Bethune, Colorado Well Depths, Yields, and Costs

How deep are wells around Bethune?

How much water do wells make near Bethune?

Bethune well depth: mostly plains drilling below 200 feet

Bethune-area wells are not typically shallow wells. The median reported depth is 248 feet, and half of the wells with reported depths fall between 220 and 285 feet. The deepest record reaches 325 feet. No reported wells are under 100 feet, while 87% fall between 100 and 300 feet and 13% fall between 300 and 600 feet.

The local setting is alluvium and plains sedimentary rock. Permits name the Ogallala in 158 wells and the High Plains Aquifer in 6; 196 name an unnamed or fractured-bedrock aquifer. For a driller's bid, the middle-half range is more useful than the median alone. A site-specific bid should still account for casing, grout, access, and the formation encountered.

Water yield around Bethune is usually a strong point

Among Bethune-area permits reporting pump yield, the median is 20.0 gallons per minute. The middle half ranges from 15.0 to 50.0 gallons per minute, and 89% report more than 15 gallons per minute. Another 7% fall in the 5 to 15 gallon-per-minute range, while 4% report between 1 and 5 gallons per minute. No reported wells are under 1 gallon per minute.

That is encouraging for a household or stock use, but yield is not the same as safe daily production. Ask for the actual pump test, recovery information, well construction report, and intended use. An exempt household-use well has a 35 gallon-per-minute pumping limit. Irrigation or other uses may require different water rights, and an augmentation plan can matter in an over-appropriated basin.

Bethune water levels: the available records are limited

Only 18 permits in the local records report a static water level, so the water-level sample is much smaller than the depth sample. Where a level is reported, the median depth to water is 176 feet, and the middle half runs from 160 to 200 feet. That gives a useful planning range for pump setting and trench work, but it does not establish the water level on every parcel.

The permit history does not provide enough comparable water-level measurements by decade to call a declining or stable trend. Do not assume the water table is dropping based on well depth alone. For a purchase, compare nearby well construction reports, request a current static measurement when possible, and have the well and pressure system checked under actual use.

Bethune drilling history shows long local experience

Permits near Bethune span several decades, with 5 issued in the 1950s, 31 in the 1960s, 35 in the 1970s, 15 in the 1980s, 49 in the 1990s, 52 in the 2000s, 17 in the 2010s, and 17 in the 2020s. The newest permit year is 2025.

The most frequently listed drillers are Schaal Drilling Co. (Schaal, Ruben T.) with 54 records, Parrish Drilling (Parrish, Wayne) with 44, and Hilt, Fred Jr with 14. Those records show who has appeared most often in the permit data, not who is available or accepting work now. Verify licensing, insurance, references, and the written scope before scheduling.

What a Bethune well may cost to drill and finish

For Bethune's alluvium and plains sedimentary rock, the stated drilling rate is $35 to $55 per foot. At the local median depth of 248 feet, the drilled hole works out to about $8,700 to $13,600. That is not the complete water-system price. A finished well with pump, tank, trenching, and electrical is estimated at about $14,700 to $25,600.

Use the median as a comparison point, not a promise. A bid can change with the final depth, casing and grout requirements, access, pump size, power distance, trench conditions, and whether the well needs additional testing or treatment. Ask each driller to separate drilling, casing, development, pump equipment, electrical, trenching, and permits so competing bids can be compared properly.

Bethune risks to check before closing or building

Low yield is not the main pattern in the reported Bethune data, but incomplete records leave room for site-specific problems, including a dry hole or a well that performs poorly under sustained pumping. Have the seller provide the permit, construction report, pump test, water-quality results, and service history. The well's static level and production should be checked rather than inferred from a neighbor.

Environmental review also deserves attention. The mapped area within about 10 miles includes 15 PFAS sampling or contamination sites and 2 EPA Superfund or cleanup sites. That does not prove contamination at a particular lot. Test the well for the contaminants relevant to the site and review septic setbacks, building location, access for a rig, and electrical routing before finalizing a plan.

Buying or building near Bethune: use nearby records first

Start with the DWR permit file for the parcel and then compare nearby wells in Burlington, Stratton, Vona, Kirk, Seibert, and Joes. Neighbor records can help identify the local formation, likely depth, water level, and driller, but they cannot guarantee the result on your lot. The Bethune data show a typical depth near 248 feet and a typical reported yield of 20.0 gallons per minute.

Before buying, make the contract contingent on a satisfactory well inspection and water test. Before building, confirm the permit allows the intended use, locate the septic system and replacement area, and price the complete water system rather than drilling alone. If the parcel is in an over-appropriated basin, ask Colorado water professionals whether augmentation or another water-rights requirement applies.

Well permits by decade near Bethune

What a new well costs in Bethune, 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 (285 ft) would run roughly $15,975–$27,675. 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 Bethune? 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 Bethune 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 Bethune

Keep researching

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

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