Cattle Creek Colorado Well Depth, Yield, and Cost

How deep are wells around Cattle Creek?

How much water do wells make near Cattle Creek?

Cattle Creek Well Depth: What the Ground Requires

Recorded well depths near Cattle Creek vary considerably. The median is 130 feet, with the middle half between 71 and 240 feet. About 38% of wells are under 100 feet, while 43% fall between 100 and 300 feet. Another 17% are between 300 and 600 feet, and 2% exceed 600 feet.

The deepest recorded well is 3,190 feet, but that is not a normal bidding assumption. The local aquifer records are dominated by unnamed or fractured-bedrock wells, with a smaller number of alluvial and Mancos wells. For a driller's estimate, use the middle-half range as the starting planning window and ask what nearby wells actually encountered.

Expected Well Yield Around Cattle Creek

Reported production is generally stronger than the depth variation. The median pump yield is 15 gallons per minute, and the middle half of reported yields runs from 12 to 15 gallons per minute. About 71% of wells report more than 15 gallons per minute, while 27% report between 5 and 15 gallons per minute.

Only 3% report between 1 and 5 gallons per minute, and none are recorded under 1 gallon per minute. That is encouraging for ordinary household use, but the yield sample is smaller than the depth sample: 476 wells report a pump yield. A well test, storage-tank plan, and intended use still matter, especially if irrigation or livestock is part of the property plan.

Water Levels and the Cattle Creek Trend

The recorded median static water level is 71 feet below the surface, with the middle half between 30 and 164 feet. This is the standing water level measured in the well, not the depth drilled. A shallow static level can reduce pumping lift, but the water level can vary by location, season, well construction, and measurement date.

The decade series does not show a simple uninterrupted decline. Median depth to water was 32 feet in the 1980s, 105 feet in the 1990s, and 150 feet in the 2010s, then 64 feet in the 2020s. That rebound means the records alone do not establish a steadily dropping water table. Get current measurements for the specific parcel.

Who Has Drilled Near Cattle Creek, and When

The permit history is broad, with 2,043 wells in the Colorado DWR records for the mapped area. Of those, 988 are recorded as constructed, 1,230 report a total depth, and 476 report a pump yield. The newest permit year is 2025.

The most frequently listed drillers are Shelton Drilling Corporation, with 656 records; Collins Drilling Co, with 233; and Mountain Drilling Co., with 140. The permit count is highest in the 1990s, at 542, followed by the 2000s with 323. Treat those names as a record-history reference, not a recommendation. Confirm current licensing, availability, scope, and insurance before hiring.

Cattle Creek Well Drilling Cost and Budget

The cost model for mixed sedimentary and alluvial ground uses a typical drilling rate of $50 to $75 per foot. At the local median depth of 130 feet, the drilled hole is estimated at about $6,500 to $9,800. That is only the hole and should not be mistaken for a complete water system.

A finished well including pump, pressure tank, trenching, and electrical is estimated at $12,500 to $21,800 at the median depth. A deeper hole, difficult access, casing or grout requirements, longer utility runs, or unusual ground can move the final bid. Ask each driller to separate drilling, casing, grout, pump equipment, testing, trenching, electrical, and any permit-related work.

Risks to Check Before Building Near Cattle Creek

Low yield is not the main signal in these records, but a strong area median does not protect every lot. Fractured bedrock can produce uneven results, including a dry hole or a well that meets a drilling target but does not support the planned use. Verify neighboring construction reports rather than relying on a single nearby well.

Environmental due diligence also matters. Within about ten miles, the map includes 19 PFAS sampling or contamination sites and 23 historic mine features. There are no EPA Superfund or cleanup sites listed in the facts, but that does not replace a water-quality test. Test for appropriate contaminants, confirm septic setbacks and soil conditions, and make sure the well location works with the house, access, drainfield, and future additions.

Buying or Building on a Cattle Creek Lot

Start with the parcel's well permit and the construction reports for nearby properties in Cattle Creek, Carbondale, Mulford, No Name, Glenwood Springs, Catherine, and El Jebel. Compare depth, static water level, yield, casing, grout, and reported use. Most local permits are for domestic or household use, at 67% of the records; irrigation accounts for 6%, stock for 4%, and monitoring for 15%.

Before closing, make the well and septic evaluation a defined contingency. Confirm the permitted use, test the water, obtain a current flow or recovery test, and price the complete connection to the proposed building site. If you plan more than ordinary household use, review water-rights requirements and any need for an augmentation plan in an over-appropriated basin. A DWR permit is not the same as a guaranteed water supply.

Well permits by decade near Cattle Creek

What a new well costs in Cattle Creek, 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 (240 ft) would run roughly $18,000–$30,000. 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 Cattle Creek? 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 Cattle Creek 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 Cattle Creek

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