Conejos, Colorado Well Depth, Yield, and Cost

How deep are wells around Conejos?

How much water do wells make near Conejos?

Conejos well depths are usually shallow, but not always

The median well depth around Conejos is 64 feet. The middle half of reported wells falls from 40 to 120 feet, which gives a driller a practical starting range for estimating a typical hole. Sixty-five percent of the reported wells are under 100 feet, and 28% fall between 100 and 300 feet.

Depth still varies sharply across the area. Six percent are between 300 and 600 feet, 1% are deeper than 600 feet, and the deepest record reaches 787 feet. Permits identify the unnamed or fractured-bedrock aquifer for 948 wells, with additional wells in the Unconfined San Luis Vall and Unconfined San Luis Valley aquifers. A bid should account for the actual parcel, access, casing, grout, and the possibility that fractured rock will not behave like a nearby well.

Reported Conejos yields are strong, with limited testing records

Only 140 wells in the records report a pump yield, so the yield statistics do not describe every permitted well. Among reported results, the median is 13.0 gallons per minute and the middle half is 10.0 to 15.0 gallons per minute. Forty-six percent report more than 15 gallons per minute, while 53% fall from 5 to 15 gallons per minute.

One percent report 1 to 5 gallons per minute, and none of the reported wells are under 1 gallon per minute. For a buyer, that reduces concern about extremely poor production in the recorded sample, but it does not replace a current flow test. Confirm the well’s permitted use, pump performance, storage capacity, and recovery before assuming it will support a house, stock, irrigation, or future construction.

Water levels near Conejos have stayed broadly similar

Reported static water levels have a median depth of 51 feet below the surface, with the middle half from 30 to 132 feet. That spread matters when planning a pump: a property with water at 30 feet presents a different equipment and service condition from one near the deeper end of the local range.

The decade comparison does not show a clear dropping trend in these records. The median measured depth to water was 51 feet in the 2010s and 48 feet in the 2020s, meaning the later median was slightly shallower. Only 68 wells report a static water level, so treat this as a record summary rather than a parcel-specific forecast. A driller or pump contractor should measure the subject well and check neighboring wells near Antonito and Romeo when evaluating a property.

Permit history shows steady drilling through the Conejos area

Permit activity extends back to the 1950s, when 13 permits were issued. The record rises to 140 in the 1970s, 97 in the 1980s, 112 in the 1990s, and 210 in the 2000s. There were 131 permits in the 2010s and 68 in the 2020s, with the newest permit year listed as 2025.

Most recorded use is domestic or household at 78%. Stock use appears on 38% of permits, irrigation on 5%, and monitoring on 3%. The most active drillers in these records are Heersink Drilling, also listed as Heersink, Scott, with 98 wells; Valley Pump Company, listed as Self, Clinton L., with 83; and Larry Burk Drilling, listed as Burk, Larry, with 47. Verify licensing, scope, and current references before hiring.

A median-depth Conejos well pencils out at a defined range

The local cost model assumes mixed sedimentary and alluvial ground. At a typical drilling rate of $50 to $75 per foot, drilling to the 64-foot median depth works out to about $3,200 to $4,800 for the drilled hole. That is not the full project cost.

A finished well, including the pump, pressure tank, trenching, and electrical work, is estimated at $9,200 to $16,800 at the median depth. A deeper hole, difficult access, additional casing or grout, longer utility runs, and challenging subsurface conditions can push the price higher. Ask each bidder to separate drilling, casing, development, pump equipment, trenching, electrical, and testing. Comparing only the per-foot rate can leave major parts of the installation outside the quote.

Check water quality, septic space, and dry-hole exposure

There is 1 mapped PFAS sampling or contamination site and 1 EPA Superfund or cleanup site within about 10 miles of Conejos. No historic mine features are mapped in that search area. These records do not establish that a particular well is contaminated or clean. Test the well water through a qualified laboratory, especially before relying on it for household use.

Low yield and dry holes remain site risks even with a favorable local median. Review the permit, completion report, construction details, pump test, and maintenance history. On a building lot, confirm that the well location, septic system, replacement area, driveway, and house site can coexist with required separation and access. A DWR permit and an existing well are not the same as a guarantee that the property can support every proposed use.

Do the parcel-level checks before buying near Conejos

Start with the Colorado DWR permit and construction records for the exact well. Confirm the permitted use, depth, aquifer description, static water level, yield test, pump equipment, and whether the records identify the well as constructed. If the property is vacant, have a driller review nearby completions before setting a budget.

For a new well, get a written proposal that addresses access, the expected depth range, casing and grout, well development, pump sizing, storage, trenching, electrical work, and testing. Household-use wells are commonly regulated as exempt wells, but the permit controls the allowed use and the 35-gallon-per-minute pumping limit applies to exempt wells. If a proposed use involves an over-appropriated basin, ask whether an augmentation plan is required. Compare Conejos with nearby Antonito, Manassa, and La Jara records, but do not treat distance alone as proof of matching conditions.

Well permits by decade near Conejos

What a new well costs in Conejos, 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 (120 ft) would run roughly $12,000–$21,000. 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 Conejos? 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 Conejos 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 Conejos

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More in Conejos County

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

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