What to Expect from a Well in Arapahoe County

How deep are wells around Arapahoe County?

How much water do wells make near Arapahoe County?

Why Arapahoe County's Median Depth Is Not a Bid

Of the 9,158 wells reporting depth, the median is 176 ft. The middle half spans 32-480 ft, and the 90th percentile reaches 780 ft. That is too wide a range to price a new household well from the median alone. A bid should identify the intended aquifer and explain how additional footage will be charged.

The cost model assumes Denver Basin sedimentary bedrock. Permits name the Denver aquifer on 2,387 wells and the Arapahoe on 1,336. Another 8,671 carry an unnamed / fractured-bedrock aquifer label, which does not establish parcel geology. Compare construction logs around Foxfield, Aurora or Strasburg rather than assuming those locations share a drilling target.

Reported Yields Are Generally Useful, Not Guaranteed

The 3,465 wells with pump-yield records have a median of 12.0 gpm, with a middle half of 10.0-15.0 gpm. Those reported rates are encouraging for household supply, but they are not a promise of sustained production from a particular lot. A completion-test yield and a current pumping test answer different questions.

The reported share under 1 gpm is 0%, while 2% fall in the 1-5 gpm band. Do not read that as proof that low-producing or unsuccessful wells are absent; the yield summary only covers wells with reported measurements. Before buying, have the existing well evaluated for sustained output and recovery, and confirm that the permit allows your intended use.

Water Levels Do Not Show a Steady Countywide Decline

Static water level means depth to resting water, not total drilled depth. Among 763 reporting wells, the median is 88 ft below ground and the middle half is 27-218 ft. That helps frame pumping conditions, but pump selection also needs the water level while the well is operating.

The decade medians do not establish a steadily dropping water table. They deepen from 34 ft in the 1950s to 250 ft in the 1990s, then shift to 28 ft in the 2000s, 110 ft in the 2010s and 95 ft in the 2020s. These are grouped measurements, not repeated readings from the same wells. Ask for a property's own water-level and pumping history before drawing a depletion conclusion.

Arapahoe's Permit History and Recorded Drillers

Permit issuance reached 3,287 in the 2000s, compared with 2,852 in the 1990s and 1,889 in the 2010s. The records include 1,141 permits from the 2020s, with the newest permit year listed as 2025. That last decade is incomplete, and permit issuance is not the same as completed construction.

Prominent drilling entries include Crandall Drilling & Pump Service (Crandall Jr., Howard H.), with 1,014 records, and Hier Drilling Co Inc (Hier, Bruce A.), with 864. The largest listed entry, Authorized (Pe, Pg), has 3,068 records but is an authorization-style label rather than a clear company name. Historical record counts do not confirm current availability or suitability for your parcel.

Budgeting a New Well in Denver Basin Bedrock

The drilling model uses $50-$70 per foot for Denver Basin sedimentary bedrock. At the county's 176 ft median depth, that puts the drilled hole at about $8,800-$12,300. A finished well with pump, tank, trenching and electrical is modeled at about $14,800-$24,300.

Those are median-depth planning figures, not a parcel quote. With the middle half of recorded depths reaching from 32-480 ft, footage can materially change the total. Ask the contractor to separate drilling, casing and grout, pump equipment, trenching and electrical. Confirm access requirements and what happens if the planned depth does not produce an acceptable supply. Septic construction and broader site development need their own budgets.

Check Water Quality and the Whole Building Site

The mapped environmental inventory within about 10 miles includes 646 PFAS sampling/contamination sites, 168 EPA Superfund/cleanup sites and 6 historic mine features. These counts flag the need for parcel-level review; they do not show that a particular well is contaminated. Sampling locations and confirmed contamination are not interchangeable.

For an existing well, obtain laboratory water testing and choose additional analyses based on nearby site records. Review casing, grout, wellhead drainage and the septic layout. For a new build, establish workable well and septic locations before fixing the house footprint. Neither a permit nor favorable neighboring yields guarantees a productive hole, so address low yield and unsuccessful drilling in the contract.

Before Closing on a Foxfield or Strasburg Lot

Start with the actual permit, completion report and parcel boundaries. Arapahoe County's use mix includes 44% domestic/household, 14% stock and 7% irrigation; a nearby well's existence does not establish your right to those uses. DWR permit conditions control, and household-use authorization should not be treated as permission for outdoor watering.

Compare nearby wells with similar permitted uses and aquifer targets, then ask a driller to review the logs against your building plan. Keep driveway access, drilling access, septic placement and utility trench routes in the same site discussion. For an existing home, obtain a current pumping test and water-quality results before closing rather than relying only on the original permit record.

Well permits by decade near Arapahoe County

What a new well costs in Arapahoe 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 (480 ft) would run roughly $30,000–$45,600. 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 Arapahoe 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 Arapahoe 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 Arapahoe County

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