What Wells Are Like Around Cotopaxi, Colorado

How deep are wells around Cotopaxi?

How much water do wells make near Cotopaxi?

Cotopaxi well depths reflect fractured mountain rock

Around Cotopaxi, the typical permitted well is 125 feet deep. The middle half of recorded depths runs from 75 to 240 feet, while the 90th percentile is 335 feet. About 33% are under 100 feet, 51% fall between 100 and 300 feet, 13% between 300 and 600 feet, and 2% exceed 600 feet.

That spread is normal for a fractured granite and gneiss setting. Water can travel through individual fractures rather than a consistent, continuous layer. A driller may need to continue well below nearby shallow wells if the first fractures do not provide enough water. For a bid, use the 125-foot median as a starting point, not a promised completion depth. Ask how costs change if the hole reaches the deeper local range.

Most Cotopaxi wells produce usable household rates

Among the 286 wells reporting pump yield, the median is 10.0 gallons per minute. The middle half produces 6.0 to 13.0 gallons per minute. About 64% fall between 5 and 15 gallons per minute, while 19% report more than 15 gallons per minute. A smaller share, 15%, reports 1 to 5 gallons per minute, and 2% report under 1 gallon per minute.

That distribution is encouraging for ordinary household use, but a pump-yield record is not the same as a guaranteed long-term supply. Low-yield wells may still work with adequate storage and careful demand planning. Confirm the permit’s allowed use, test the well after construction, and match the water system to the home, livestock or irrigation plans.

The Cotopaxi water-level record is fairly steady

Of the permitted wells, 68 report a static water level. The median depth to water is 74 feet, with the middle half from 48 to 132 feet below the surface. This affects pump placement, trenching and the amount of water a pump must lift, but the measurement is specific to each well and its measurement conditions.

The decade comparison does not show a clear dropping trend in this record set. The median static level was 81 feet below ground in the 2010s and 80 feet in the 2020s. That small difference should not be treated as a site guarantee. A buyer still needs the actual neighboring well logs and a current test where water supply is important.

Permit history shows long use around Cotopaxi

Colorado Division of Water Resources permit records include 721 wells within the mapped area, with 469 recorded as constructed. Permits span from the 1950s through the newest permit year, 2025. The busiest decade was the 1990s, with 189 permits; the 1980s had 120, the 2010s had 98, and the 2000s had 83.

American Drilling Service, associated in the records with Dewberry, Bradford W., appears most often with 156 wells. American Drilling Service Inc., associated with Dewberry, Noble, appears with 76. Owner records account for 34. These names describe permit history, not a recommendation. Check the actual construction record, casing, grout, yield and static level rather than relying only on who drilled nearby wells.

A median-depth Cotopaxi well costs more than drilling alone

In this fractured mountain bedrock, a planning rate is $65 to $100 per foot. At the 125-foot median depth, the drilled hole models to about $8,100 to $12,500. A finished system including the pump, pressure tank, trenching and electrical models to about $14,100 to $24,500.

The final invoice can move outside that range if the hole must go deeper, access is difficult, casing or grouting requirements change, or the site needs longer utility trenches. Ask for a written breakdown separating drilling from completion equipment and site work. A shallow neighboring well does not establish your drilling depth, especially where water depends on fractured granite or gneiss.

Mines, septic layout and low-yield risk need checking

The mapped area around Cotopaxi includes 4 PFAS sampling or contamination sites and 99 historic mine features within about 10 miles. There are 0 EPA Superfund or cleanup sites. Those facts do not prove contamination at a specific parcel, but they are reasons to review environmental records and test private well water before relying on it.

Low yield and dry-hole risk remain possible in fractured bedrock even though the reported yield median is 10.0 gallons per minute. Septic setbacks, well access, building placement and room for a pump system should be reviewed before excavation. A domestic well is generally intended for household use under its permit, not unrestricted irrigation or expanded development. Confirm water rights and any augmentation requirement with DWR.

What to verify before buying near Cotopaxi

Start with the well permit and construction report for the property, then compare nearby records in Cotopaxi, Coaldale and Howard. Look for depth, casing, grout, reported yield and static water level. The area’s 125-foot median and 75-to-240-foot middle range can help evaluate a bid, but the local fracture pattern controls the result.

Before closing, arrange a current water-quality test and a production or recovery test appropriate to the property’s intended use. Confirm that the permit matches the planned home and occupants, and ask whether stock, irrigation or additional buildings create a water-rights issue. If building, place the well, septic system, driveway and house together on a site plan so access and required separation can be maintained.

Well permits by decade near Cotopaxi

What a new well costs in Cotopaxi, 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 (240 ft) would run roughly $21,600–$36,000. 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 Cotopaxi? 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 Cotopaxi 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 Cotopaxi

Keep researching

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

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