Coal Creek, Colorado Well and Drilling Guide

How deep are wells around Coal Creek?

How much water do wells make near Coal Creek?

Coal Creek well depth reflects fractured mountain rock

The median recorded well depth near Coal Creek is 300 feet. The middle half runs from 165 to 452 feet, so a driller’s bid based only on the median can miss a meaningful part of the local range. The 90th-percentile depth is 650 feet, and the deepest record reaches 1,725 feet.

Depths are spread across the area: 11% are under 100 feet, 38% fall from 100 to 300 feet, 37% from 300 to 600 feet, and 14% are 600 feet or deeper. Most permits name unnamed fractured bedrock. A few identify fractured crystalline or fractured granite aquifers, while no local records identify Denver Basin aquifers.

What Coal Creek wells produce

Among the 1,188 local records that report a pump yield, the median is 7.0 gallons per minute. The middle half produces 4.0 to 9.0 gallons per minute. That is a workable range for many household wells, but yield and storage are not the same thing: a pressure tank and cistern strategy may matter on a lower-producing well.

Only 3% of reported wells produce under 1 gallon per minute. Another 25% fall between 1 and 5 gallons per minute, 64% between 5 and 15, and 8% exceed 15. The yield figures are reported results, not a promise for an unbuilt well, especially in fractured granite or gneiss.

Water levels near Coal Creek and the longer record

Of the local records that report static water level, the median depth to water is 60 feet below the surface. The middle half is 28 to 118 feet. That range affects pump setting, well construction, trenching, and the amount of lift the system must handle.

The decade pattern suggests water levels were deeper in the more recent measurements: the median was 27 feet in the 1960s, 45 in the 1970s, 40 in the 1980s, 82 in the 2010s, and 80 in the 2020s. This is a useful regional signal, not proof that every Coal Creek parcel has a declining water table. Local elevation, fractures, recharge, and measurement conditions can change the result.

Coal Creek permit history and drilling records

Permit activity is strongest in the older development periods. Records show 51 permits in the 1950s, 197 in the 1960s, 896 in the 1970s, 530 in the 1980s, 661 in the 1990s, 444 in the 2000s, 194 in the 2010s, and 147 in the 2020s. The newest permit year is 2025.

The most frequently recorded drillers are Ground Water Systems Inc (Wilson, Richard R.) with 568 records, James Drilling Company (Keaton, Michael K.) with 263, and Norris & Sons (Norris, T A) with 243. These records help identify local experience, but confirm current licensing, availability, and scope directly before hiring.

What a new Coal Creek well costs

Coal Creek drilling is priced around fractured mountain bedrock, including granite and gneiss. The local cost model uses $65 to $100 per foot. At the 300-foot median depth, drilling the hole alone works out to about $19,500 to $30,000.

A finished system, including the pump, tank, trenching, and electrical work, is modeled at about $25,500 to $42,000. That is a planning range, not a fixed quote. Depth, access for the rig, casing and grout requirements, difficult fractures, power distance, and site layout can move the price. Ask for separate line items so a bid can be compared with neighboring quotes.

Coal Creek risks to investigate before closing

Low yield and dry holes are the main geological risks in fractured bedrock. A nearby productive well does not prove that the same fracture crosses your parcel. Review neighboring permits, reported depths, yields, static levels, and construction details before buying. Also confirm the permit’s allowed household use and any pumping limits that apply.

Water quality deserves a separate check. Within about 10 miles are 24 PFAS sampling or contamination sites, 1,158 historic mine features, and 17 EPA Superfund or cleanup sites. Those mapped sites do not establish contamination at a particular home, but they support testing for the conditions relevant to the parcel. Keep septic setbacks, well access, drainage, and building location coordinated from the start.

A practical Coal Creek plan for buyers and builders

Start with the Colorado DWR permit records for the closest neighboring wells, then have a licensed driller review the depth and yield pattern before you make a final site decision. The local median is 300 feet, but the 165-to-452-foot middle range shows why a single depth allowance is not enough for a bid.

For a building lot, verify the well permit path, household use, septic design, driveway access, and electrical route together. A well producing 7.0 gallons per minute may be adequate, while a lower-yield result can require storage planning. Test existing water where available, inspect casing and grout records, and budget for the finished-system range rather than drilling alone.

Well permits by decade near Coal Creek

What a new well costs in Coal 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 (452 ft) would run roughly $35,380–$57,200. 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 Coal 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 Coal 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 Coal Creek

Keep researching

More in Jefferson County

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

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