Wells and Water in Columbine Valley, Colorado

How deep are wells around Columbine Valley?

How much water do wells make near Columbine Valley?

Columbine Valley well depths vary more than the median suggests

The median reported well depth near Columbine Valley is 40 feet, and the middle half runs from 25 to 203 feet. That is a broad spread for estimating a new drilling bid. About 68% of wells are under 100 feet, while 10% fall between 100 and 300 feet, another 10% between 300 and 600 feet, and 11% are deeper than 600 feet.

The deepest well in the record reaches 2,200 feet. A 40-foot median therefore should not be treated as a promised drilling depth. Local geology, the target aquifer, casing and grout requirements, and the exact lot can change the result. Neighboring wells in Littleton, Bow Mar, Columbine, Sheridan, Englewood, and Ken Caryl are useful comparisons, but a driller still needs to evaluate the site.

Reported well yields are usually workable, but verify the test

Among the limited group reporting pump yield, the median is 14.7 gallons per minute, with the middle half from 10.0 to 20.0 gallons per minute. Half of those reported wells produce more than 15 gallons per minute, and 43% fall between 5 and 15 gallons per minute. The record shows 7% between 1 and 5 gallons per minute and 0% under 1 gallon per minute.

That is encouraging for household planning, but it is not a guarantee for an untested property. Yield depends on the well, pump, storage tank, and test method. Ask for the well completion report and a current flow test. An exempt household-use well may pump up to 35 gallons per minute under Colorado rules, but that limit is not the same as the well's actual sustainable yield.

Water levels in the record are not showing a simple drop

The median static water level is 24 feet below the surface, with the middle half from 13 to 48 feet. In the decade summary, the median was 45 feet below the surface in the 1960s, 26 feet in the 2010s, and 15 feet in the 2020s. On this record, the measured water level is shallower in the more recent groups rather than showing a straightforward decline.

Do not read that pattern as proof that every lot has rising water or abundant supply. Only 83 wells report a static water level, and measurements may come from different wells, seasons, construction conditions, and aquifers. A buyer should have the existing well measured, confirm when it was last tested, and compare the result with nearby permitted wells before relying on it for a home.

A long permit history helps identify the local drilling pattern

Permit activity stretches from the 1950s through the newest permit year, 2025. The largest recorded decades are the 1990s with 820 permits and the 2000s with 803. There are 4,340 permits in the five-mile area, including 2,093 recorded as constructed. Use categories are mixed: monitoring accounts for 44%, domestic and household use 30%, irrigation 7%, and stock 2%.

The most active driller names in the records are Authorized (Pe, Pg), with 1,254 records; Hier Drilling Co Inc (Hier, Bruce A.), with 215; and Ground Exploration LLC (Bender, Joseph T.), with 91. Those counts describe permit records, not current availability or a quality ranking. Check the Colorado Division of Water Resources permit and construction documents for the specific parcel.

Budget roughly $8,000 to $14,800 for a finished new well

For Columbine Valley's Denver Basin sedimentary bedrock, the drilling model uses a typical rate of $50 to $70 per foot. At the local median depth of 40 feet, the drilled hole alone works out to about $2,000 to $2,800. That is only the drilling portion and should not be confused with a usable residential water system.

The modeled total for a finished well, including the pump, tank, trenching, and electrical work, is about $8,000 to $14,800. A written bid should state the assumed depth, casing and grout, pump system, electrical scope, trench length, access conditions, testing, and any required permitting. If the site needs a deeper hole or encounters difficult ground, the final cost can exceed a median-depth estimate.

Check water quality, low-yield risk, and the septic layout

Well quantity is only one part of the risk review. Within about 10 miles, the mapped record includes 316 PFAS sampling or contamination sites, 120 EPA Superfund or cleanup sites, and 38 historic mine features. These mapped sites do not prove contamination at a particular home, but they are a reason to test the well water and review the site's distance and drainage relationship to environmental locations.

Also investigate dry-hole risk, low production, abandoned wells, and the condition of casing, grout, pump, and pressure equipment. A septic system needs suitable separation from the well and enough usable soil area, while the house, driveway, replacement area, and drainage all compete for space. Have the county and a qualified septic professional evaluate the lot before assuming a buildable parcel can support the desired plan.

Use the neighboring wells before committing to a Columbine Valley lot

Start with the parcel's DWR permit number and determine whether the well is permitted for domestic, household, irrigation, monitoring, or another use. A monitoring well is not automatically a household water source. Then compare nearby construction reports, depths, aquifer names, reported yields, static levels, and water-quality results, especially around Littleton, Bow Mar, Columbine, Sheridan, Englewood, and Ken Caryl.

For an existing home, make the purchase contingent on a well flow test, laboratory water test, inspection of the pump and tank, and confirmation that the permit matches the actual use. For vacant land, obtain a driller's site-specific estimate and confirm septic feasibility before spending on design. In an over-appropriated basin, an augmentation plan may be required for some uses. Do not assume a permit alone guarantees water for every proposed use.

Well permits by decade near Columbine Valley

What a new well costs in Columbine Valley, 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 (203 ft) would run roughly $16,150–$26,210. 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 Valley? 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 Valley 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 Valley

Keep researching

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

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