What to Know About Wells in Columbine, Colorado

How deep are wells around Columbine?

How much water do wells make near Columbine?

Columbine well depth depends on the local formation

Columbine sits on Denver Basin sedimentary bedrock, and the records identify Denver Basin aquifers for 92% of wells. Many wells are shallow: 65% are under 100 feet. Another 13% fall between 100 and 300 feet, 14% between 300 and 600 feet, and 8% exceed 600 feet.

The 40-foot median should not be treated as a likely bid for every parcel. A middle-half range of 25 to 249 feet is a large spread for excavation and drilling planning. The 90th-percentile depth is 511 feet, while the deepest record is 1,948 feet. Have a driller review nearby completed wells, the target aquifer and the intended use before pricing a new hole.

Reported well yield is generally useful, but not uniform

Among the 267 wells that report a pump yield, the median is 12.0 gallons per minute. The middle half runs from 8.0 to 15.0 gallons per minute. Those figures are a reasonable local reference for a household discussion, but they are not a promise for an untested parcel.

Yield records show 48% producing between 5 and 15 gallons per minute and 37% producing more than 15 gallons per minute. Fourteen percent fall between 1 and 5 gallons per minute, while 1% are under 1 gallon per minute. Ask for the well’s actual pump test, storage capacity and permitted use. A low-yield well may still work with storage, but it gives a buyer less margin for irrigation or multiple occupants.

The Columbine water-level records do not show a simple drop

The median static water level is 24 feet below surface, with the middle half from 13 to 55 feet. That is the measured depth to water, not the total well depth. A shallow water level also does not by itself establish that the water is clean or that the well will sustain a given pumping rate.

By measurement decade, the median was 26 feet below surface in the 2010s and 15 feet in the 2020s. That change points to a shallower measured water level in the newer records, not a declining water table. Only 67 wells report a static water level, so do not use this series as a neighborhood-wide guarantee. Confirm current conditions with the owner’s well test and a qualified professional.

Permit history shows long use and continuing drilling

Permit records around Columbine extend through 2025. The largest decade in the record is the 1990s, with 702 permits, followed by 594 in the 2000s. The record includes 320 permits from the 2010s and 293 from the 2020s, along with earlier activity dating to the 1950s.

The most active names in the records are Authorized (Pe, Pg), with 985 entries; Hier Drilling Co Inc (Hier, Bruce A.), with 180; and Ground Exploration Llc (Bender, Joseph T.), with 88. These are record associations, not a recommendation or proof that a company is available today. Check the DWR permit, construction report, pump information and final use before relying on any listing.

A median-depth Columbine well pencils out at a specific range

The local cost model uses a typical drilling rate of $50 to $70 per foot in Denver Basin sedimentary bedrock. At the 40-foot median depth, the drilled hole alone models at about $2,000 to $2,800. That is only the drilling portion and should not be mistaken for a complete water system.

A finished well including the pump, pressure tank, trenching and electrical is modeled at about $8,000 to $14,800 at that median depth. Deeper-than-median drilling, difficult access, casing or grout requirements, water treatment and site-specific electrical work can change the bid. Ask for a written separation of drilling, casing, pump equipment, trenching, power and testing so competing bids cover the same work.

Columbine buyers need to check water, soil and site limits

Environmental screening within about 10 miles identifies 233 PFAS sampling or contamination sites, 81 EPA Superfund or cleanup sites and 45 historic mine features. These mapped sites do not prove contamination at a particular address, but they are a reason to order current water-quality testing and review the well’s location, history and construction.

Low yield and dry holes remain possible because local records cover a broad depth range and only 267 wells report pump yield. Confirm the septic area, replacement septic area, setbacks, access for a drill rig and the location of the well relative to the house and drainfield. A Colorado DWR permit controls the allowed use; an exempt household-use well has specific limits, and an augmentation plan may be needed in an over-appropriated basin.

Well permits by decade near Columbine

What a new well costs in Columbine, 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 (249 ft) would run roughly $18,450–$29,430. 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 Columbine? 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 Columbine 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 Columbine

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