Colorado Springs Well Depth, Yield, and Drilling Cost

How deep are wells around Colorado Springs?

How much water do wells make near Colorado Springs?

Colorado Springs well depth depends on the ground below the lot

The median reported well depth near Colorado Springs is 55 feet. The middle half runs from 30 to 194 feet, and 68% of reported wells are under 100 feet. That is a shallow overall profile, but it should not be treated as a bid price or a guarantee.

Another 12% fall between 100 and 300 feet, 16% between 300 and 600 feet, and 4% exceed 600 feet. The deepest record is 1,840 feet. Those differences reflect local geology, the target aquifer, water-level conditions, and the exact location of the borehole. Denver Basin sedimentary bedrock is the cost model used here, while fractured-bedrock conditions can be harder to predict. A driller should review nearby construction logs before giving a firm allowance.

What Colorado Springs wells produce for a household

Among the wells that report a pump yield, the median is 10.0 gallons per minute, with the middle half from 8.0 to 13.0 gallons per minute. That is a solid production range for ordinary household use when the well, pressure system, storage, and water treatment are properly designed.

Production is not evenly distributed across every permit. Seventy-four percent report 5 to 15 gallons per minute, and 23% report more than 15 gallons per minute. Three percent report 1 to 5 gallons per minute, while 0% are listed under 1 gallon per minute. The yield records represent only 373 wells, so a buyer should request the actual pump test rather than rely only on the area median. An exempt household-use well still has limits, including the 35 gallon-per-minute pumping limit.

Water levels near Colorado Springs and the recent record

The median static water level is 47 feet below the surface, with the middle half from 18 to 71 feet. Static water level is not the same as well depth: it describes where water stood when measured, and the level can change with season, pumping, recharge, and the aquifer being measured.

The decade series does not show a simple dropping pattern in these records. The median measured water level was 66 feet below surface in the 2010s and 31 feet below surface in the 2020s. Those figures come from a limited group of 83 wells reporting static water levels, and the wells and measurement conditions may differ. Treat the change as a reason to inspect individual logs, not proof that groundwater is uniformly rising or falling across Colorado Springs.

Permit history shows long use around Colorado Springs

Colorado Springs has a long well record, with permits issued from the 1950s through the newest permit year of 2025. The largest decade in the record is the 1990s, with 764 permits. There were 545 in the 2000s, 356 in the 2010s, and 256 in the 2020s. Older records can be especially useful when a property has a long operating history.

The permit mix is mainly domestic or household use at 43%, with monitoring wells at 38%, irrigation at 3%, and stock use at 1%. Aquifers named on permits include unnamed or fractured-bedrock aquifers with 3,013 wells, Arapahoe with 449, and Denver with 90. Denver Basin aquifer wells account for 54%. Check the DWR permit, construction report, use type, and any change in ownership before assuming an old well serves a new plan.

Colorado Springs well drilling cost at the local median depth

The local cost model uses a typical drilling rate of $50 to $70 per foot in Denver Basin sedimentary bedrock. At the 55-foot median depth, the drilled hole works out to about $2,800 to $3,800. That is only the drilling portion, not the complete water system or the site work needed to connect it to a house.

A finished well with pump, pressure tank, trenching, and electrical is modeled at about $8,800 to $15,800 at that median depth. A deeper hole, difficult access, casing and grout requirements, rock conditions, electrical distance, or a longer utility trench can move the actual proposal higher. Ask the driller what is included, what happens if the hole is dry, and whether testing, permits, pump installation, and abandonment contingencies are separate.

Risks to check before buying or building on a Colorado Springs lot

Low yield is not the main pattern in the available yield records, but the sample is limited and a dry hole is always a site-specific risk. Fractured bedrock can produce uneven results over short distances. Have the seller provide the permit, well construction report, pump test, water-quality results, and maintenance history. Confirm the well is legally usable for the proposed home.

Environmental screening also deserves attention. Within about 10 miles, the mapped information includes 172 PFAS sampling or contamination sites, 38 historic mine features, and 20 EPA Superfund or cleanup sites. Those locations do not prove contamination at your property, but they support testing before purchase. Septic placement, setbacks, access for a rig, casing and grout, and the separation between the well and septic system should be reviewed before finalizing a building layout.

A practical lot review for Colorado Springs buyers

Start with the closest comparable wells, not the countywide median alone. Cimarron Hills is about 3 miles away, while Stratmoor, Manitou Springs, Security-Widefield, the Air Force Academy, and Rock Creek Park provide additional nearby context at different distances. Compare geology, well depth, static level, yield, permit use, and construction date rather than looking at depth by itself.

For a buildable lot, confirm legal water supply, access for drilling equipment, septic feasibility, electrical routing, and the likely well location before closing. A driller can use neighboring logs to prepare a better allowance, but only a new borehole confirms your result. If the basin is over-appropriated, an augmentation plan may be required for the intended use. Put well testing, water-quality testing, and document review into the purchase process.

Well permits by decade near Colorado Springs

What a new well costs in Colorado Springs, 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 (194 ft) would run roughly $15,700–$25,580. 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 Springs? 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 Springs 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 Springs

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