Basalt, Colorado Well Depth, Yield, and Cost Guide

How deep are wells around Basalt?

How much water do wells make near Basalt?

How deep are wells around Basalt?

Reported well depths around Basalt have a 102-foot median. The middle half runs from 58 to 232 feet, meaning half of the wells with reported depths fall inside that range. The 90th-percentile depth is 350 feet, and the deepest record reaches 1,030 feet.

The depth mix is useful when reviewing a bid: 48% are under 100 feet, 36% are 100 to 300 feet, 13% are 300 to 600 feet, and 3% exceed 600 feet. A site near the median may support a shorter initial drilling estimate, but fractured granite and gneiss can change the result quickly. Ask for pricing beyond the expected depth, plus casing, grout, pump, and testing assumptions.

What Basalt wells produce

Among the wells reporting a pump yield, the median is 15.0 gallons per minute, with the middle half between 12.2 and 15.0 gallons per minute. Seventy percent report more than 15 gallons per minute. Another 27% fall between 5 and 15 gallons per minute, while 3% are between 1 and 5 gallons per minute. No reported wells are under 1 gallon per minute.

That is a favorable record for household planning, but a pump-yield figure is not the same as unlimited storage or guaranteed flow during every season. Only 447 wells report a yield, compared with 1,599 permits in the full record. Confirm the test method, recovery, storage tank size, and intended household demand before relying on a neighboring result.

Water levels in Basalt: useful, but not a straight trend

The median static water level is 63 feet below the surface, with the middle half from 28 to 182 feet. That range matters for pump selection and drilling cost because a deeper water level can require more lift even when the borehole itself is not unusually deep.

The decade figures do not show a simple continuing decline. Median depth to water was 36 feet in the 1990s, 152 feet in the 2010s, and 69 feet in the 2020s. Only 120 records report a static water level, and measurements may come from different locations and conditions. Treat the series as a reason to check current nearby measurements, not proof that the water table is steadily dropping or recovering.

Basalt permit history and the drillers in the records

The permit history is largest in the 1990s, with 434 permits. The record shows 236 from the 2000s, 149 from the 2010s, and 105 from the 2020s. Earlier decades include 189 permits in the 1980s, 173 in the 1970s, and 63 in the 1960s. The newest permit year is 2025.

Most permits are for domestic or household use at 71%. Irrigation accounts for 7%, stock for 5%, and monitoring for 15%. The most active names in these records are Shelton Drilling Corporation, with 523 wells; Collins Drilling Co, with 191; and Steve Shelton Drilling, Inc., with 166. These are record associations, not recommendations. Verify current licensing, availability, and scope before hiring.

What a new Basalt well may cost

Basalt drilling commonly encounters fractured mountain bedrock described here as granite or gneiss. The cost model uses a drilling rate of $65 to $100 per foot. At the 102-foot median depth, the drilled hole works out to about $6,600 to $10,200.

A finished well is a larger project. Including the pump, pressure tank, trenching, and electrical, the modeled total at the median depth is about $12,600 to $22,200. Depth is the major swing factor, but access, casing and grout requirements, water-level lift, and site trenching can also move the bid. Request a written allowance for each item and a clear per-foot price if the hole continues past the planned depth.

Basalt risks to check before you buy or build

Fractured-bedrock wells can vary sharply over short distances. A strong neighboring well does not guarantee the same result, and a poor result can mean low yield, a dry hole, or a deeper-than-planned bore. Review nearby permits and construction reports, especially around El Jebel, Snowmass, Catherine, Mulford, Carbondale, and Woody Creek, while giving the closest wells the most weight.

There are 7 mapped PFAS sampling or contamination sites and 2 historic mine features within about 10 miles. There are 0 EPA Superfund or cleanup sites in that mapped search, but that does not replace a site-specific water test. Before construction, confirm well location, septic setbacks, access for a rig, electrical trench routes, and whether the intended household use is allowed by the permit. Colorado DWR records and an approved septic layout should be part of the due diligence file.

Well permits by decade near Basalt

What a new well costs in Basalt, 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 (232 ft) would run roughly $21,080–$35,200. 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 Basalt? 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 Basalt 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 Basalt

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