Cortez, Colorado Well Depths, Yields, and Costs

How deep are wells around Cortez?

How much water do wells make near Cortez?

Cortez wells are usually shallow, but not always

The 173 permits with reported total depth have a 40-foot median. The middle half runs from 29 to 100 feet, so a typical bid based on local records may be much shallower than a mountain or fractured-granite well. Still, the range is broad: the 90th percentile is 187 feet, and the deepest recorded well reaches 1,300 feet.

About 74% of wells are under 100 feet. Another 21% fall between 100 and 300 feet, while 3% are 300 to 600 feet and 2% exceed 600 feet. Local permits mostly identify unnamed or fractured-bedrock aquifers, with smaller numbers in the Mancos and Alluvial aquifers. A driller should review nearby logs, not price your lot from the median alone.

Reported yield is workable, but production varies

Only 12 wells in the records report a pump yield, so the yield statistics are less complete than the depth statistics. Among those reports, the median is 5.0 gallons per minute and the middle half is 1.0 to 14.4 gallons per minute.

The spread matters for a buyer. Eight percent of reported wells produce under 1 gallon per minute, while 42% are in the 1-to-5 range. Twenty-five percent produce 5 to 15 gallons per minute, and another 25% report more than 15 gallons per minute. A low-producing well may still serve a household with storage, but confirm the well's permitted use, pump test, storage tank, and recovery before relying on it for a new home.

Cortez water levels look shallow in the limited records

Only 2 permits report a static water level, so there is not enough local water-level data to establish a dependable trend by decade. Those reported measurements have a median depth to water of 15 feet, with a middle half from 8 to 22 feet.

That shallow result can help a driller think about construction, casing, grout, and pump placement, but it should not be treated as a guarantee for an untested parcel. Water levels can vary with location, season, aquifer, pumping, and well construction. Ask for the actual static level and recovery information on any existing well, and have the driller compare logs from Cortez with properties toward Mancos, Towaoc, or Lewis.

Permit activity grew sharply in the newer records

The permit history shows one permit in the 1960s, 17 in the 1970s, 36 in the 1980s, 38 in the 1990s, 16 in the 2000s, 95 in the 2010s, and 48 in the 2020s. The newest permit year is 2025. Records include 331 permitted wells, with 148 marked as constructed.

Most listed wells are monitoring wells, at 53% of the use mix. Domestic or household wells account for 24%, stock wells 4%, and irrigation 1%. That distinction matters: a nearby permit does not automatically prove that a property has a domestic water supply. Confirm the permit number, permitted use, construction status, and any restrictions through Colorado DWR before closing.

The most active drillers in these records are Authorized (Pe, Pg), with 85 wells; Kilby'S Water Well Service, with 20; and Kenyon Drilling/Kenyon Motor, with 15. Those names show local record activity, not a recommendation.

A median-depth Cortez well pencils out differently from a finished system

For the mixed sedimentary and alluvial ground around Cortez, the local drilling cost model uses a typical rate of $50 to $75 per foot. At the 40-foot median depth, the drilled hole is estimated at about $2,000 to $3,000.

A usable water system costs more than the hole. Including the pump, pressure tank, trenching, and electrical work, the modeled finished-well cost is about $8,000 to $15,000 at the median depth. A deep outlier, difficult access, casing or grout requirements, low yield, or extra trenching can change the bid substantially. Get the driller to separate drilling, casing, development, pump equipment, electrical, and water testing in writing.

Cortez buyers should investigate water quality and site limits

Mapped environmental records within about ten miles include 19 PFAS sampling or contamination sites, 9 historic mine features, and 10 EPA Superfund or cleanup sites. These mapped sites do not prove that a particular well is contaminated, but they are a reason to test existing or new well water and review the property's location before relying on it.

Low yield and dry holes are also real risks because reported production is limited to 12 wells and 8% of those reports are under 1 gallon per minute. Check septic setbacks, drainfield space, access for a drill rig, and the building location before purchasing. A well permit, a septic plan, and a buildable site need to work together.

What to do before buying land near Cortez

Start with the neighboring well records, but separate domestic wells from monitoring, stock, and irrigation permits. Compare total depth, aquifer description, static water level, reported yield, construction status, and permitted use. The nearby communities of Dolores, Lewis, Towaoc, and Mancos can provide useful comparison logs, but conditions can change across short distances.

For an existing home, obtain the permit, well construction record, pump information, water-quality testing, and a current flow or recovery evaluation. For vacant land, have a licensed driller assess access and the likely target before you set a house location. If the basin is over-appropriated, ask whether an augmentation plan or other water-supply requirement applies. Do not treat the median Cortez well as a promise for your parcel.

Well permits by decade near Cortez

What a new well costs in Cortez, 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 (100 ft) would run roughly $11,000–$19,500. 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 Cortez? 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 Cortez 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 Cortez

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

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