Creede, Colorado Well Depth, Yield, and Cost

How deep are wells around Creede?

How much water do wells make near Creede?

What well depth looks like around Creede

The median permitted well near Creede is 99 feet deep. The middle half runs from 67 to 120 feet, so a driller bidding a typical site may be working in that range rather than automatically planning a very deep mountain hole. Half of the recorded wells are under 100 feet, while 43% fall between 100 and 300 feet.

Depth still varies sharply. The 90th-percentile depth is 217 feet, and the deepest recorded well is 1,000 feet. Most permits identify an unnamed or fractured-bedrock aquifer, with granite and gneiss making production dependent on the fractures encountered. A nearby well in the City of Creede, Gerrard, or another local area can help, but it does not guarantee the same result on your lot.

Expected well yield in the Creede area

Among the wells that report a pump yield, the median is 15.0 gallons per minute, and the middle half is 10.0 to 15.0 gallons per minute. The reported distribution is encouraging for household use: 55% produce more than 15 gallons per minute, and 42% produce between 5 and 15 gallons per minute. Only 2% are in the 1-to-5-gallon-per-minute range, and none are reported below 1 gallon per minute.

These figures describe reported well tests, not a guarantee for an unbuilt lot. Yield can be seasonal and a pump test is not the same as unlimited storage. An exempt household-use well still has a 35-gallon-per-minute pumping limit. Confirm the permit's allowed use, production test, and any augmentation requirement before planning irrigation or additional uses.

Water levels and the local trend

Reported static water levels have a median depth of 42 feet below the surface. The middle half ranges from 10 to 70 feet, which gives a useful planning range for pump setting, trenching, and water-system design. A shallow static level does not mean the well will produce strongly; storage, fractures, casing, and the completed interval still matter.

The decade figures show a median static level of 36 feet below the surface in the 2010s and 40 feet in the 2020s. That is a modest shift deeper in the available record, but only 79 wells report static water levels, so it is not enough by itself to establish a broad decline across Creede. Ask for the actual measurement date and conditions for any property you are evaluating.

Creede permit history and local drillers

Permit activity has continued over many decades. The records show 7 permits in the 1950s, 4 in the 1960s, 142 in the 1970s, 94 in the 1980s, 165 in the 1990s, 175 in the 2000s, 90 in the 2010s, and 84 in the 2020s. The newest permit year is 2026. That history gives Creede a substantial local record for comparing nearby construction and performance.

The most frequently listed drillers are Valley Pump Company (Self, Clinton L.) with 116 records, Irrigation Engineering & Supp. (Burk, Coy) with 109, and Larry Burk Drilling (Burk, Larry) with 80. Older permits may not reflect current pricing or equipment, but they can reveal depth, aquifer description, casing, and test results near a parcel.

What a new well costs near Creede

Creede's fractured mountain bedrock—granite and gneiss—makes the drilling bid sensitive to footage, access, casing, grout, and the amount of work needed to complete the hole. The local drilling rate model is $65 to $100 per foot. At the 99-foot median depth, the drilled hole alone works out to about $6,400 to $9,900.

A finished system is more than the borehole. Including pump, pressure tank, trenching, and electrical, the modeled total at the median depth is about $12,400 to $21,900. Treat that as a planning range, not a fixed quote. A deeper-than-typical hole, difficult access, extra casing, low yield, or a long utility run can change the bid substantially.

Risks to check before building on a lot

The main water risks are not limited to depth. Fractured-bedrock wells can encounter an unproductive zone or a dry hole even when nearby properties do well. Review the well construction report, pump test, static level, casing and grout details, and the permit's approved use. Water testing is also important: mapped environmental information within about 10 miles includes 5 PFAS sampling or contamination sites, 447 historic mine features, and 5 EPA Superfund or cleanup sites.

Mining history makes location-specific testing especially sensible. Check well water for health-related contaminants with a qualified laboratory, and keep the well separated from septic components as required by the applicable rules. Confirm the building site has room for the well, septic system, access, and utility trenching before closing or starting excavation.

Buying or building near Creede

Start with the exact parcel, not a countywide average. Pull the DWR permit, construction report, recorded use, yield test, and static water level. Then compare nearby wells in the City of Creede and the surrounding mountain communities, while recognizing that fractured rock can change over short distances. A driller can use those records to prepare a more defensible depth and access estimate.

For a vacant lot, verify legal water supply, septic suitability, driveway access, electrical routing, and any augmentation-plan issue before purchase. Most permits in this area are domestic or household use at 86%, while 8% are monitoring, 4% stock, and 1% irrigation. If your plans include irrigation or uses beyond the permit, resolve that water-rights question early.

Well permits by decade near Creede

What a new well costs in Creede, 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 $13,800–$24,000. 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 Creede? 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 Creede 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 Creede

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More in Mineral County

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

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