What to Expect From a Well in Black Forest

How deep are wells around Black Forest?

How much water do wells make near Black Forest?

Budget for Black Forest’s Typical Depth, Not Its Shallowest Well

The middle half of reported well depths runs from 275 to 395 feet, with a median of 315 feet. That spread matters when comparing bids: a quote based only on the median needs clear terms for additional drilling, casing and completion work. The 90th-percentile depth is 480 feet, so deeper work is part of the local record.

Black Forest drilling is in Denver Basin sedimentary bedrock. Dawson is named on 4,310 permits and Denver on 206; many records lack a specific aquifer name. Aquifer depth, ground elevation and the permitted completion target help determine the finished depth. Records toward Gleneagle or Peyton are useful context, but the closest comparable aquifer completions deserve more weight.

Reported Black Forest Yields Cluster Around Household Supply

Among the 3,580 records reporting pump yield, the median is 11.0 gpm and the middle half runs from 9.0 to 12.8 gpm. That fairly tight middle range gives a buyer a useful benchmark for evaluating a seller’s well test. It does not establish how long an individual well can sustain that output.

The reported share under 1 gpm is 0%, while 1% falls in the 1–5 gpm band. Those figures do not rule out weak or unsuccessful wells outside the yield-reporting records. Ask for a current pumping and recovery test. Also read the permit: physical capacity does not authorize lawn irrigation, livestock watering or other uses beyond its terms.

Black Forest Water Levels Do Not Show a Steady Decline

Static water level is the resting depth to water, not the drilled depth or the level during pumping. The 606 records with this measurement have a median of 132 feet below ground; the middle half is 85–187 feet. A driller needs both the completion details and pumping response to plan pump placement.

Decade medians were 138 feet in the 1970s, 150 feet in the 2000s and 120 feet in the 2020s. This series does not show a steady drop in the water table. It also does not prove recovery: these are grouped measurements from potentially different wells and aquifers, not repeated monitoring of the same well.

A Long Permit History, With Dawson Prominent in the Records

The search area contains 6,919 DWR permit records, with 4,638 recorded as constructed. Permit counts are not a count of functioning wells today. Issuance rose from 602 in the 1970s to 1,467 in the 1990s. The newest permit year is 2026; the 509 permits in the 2020s represent an unfinished decade.

The most active drillers in these records are Kunau Drilling Llc with 1,399, Fletcher Drilling with 1,024, and Hamacher Well Works Inc with 729. These are historical record counts, not current availability or recommendations. Domestic/household use appears on 94% of permits, making the records particularly relevant to residential buyers.

A Finished Black Forest Well Costs More Than the Hole

The local cost model uses $50–$70 per foot for drilling Denver Basin sedimentary bedrock. At the 315-foot median depth, the drilled hole is approximately $15,800–$22,000. A finished well with pump, tank, trenching and electrical is modeled at $21,800–$34,000.

Treat those figures as a planning range, not a parcel-specific quote. The 275–395-foot middle depth range alone leaves room for meaningful bid differences. Ask each driller to identify the assumed aquifer and depth, casing and grout scope, pump equipment, and trench route. Confirm how additional depth, difficult access and an unsuccessful completion would be charged. A low drilling-only price is not directly comparable with a complete water-system proposal.

Check Water Quality and Completion Risk Before Closing

Within about 10 miles, mapped environmental records include 31 PFAS sampling/contamination sites, 4 historic mine features and 2 EPA Superfund/cleanup sites. These are screening flags, not evidence that a particular Black Forest well is contaminated. Sampling sites may represent investigation rather than a confirmed problem at your property.

Have the well water tested rather than relying on taste, clarity or the seller’s experience. Ask a qualified laboratory or local health authority which tests fit the location, including whether PFAS testing is warranted. Review casing, grout and wellhead condition alongside septic placement and drainage. For a new well, discuss low-yield or unsuccessful-hole contingencies; a favorable neighborhood yield summary cannot eliminate that risk.

Fit the Black Forest Lot Plan Around the Well and Septic

Before buying, match the property’s permit to its construction record, pump information and authorized uses. For an existing home, request a current yield and recovery test plus water-quality results. For vacant land, establish the DWR permitting path before treating a neighboring well as proof that your proposed use is allowed. An exempt household-use permit should not be assumed to cover outdoor demands.

Lay out the well, septic system, house, driveway and utility trench together. Leave practical access for the drilling rig and future pump service. Compare nearby completions on the Black Forest side of Monument, Woodmoor or Falcon only where aquifer and terrain conditions are comparable. Town proximity alone is a poor basis for a drilling budget.

Well permits by decade near Black Forest

What a new well costs in Black Forest, 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 (395 ft) would run roughly $25,750–$39,650. 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 Black Forest? 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 Black Forest 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 Black Forest

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