Wells and Well Costs in Dotsero, Colorado

How deep are wells around Dotsero?

How much water do wells make near Dotsero?

Dotsero well depths are usually shallow, with bedrock exceptions

Dotsero’s depth records lean shallow: 73% of wells are under 100 feet, 18% fall between 100 and 300 feet, and 8% are between 300 and 600 feet. No recorded wells are 600 feet or deeper. The median is 60 feet, and the middle half of reported depths is 45 to 101 feet.

That spread is important for a drilling bid. A contractor may encounter productive rock near the local median, but the deepest record shows that a lot can behave very differently from its neighbors. Of 131 permitted wells, 71 report a total depth and 51 are recorded as constructed, so the statistics describe the available records rather than every possible well condition.

Permits name fractured bedrock on 126 wells and alluvial aquifer conditions on only three. Granite and gneiss can change quickly across short distances, so access, casing, grout, and final pump design still need site-specific review.

Most Dotsero yield records are strong, but test the actual lot

Reported production is favorable in this local record. The median yield is 15.0 gallons per minute, and the middle half runs from 15.0 to 65.0 gallons per minute. Eighty percent of reported wells produce more than 15 gallons per minute. Seventeen percent are in the 5-to-15 range, and 3% are in the 1-to-5 range. None of the reported wells are under 1 gallon per minute.

Only 30 wells report a pump yield, so do not treat the percentages as a guarantee for an untested parcel. Yield is also different from storage and pressure. A driller’s test, pump setting, storage tank, and household demand all affect how comfortably a well serves a home. Ask for the well construction report and pumping information before relying on a neighbor’s result.

Dotsero water levels are shallow in the available records

The 12 wells reporting a static water level show a median depth to water of 18 feet. The middle half is 14 to 28 feet. That suggests water is relatively near the surface in the wells with measurements, which can simplify pumping compared with a much deeper static level.

There is not enough information here to claim that the water table is falling or rising over time. The permit counts by decade show activity, not a water-level trend: records range from two permits in the 1960s to 36 in the 2000s, with the newest permit issued in 2025. A buyer should request the actual static-level measurements, well test, and seasonal information for the specific property.

Because most permits identify fractured bedrock, nearby water levels may not represent a single continuous shallow aquifer. Local fractures, elevation, and surface drainage can matter more than distance alone.

Permit history shows long use and several active drillers

Dotsero’s permit history extends from the 1960s through a newest permit year of 2025. The records include two permits from the 1960s, five from the 1970s, 16 from the 1980s, 18 from the 1990s, 36 from the 2000s, 19 from the 2010s, and 11 from the 2020s. Domestic or household use accounts for 50% of the listed use mix. Irrigation accounts for 15%, stock for 7%, and monitoring for 18%.

The most common driller names in the records are Shelton Drilling Corporation, associated with Shelton, Wayne, with 26 wells; Golden Eagle Drilling Corporation, associated with Shelton, Joe Wayne, with eight; and Collins Drilling Co, associated with Collins, F. E. “Bodie,” with seven.

These names can help you find local construction history, but they do not replace a current site evaluation or bid.

A Dotsero well at the median depth may cost $9,900-$18,000 finished

Dotsero is fractured mountain bedrock, including granite and gneiss. The drilling model uses a rate of $65-$100 per foot. At the local median depth of 60 feet, the drilled hole works out to about $3,900-$6,000.

A finished well is more than the hole. With a pump, pressure tank, trenching, and electrical work, the modeled total at that depth is about $9,900-$18,000. The lower end is not a promise, because mobilization, difficult rock, casing, grout, access, water testing, and site-specific electrical work can change the bid.

The deepest recorded well is 500 feet, illustrating why a per-foot allowance matters. Ask each driller what is included, how additional footage is handled, and what happens if the hole is dry or produces less water than expected. Compare bids on the same scope rather than on drilling price alone.

Check PFAS, mine features, septic layout, and dry-hole exposure

Environmental review deserves attention around Dotsero. The mapped area within about 10 miles includes 10 PFAS sampling or contamination sites and 13 historic mine features. There are no EPA Superfund or cleanup sites in the supplied records. Those findings do not establish contamination on a particular parcel, but they are reasons to check maps, land history, and current water-quality results.

Low yield is not prominent in the reported sample, yet only 30 wells list a pump yield and fractured rock remains unpredictable. A dry hole or weak production should be addressed in the drilling contract. Confirm casing, grout, wellhead protection, and a certified water test.

Before building, confirm the septic reserve area, setbacks, driveway access, electrical route, and water-rights requirements. A domestic exempt well may support household use, but irrigation or other uses can require separate review, and an augmentation plan may be relevant in an over-appropriated basin.

Use nearby records, then verify the Dotsero parcel itself

Start with the actual permit file for the lot, then compare it with nearby records in Dotsero and the surrounding area. Gypsum is about five miles away, Eagle about 12 miles, and No Name about 14 miles. Cattle Creek, El Jebel, and Carbonate are each about 17 miles away, but records farther from the parcel should be treated as background rather than a direct prediction.

For a purchase, make the contract contingent on reviewing the permit, construction report, water test, pump information, and legal well use. If the parcel has no well, get a driller’s site opinion and a written allowance for extra footage and completion work. If you plan a home, coordinate the well, septic system, driveway, trenching, and power route before finalizing the building site.

That process is more reliable than assuming the 60-foot median or 15.0-gallon-per-minute median will apply to your ground.

Well permits by decade near Dotsero

What a new well costs in Dotsero, 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 (101 ft) would run roughly $12,565–$22,100. 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 Dotsero? 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 Dotsero 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 Dotsero

Keep researching

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