appropriated basin, an augmentation plan may be required, and an exempt household-use well still has a 35-gpm pumping limit. Review the actual permit rather than assuming a neighbor's rights transfer to your property.

Well permits by decade near Alpine

What a new well costs in Alpine, CO

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 (210 ft) would run roughly $16,500–$27,750. 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 Alpine? 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 Alpine 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 Alpine

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