What Dinosaur, Colorado Wells Are Really Like

How deep are wells around Dinosaur?

How much water do wells make near Dinosaur?

Dinosaur well depths vary sharply by lot

Depth is the first major cost question around Dinosaur. The median recorded depth is 47 feet, with the middle half between 18 and 200 feet. That suggests many locations may have relatively shallow drilling, but a bid based only on the median would be risky.

The records include a broad deep-well tail: 59% are under 100 feet, 20% are 100 to 300 feet, 10% are 300 to 600 feet, and 12% are 600 feet or deeper. The deepest record is 4,835 feet. Mixed sedimentary and alluvial ground helps explain why neighboring lots can require very different drilling plans. Ask for a bid that explains standby, casing, grout and extra footage if the first water-bearing zone is not adequate.

What a Dinosaur well may produce

Only 5 wells in this group report a pump yield, so the yield statistics are useful but not highly site-specific. Among those records, the median yield is 13.0 gallons per minute, and the middle half is 3.0 to 15.0 gallons per minute.

The reported mix is 40% at 1 to 5 gallons per minute, 20% at 5 to 15 gallons per minute, and 40% above 15 gallons per minute. No reported well is under 1 gallon per minute. For a buyer, a strong yield can help with household use and storage, but it is not a promise for an untested parcel. Confirm the permitted use, pump test results and storage design before treating the well as adequate for a house, livestock or irrigation.

The water table is shallow in the limited records

Six wells report a static water level. Their median depth to water is 52 feet, with the middle half from 39 to 104 feet. That is useful for thinking about pump setting and initial drilling conditions, but the small number of measurements makes it weak evidence for a particular lot.

The permit counts by decade do not show a water-level trend. They show one permit in the 1970s, 29 in the 1980s, 4 in the 1990s, 9 in the 2000s, 25 in the 2010s and 16 in the 2020s. The newest permit year is 2025. Those are permit dates, not repeated measurements of the water table. Have a driller check nearby construction records and measure the completed well before finalizing pump equipment.

Who has drilled around Dinosaur, and when

The permit history is spread across several decades, with the most records from the 1980s and 2010s. There are 123 wells in the Colorado DWR records, but only 35 are recorded as constructed and 41 report a total depth. That difference matters: a map point or permit is not the same as a verified, producing well.

The most active listed driller is Authorized (Pe, Pg), associated with 26 records. Complete Water Solutions (Brinkerhoff, David) appears on 8, and Owner appears on 4. The newest permit year is 2025. Before relying on any neighbor comparison, confirm whether the well was completed, its actual depth, its permitted use and its measured production.

Dinosaur drilling cost starts with depth and access

For mixed sedimentary and alluvial ground, the local drilling model uses a typical rate of $50 to $75 per foot. At the 47-foot median depth, the drilled hole works out to about $2,400 to $3,500. That is only the hole, not the complete water system.

A finished well with pump, pressure tank, trenching and electrical is estimated at about $8,400 to $15,500 at the median depth. A shallow lot may cost less, while a deep or difficult hole can exceed that range. Get the written proposal to identify casing, grout, mobilization, test pumping, water testing, trench length and electrical work. Long access routes from Rangely, Maybell or other nearby areas can also affect the practical bid.

Environmental and building checks before you commit

The mapped area within about 10 miles contains 10 PFAS sampling or contamination sites and 10 historic mine features. There are 0 EPA Superfund or cleanup sites. That does not establish a problem on a specific parcel, but it does justify testing the well water and checking the property history before closing.

Low yield and dry holes remain possible because most permits name an unnamed or fractured-bedrock aquifer, and fractured rock can change abruptly over short distances. The records show 121 wells in that aquifer and 1 in the Entrada aquifer. Check septic setbacks, soil conditions, access for a drilling rig, building placement and the well permit's allowed use. Domestic, stock, irrigation and monitoring uses are all represented in the records, so the existing permit may not match your plans.

A practical buying plan for a Dinosaur lot

Start by pulling the nearest completed wells, not just every mapped permit. Compare their depths, reported yields, static water levels and permitted uses. The local median depth of 47 feet is a useful starting point, but the range from shallow wells to a 4,835-foot record shows why a site-specific estimate matters.

Before removing contingencies, ask a Colorado water-rights professional to confirm the permit path for the intended use. Household-use wells may be exempt wells, but the permit controls what the well can legally supply. If the basin is over-appropriated, an augmentation plan may be needed for some uses. Have the finished well tested for bacteria and relevant local contaminants, and confirm that the pump, tank, septic layout and electrical service fit the building plan.

Well permits by decade near Dinosaur

What a new well costs in Dinosaur, 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 (200 ft) would run roughly $16,000–$27,000. 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 Dinosaur? 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 Dinosaur 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 Dinosaur

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More in Moffat County

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

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