Colorado City, Colorado Well Depths, Yields, and Costs

How deep are wells around Colorado City?

How much water do wells make near Colorado City?

Colorado City well depth depends on the local formation

The median permitted well depth near Colorado City is 250 feet. The middle half runs from 95 to 475 feet, which is a wide enough spread to matter when comparing drilling bids. The 90th percentile is 605 feet, and the deepest recorded well reaches 1,405 feet.

Depths are distributed across the area rather than clustering tightly: 27% are under 100 feet, 29% fall between 100 and 300 feet, 33% are between 300 and 600 feet, and 11% exceed 600 feet. For a bid, ask what depth is included, how extra footage is priced, and what casing and grout are included. Alluvium can differ sharply from fractured rock over short distances.

What a Colorado City well may produce

Among the local records that report pump yield, the median is 10.0 gallons per minute. The middle half produces 6.0 to 15.0 gallons per minute. That is generally a workable range for ordinary household use, but the number is a test result, not a promise of continuous supply or pressure at the house.

59% of reported wells fall between 5 and 15 gallons per minute, while 28% report more than 15 gallons per minute. The low-yield tail is smaller but important: 2% report under 1 gallon per minute, and 11% report between 1 and 5 gallons per minute. Ask for the yield test, recovery information, storage-tank plan, and pump sizing before assuming irrigation or livestock use is practical.

Colorado City water levels and the record over time

The median reported static water level is 170 feet below the surface, with the middle half ranging from 30 to 309 feet. A shallow water level does not automatically mean a shallow well. The well may be drilled deeper for a reliable completion, and water levels can vary with location, season, pumping, and measurement method.

The decade record shows a median measured level of 203 feet below surface in the 2010s and 105 feet in the 2020s. That change suggests water was measured shallower in the newer group, not that the water table is dropping. Only 37 wells report a static water level, so this is a limited comparison rather than a basin-wide trend. Get a current measurement from the specific well when evaluating an existing home.

Who has drilled around Colorado City, and when

Permit activity stretches across several generations. Records show 9 permits in the 1950s, 11 in the 1960s, 52 in the 1970s, 48 in the 1980s, 99 in the 1990s, 95 in the 2000s, 61 in the 2010s, and 34 in the 2020s. The newest permit year in the record is 2025.

The most active names in these records are Spradlin Drilling (Spradlin, Wayne) with 66 wells, Reeves, Mark with 52, and Arkansas Valley Drilling (Moore, Todd A.) with 47. These records help identify local experience, but they do not replace current licensing, references, a written scope, or a site-specific estimate.

A realistic Colorado City well drilling budget

For the local alluvium and plains sedimentary rock, the drilling model uses $35 to $55 per foot. At the 250-foot median depth, the drilled hole alone models at about $8,800 to $13,800. That is not the complete project price.

A finished well including the pump, pressure tank, trenching, and electrical is modeled at about $14,800 to $25,800 at the median depth. A deeper hole, difficult access, additional casing, unusual geology, or a longer utility run can increase the bid. Ask whether the estimate includes mobilization, casing, grout, development, yield testing, permits, abandonment of a dry hole, and connection to the building. Compare bids on the same scope rather than on footage rate alone.

Risks to check before drilling or building near Colorado City

The main well risks are variable depth, low yield, and the possibility that a hole does not perform as expected. Fractured-bedrock wells can be unpredictable, and the local records show a broad depth range. A low-yield well may still support a home with storage, but it should be designed around measured production and recovery rather than an optimistic estimate.

There are 3 PFAS sampling or contamination sites mapped within about 10 miles, along with 1 historic mine feature and 0 EPA Superfund or cleanup sites. That does not establish contamination at your lot. Test existing water for bacteria, nitrates, and locally relevant contaminants before relying on it. Check septic setbacks, replacement-area needs, driveway access, power routes, grading, and building location early. A domestic well permit is not the same as unlimited irrigation or commercial water authorization.

A practical lot review for Colorado City and nearby areas

Before buying, pull the DWR permit and construction records for the property and nearby wells. Compare depth, aquifer name, yield, static level, casing, and well age. The records most often name an unnamed or fractured-bedrock aquifer with 486 wells; 32 name the Dakota and 4 name Dakota Sandstone. No local records name a Denver Basin aquifer.

Use nearby Rye, Beulah Valley, Gardner, Walsenburg, Salt Creek, and Pueblo as broader context, but give the greatest weight to wells with similar geology and elevation. Have a driller review access and the proposed well location before purchase. If the property will include livestock, irrigation, or a new home, confirm the permit conditions and any augmentation requirements. Plan the well, septic system, driveway, electrical service, and house site together so one does not block another.

Well permits by decade near Colorado City

What a new well costs in Colorado City, 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 (475 ft) would run roughly $22,625–$38,125. 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 Colorado City? 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 Colorado City 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 Colorado City

Keep researching

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

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