What to Expect From a Well in Clear Creek County

How deep are wells around Clear Creek County?

How much water do wells make near Clear Creek County?

Why Clear Creek County Well Depths Vary So Much

In mountain granite and gneiss, a driller needs to intersect water-bearing fractures. Nearby holes can encounter very different fracture conditions. County permits overwhelmingly identify an unnamed or fractured-bedrock aquifer; Denver Basin aquifer wells account for 0% of the records.

Among 3,454 wells reporting depth, the median is 252 feet and the middle half spans 120-402 feet. Treat that range as a reason to request a footage-based bid with clear charges for drilling deeper, rather than assuming the median will finish your well.

The 90th-percentile depth is 600 feet. Compare nearby completion records in Echo Hills or Pine Valley before using the county median as your parcel's budget depth.

A 7.0 GPM Median Does Not Guarantee Your Household Supply

The county's 1,646 reported pump yields have a 7.0 gpm median, with the middle half between 4.5 and 10.0 gpm. Most reported yields—65%—fall in the 5-15 gpm band. Those results are useful for initial planning, but a recorded yield is not a promise of sustained output today.

Only 1% report under 1 gpm, while 25% fall in the 1-5 gpm band. A buyer still needs to take low production seriously: household demand can arrive faster than a slow well replenishes its supply. Have the well's sustained production and recovery evaluated, then size pumping and storage around the results. Installing a larger pump does not make the fractures produce more water.

Water Levels Are Deeper Than Early Records, but Not Steadily Falling

Static water level is the resting depth to water inside a well—not the depth you must drill. Clear Creek County's median is 70 feet below ground, with a middle-half range of 30-120 feet. Only 204 records report this measurement, so coverage is much thinner than the depth data.

Decade medians move from 29 feet in the 1960s and 40 in the 1970s to 80 in both the 1980s and 1990s, then 100 in the 2010s and 80 in the 2020s. Later measurements are generally deeper than the early ones, but this is not a steady decline. Different wells and measurement conditions prevent treating these county summaries as a repeated measurement of one water table.

What the County's Permit and Driller History Tells You

Clear Creek County's largest listed permit decade is the 1990s, with 1,195 permits, followed by the 1970s with 1,115. Records show 419 in the 2010s and 181 in the 2020s, with the newest permit dated 2025. The latter is an incomplete decade, and permit issuance is not the same as completed drilling.

The most active driller entries are James Drilling Company (Keaton, Michael K.) with 452 records, Living Water Systems Inc. (Goble, Robert) with 325, and Walton with 288. These are historical record counts, not confirmation of current availability or licensing. Domestic/household use accounts for 87% of permits, but each property's actual permit controls its allowed uses.

Budgeting a Bedrock Well Near Idaho Springs or Georgetown

The supplied cost model for fractured mountain bedrock uses $65-$100 per foot. At the county's 252-foot median depth, that puts the drilled hole at about $16,400-$25,200. A finished well with pump, tank, trenching and electrical is modeled at about $22,400-$37,200.

Those are planning figures, not a parcel-specific quote. A lot near Idaho Springs or Georgetown needs its own assessment of rig access, drilling conditions and the route from the well to the house. Ask the contractor to spell out casing and grout allowances, pump equipment, trenching and electrical scope. Also establish what happens to the price if usable fractures are not found at the planned depth.

Mine Features, Water Testing and Low-Yield Risk

The environmental map identifies 3,790 historic mine features, 72 EPA Superfund/cleanup sites and 81 PFAS sampling/contamination sites within about 10 miles. These categories flag places to investigate; they do not establish that a particular well is contaminated. A PFAS sampling location is not necessarily a confirmed contamination source.

Review nearby site information and obtain laboratory testing suited to the property's setting, including basic drinking-water testing and any additional contaminants identified by that review. Inspect casing, the well cap and surface drainage. The reported low-yield share does not measure dry-hole risk, so ask how unsuccessful drilling would be handled. Check septic feasibility and well separation requirements before committing to a house location.

Before Buying a Lot in Floyd Hill, Empire or St. Mary's

Start with the parcel's DWR permit and well completion report, then compare nearby wells on the map. Records around Floyd Hill, Empire or St. Mary's are a better starting point for local questions than a countywide median alone, though neighboring fracture conditions can still differ.

Confirm that the permitted use matches your plans. An exempt household-use permit does not automatically authorize outdoor watering, and expanded uses may require additional water-rights review or augmentation. For an existing home, arrange water-quality and production testing before closing. For vacant land, coordinate the well location, septic area, driveway, rig access and building footprint before finalizing the site plan. Resolve water-supply uncertainty while you can still change the purchase terms.

Well permits by decade near Clear Creek County

What a new well costs in Clear Creek 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 (402 ft) would run roughly $32,130–$52,200. 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 Clear Creek 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 Clear Creek 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 Clear Creek County

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Towns and areas in Clear Creek County

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