What to Expect From a Well in Eagle County

How deep are wells around Eagle County?

How much water do wells make near Eagle County?

Why Eagle County's 124 ft Median Is Only a Starting Point

Depth is reported for 2,455 wells. The median is 124 ft, and the middle half falls between 58-260 ft. For a drilling bid, that means a substantial range of possible footage even before considering unusually deep holes. The 90th-percentile depth is 400 ft; the median is not a stopping-depth guarantee.

Most permits fall in the unnamed / fractured-bedrock category, covering 4,527 wells, while 42 name Alluvial and 17 name Morrison. Mountain bedrock supplies depend on intersecting productive fractures. A nearby well can guide expectations without predicting the result on your lot. Compare records around Edwards or McCoy with similar terrain and recorded geology, not simply the nearest address.

Reported Yields Look Strong, but Test the Household Supply

Among 933 wells reporting pump yield, the median is 15.0 gpm and the middle half is 12.0-15.0 gpm. Those reported rates look encouraging for household supply, but a completion-record yield is not proof that a well can maintain that output through sustained use.

The low end still deserves attention: 1% report under 1 gpm, and 4% fall in the 1-5 gpm band. A buyer facing low production may need storage and careful demand management. Before closing on a home near Eagle or Gypsum, obtain a pumping and recovery test. Confirm permitted uses separately; physical production does not authorize irrigation or other outdoor demand.

Eagle County Water Levels Do Not Show a Steady Decline

Static water level is the resting depth to water, not the bottom of the well. The 304 records reporting it have a median of 40 ft below ground, with the middle half at 20-114 ft. A shallow resting level does not establish how much water the well can produce under pumping.

Decade medians move from 26 ft in the 1970s to 66 ft in the 2000s, then back to 38 ft in the 2020s. That is not a steady countywide deepening trend. These measurements also come from different wells and locations, not repeated readings at a fixed monitoring network. For a particular property, ask for its own water-level and pumping history.

The County's Permit Boom and Recorded Drillers

The largest permit decade in Eagle County's record is the 1990s, with 1,448 permits. Issuance then totals 766 in the 2000s, 478 in the 2010s and 305 in the 2020s, with the newest permit dated 2026. The current decade is incomplete, and permits should not be treated as completed wells.

Golden Eagle Drilling Corporation (Shelton, Joe Wayne) appears on 772 records, and Shelton Drilling Corporation (Shelton, Wayne) on 739. Those historical counts do not establish present availability. Domestic/household uses account for 56% of records, while monitoring accounts for 26%. When comparing a property in Avon or Minturn, separate household supplies from monitoring installations.

Budgeting a New Well in Eagle County Mountain Ground

The local cost model assumes fractured mountain bedrock, including granite and gneiss, at $65-$100 per foot. At the 124 ft median depth, the drilled hole is about $8,100-$12,400. A finished well with pump, tank, trenching and electrical is modeled at $14,100-$24,400.

Treat those figures as planning allowances, not a parcel quote. The 58-260 ft middle-half depth range explains why bids need clear footage pricing and a plan for additional drilling. Ask what casing, grout and well development are included. On a mountain lot near Vail or Fulford, rig access and the route between the well and house also deserve a site visit before committing to a budget.

Mine Features, PFAS Flags and Low-Yield Risk

The mapped environmental screening includes 25 PFAS sampling/contamination sites, 44 historic mine features and 7 EPA Superfund/cleanup sites within about 10 miles. These are reasons to investigate the parcel's surroundings, not evidence that its well is contaminated. A PFAS sampling location alone does not establish a detection in your water.

Have the water tested for household suitability, and use nearby site histories to discuss additional laboratory testing. Inspect casing, the sanitary seal and surface drainage. Fractured rock can produce sharply different results between neighboring lots, so discuss an unsuccessful-hole contingency with the driller. Coordinate the well location with septic approval, the building footprint and access before excavation begins.

Before Buying Land From Basalt to Dotsero

Start with the property's DWR permit, completion report and pump record. Confirm that the permitted use matches your plans; an exempt household-use permit does not automatically allow landscape watering or livestock. In an over-appropriated basin, proposed uses may require an augmentation plan. Resolve the water-supply path before treating vacant land as buildable.

Then compare nearby constructed wells around Basalt, Dotsero or the relevant community, checking depth, yield and recorded geology. County medians are background, not a parcel appraisal. For an existing home, make water quality and pumping performance part of due diligence. For a new build, have the driller and site contractor review access, septic placement, utilities and the house location together.

Well permits by decade near Eagle County

What a new well costs in Eagle County

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 (260 ft) would run roughly $22,900–$38,000. 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 Eagle County? 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 Eagle County 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 Eagle County

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Towns and areas in Eagle County

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