Wells Around Dolores, Colorado: Depth, Yield, and Cost

How deep are wells around Dolores?

How much water do wells make near Dolores?

How deep are wells around Dolores?

Dolores-area well depth is variable. The median recorded depth is 104 feet, and the middle half runs from 41 to 258 feet. That means a driller bidding a typical site may be working in a relatively shallow range, but the spread is large enough that a single flat depth assumption is risky.

The depth mix shows that 48% of recorded wells are under 100 feet, while 31% fall between 100 and 300 feet. Another 11% are between 300 and 600 feet, and 10% exceed 600 feet. The deepest record is 1,225 feet. Local geology, fractures, valley sediments, and the exact well location can all change the result.

What water yield can a Dolores well provide?

The reported yield median is 12.0 gallons per minute, with the middle half between 6.0 and 15.0 gallons per minute. That is a useful range for many domestic systems, but yield is not the same as storage in the pressure tank or household water demand.

Of the wells reporting yield, 51% produced between 5 and 15 gallons per minute, and 38% reported more than 15 gallons per minute. Still, 8% were under 1 gallon per minute, with another 3% between 1 and 5 gallons per minute. Ask for the well test, pump setting, and recovery information. A low-yield well may work with storage, but it changes system design and operating expectations.

Water levels and groundwater trend near Dolores

Only 11 records report a static water level, so the water-level sample is limited. Among those records, the median depth to water is 9 feet, with the middle half from 7 to 24 feet. Those measurements suggest shallow static water in the reported wells, but they should not be treated as a guaranteed depth to water on an untested parcel.

The permit counts by decade do not show groundwater levels. They show 6 permits in the 1960s, 17 in the 1970s, 22 in the 1980s, 37 in the 1990s, 39 in the 2000s, 32 in the 2010s, and 17 in the 2020s. This dataset does not establish a dropping water table.

Who has drilled near Dolores, and when?

Colorado DWR records contain 236 permitted wells within the study area. Of those, 155 are recorded as constructed and 158 report a total depth. The newest permit year is 2025, so the area has continued to see well permitting rather than being represented only by older construction.

The most active drillers in these records are Mcpherson Drilling Co. (Mcpherson, Billy G.) with 37 wells, Ancell Drilling Service (Ancell, Lee) with 16, and Ucolo Drilling LLC (Redshaw, Richard R.) with 14. A permit history identifies who appears in the records; it is not a recommendation or a substitute for checking current licensing, availability, and references.

What does a new well cost near Dolores?

The local cost model uses a typical drilling rate of $50–$75 per foot for mixed sedimentary and alluvial ground. At the 104-foot median depth, the drilled hole works out to about $5,200–$7,800. That is the drilling portion, not the complete water system.

A finished well with pump, pressure tank, trenching, and electrical is estimated at about $11,200–$19,800 at the median depth. A deeper hole, difficult access, casing and grout requirements, or added treatment can move the bid outside that range. Have the driller separate footage, casing, grout, development, pump equipment, trenching, electrical, and testing so competing bids cover the same work.

Risks to check before building around Dolores

Most permits name an unnamed or fractured-bedrock aquifer: 228 wells are in that category. Fractured rock can produce very different results between nearby lots, so a neighboring high-yield well does not guarantee the same outcome. There are also 11 PFAS sampling or contamination sites, 3 historic mine features, and 1 EPA Superfund or cleanup site mapped within about 10 miles. Check site-specific water testing and environmental records before closing.

Low-yield wells, dry holes, water quality, casing, grout, and septic separation all deserve review. A septic system and the house location need adequate usable ground, access, and drainage. Colorado DWR permits control the authorized use. Exempt household-use wells have a 35-gallon-per-minute pumping limit, and an augmentation plan may be needed in an over-appropriated basin.

Buying or building a lot near Dolores

Start with the exact parcel, then compare nearby permitted wells rather than relying on the area median alone. Review construction depth, reported yield, static water level, aquifer description, permit status, and intended use. The records show 71% domestic or household use, 4% stock, 2% irrigation, and 17% monitoring, so a permit's purpose matters when comparing it with a home site.

For a purchase, make well inspection, water testing, permit review, and septic feasibility part of due diligence. For new construction, get a driller's site-specific opinion before finalizing the house, driveway, septic field, and utility trench layout. The same approach applies in Lewis, Cortez, and Mancos, but conditions can change quickly outside the Dolores study area.

Well permits by decade near Dolores

What a new well costs in Dolores, 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 (258 ft) would run roughly $18,900–$31,350. 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 Dolores? 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 Dolores 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 Dolores

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