Antonito, Colorado Well Depths, Yields, and Costs

How deep are wells around Antonito?

How much water do wells make near Antonito?

Antonito well depths reflect shallow valley ground

The median reported well depth near Antonito is 61 feet, and the middle half runs from 40 to 120 feet. That is a useful starting point for a drilling estimate, not a guarantee for a particular parcel. Sixty-six percent of recorded wells are under 100 feet, while 27% fall from 100 to 300 feet. Six percent are 300 to 600 feet, and 1% are deeper than 600 feet.

The 90th-percentile depth is 258 feet, and the deepest record reaches 771 feet. Permits identify the unnamed or fractured-bedrock aquifer on 927 wells, with additional records in the Unconfined San Luis Valley aquifer units. Mixed sedimentary and alluvial ground can drill easily in one location and change quickly across a short distance, so a driller should review nearby logs before bidding.

What Antonito wells report for yield

Reported pump yields are favorable overall, although only 137 wells include a yield in the records. The median is 14.0 gallons per minute, with the middle half from 10.0 to 15.0 gallons per minute. Fifty percent report between 5 and 15 gallons per minute, while 48% report more than 15 gallons per minute. One percent report from 1 to 5 gallons per minute, and no reported wells are under 1 gallon per minute.

For a buyer, that suggests the local records are not dominated by marginal production. It does not mean every new hole will make 14.0 gallons per minute. Yield depends on the screened or fractured zone, construction, pump testing, and seasonal conditions. Ask for the well completion report and a sustained yield test rather than relying on a verbal estimate or a neighboring parcel alone.

Antonito water levels and the recent record

Among the 63 wells reporting static water level, the median depth to water is 60 feet. The middle half ranges from 30 to 150 feet below the surface. That range matters for pump selection, trench planning, and the amount of lift a system may need, even where the drilled hole itself is shallow.

The decade comparison does not show a deeper reported water table in the available series. The median static water level is 60 feet below surface for measurements in the 2010s and 52 feet in the 2020s, meaning the later reported median is shallower by 8 feet. This is not a promise that water levels will rise at your property. It is a limited permit-record snapshot, so request current testing when the water supply is important to the purchase.

Who has drilled near Antonito, and when

Permit activity extends across several generations. Records show 11 permits in the 1950s, 12 in the 1960s, 140 in the 1970s, 114 in the 1980s, 99 in the 1990s, 203 in the 2000s, 115 in the 2010s, and 70 in the 2020s. The newest permit year is 2025. Older wells may have incomplete construction, pump, or water-level information, so age matters when comparing them with a proposed new well.

The most active drillers in these records are Heersink Drilling, also listed as Heersink, Scott, with 93 wells; Valley Pump Company, listed as Self, Clinton L., with 78; and Larry Burk Drilling, listed as Burk, Larry, with 44. These counts describe permit records, not current availability or an endorsement. Confirm licensing, insurance, scheduling, and the scope of a current bid directly.

A practical Antonito well drilling budget

The local cost model uses a typical drilling rate of $50 to $75 per foot in mixed sedimentary and alluvial ground. At the 61-foot median depth, the drilled hole works out to about $3,000 to $4,600. That figure is only the hole. It does not represent a ready-to-use household water system.

A finished well with pump, pressure tank, trenching, and electrical is estimated at about $9,000 to $16,600 at the median depth. A deeper-than-typical hole, difficult access, casing or grouting requirements, additional trench length, or a different pump arrangement can move the final price. Have the driller state what is included, the assumed depth, testing, casing, grout, permits, electrical work, and the price if the first hole is dry or produces less than expected.

Antonito risks to check before construction

Low yield is not the leading pattern in the reported records, but a record cannot guarantee production on an untested lot. Dry holes, poor water quality, inadequate casing or grout, and pump problems remain practical risks. The aquifer descriptions are heavily weighted toward unnamed or fractured-bedrock records, where water can be unevenly distributed. A good pre-purchase review includes neighboring well depths, completion reports, static levels, pump yields, and any available laboratory water tests.

Environmental records within about 10 miles include 1 PFAS sampling or contamination site, 0 historic mine features, and 1 EPA Superfund or cleanup site. That does not establish contamination at a particular address, but it supports testing before occupancy. Also confirm septic setbacks, replacement-area requirements, driveway access, building-envelope constraints, and the legal use allowed by the DWR permit. Domestic, household, and stock uses dominate the records; irrigation appears on 5% of permits.

Before buying an Antonito lot or home

Start with the exact parcel, not just the Antonito area. Pull the DWR permit, construction report, well location, pump information, and any recorded water-quality results. Compare the property with nearby wells in Antonito and toward Conejos, then look at records around Romeo, Manassa, Sanford, La Jara, and Capulin only as broader context because ground conditions can change.

For an existing home, make the sale conditional on inspecting the well, pressure system, storage, electrical supply, and septic system, followed by water-quality and flow testing. For vacant land, obtain a written drilling proposal and confirm access for the rig, space for the well and septic system, and the intended permit use before finalizing site plans. Colorado DWR approval and any augmentation requirements should be checked before assuming a proposed use is available.

Well permits by decade near Antonito

What a new well costs in Antonito, 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 (120 ft) would run roughly $12,000–$21,000. 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 Antonito? 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 Antonito 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 Antonito

Keep researching

More in Conejos County

All wells in Conejos County — county-wide depth, yield and cost figures.

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