What to Expect From a Well in El Paso County

How deep are wells around El Paso County?

How much water do wells make near El Paso County?

A 298-Foot Median Leaves Plenty of Room in the Bid

Depth is reported for 28,527 El Paso County wells. The median is 298 feet, but the middle half runs from 120 to 410 feet. That spread matters more to a construction budget than the median alone: a driller needs to explain the expected target depth and how additional footage will be billed.

Denver Basin aquifer wells account for 78% of the records. Dawson appears on 10,127 permits and Denver on 4,410; another 23,215 carry an unnamed or fractured-bedrock designation. Those labels need checking against the actual well log.

The 90th-percentile depth is 580 feet. Compare logs around Monument, Peyton or your specific building site rather than assuming a county-average hole will reach the intended aquifer.

Most Reported El Paso County Yields Fall in a Useful Range

Among 15,784 wells reporting pump yield, the median is 10.0 gpm and the middle half is 8.0-12.0 gpm. The largest group, 79%, reports 5-15 gpm. That is a useful starting point for household planning, but a recorded pump yield is not a guarantee of sustained supply under current conditions.

The records show 5% in the 1-5 gpm band and a reported 0% below 1 gpm. Do not read that as proof that low-producing or unsuccessful wells cannot occur. Yield information is missing from many permit records.

For an existing home, request a current pumping and recovery test. For a new build, size the pump and any storage around demonstrated production, household demand and the permit's allowed uses.

Water Levels Are Deeper in Recent County Records

Static water level is the depth to water when a well is at rest, not the total drilled depth. The 2,942 El Paso County records reporting it have a median of 140 feet below ground, with the middle half at 80-225 feet.

The decade medians suggest deeper water levels over the long term: 30 feet in the 1950s, 118 in the 1970s, 145 in the 2000s and 151 in the 2020s. The 2010s median was 140 feet, so the sequence is not a steady decline.

These are different measurement groups, not repeated readings from the same wells. They warrant checking local trends, but cannot establish a parcel's decline rate. Ask for dated static levels and pumping levels from the well you are evaluating.

The County's Busiest Permit Years and Recorded Drillers

El Paso County's largest listed permit decade was the 1990s, with 10,156 permits, followed by 8,322 in the 2000s. Records show 4,693 in the 2010s and 3,136 in the 2020s, with the newest permit year listed as 2026. The current decade is incomplete, and permit issuance does not establish when a well was built.

The most active drillers in these records are Kunau Drilling Llc (Kunau, Timothy R.), with 6,632; Hamacher Well Works Inc (Hamacher, Alan Ray), with 4,927; and Fletcher Drilling (Fletcher, Thomas), with 3,274.

Those historical counts can help identify contractors familiar with county wells. They do not verify present availability or licensing. Ask prospective drillers about recent work near your lot and in the intended aquifer.

Budgeting a New Well in El Paso County

The supplied cost model assumes Denver Basin sedimentary bedrock and drilling at $50-$70 per foot. At the county's 298-foot median depth, that puts the drilled hole at about $14,900-$20,900. A finished well with pump, tank, trenching and electrical is modeled at $20,900-$32,900.

Use those figures as a planning allowance, not a site quote. The 120-410-foot middle-half depth range means bids can differ substantially even before access and equipment layout are considered. A fractured-bedrock site may not fit the model's assumptions.

Require an itemized proposal covering casing, grout, testing, pump equipment and utility connections. Have the driller explain extra-depth charges and what happens if the target does not produce enough water.

Environmental Flags and Well Performance Need Separate Checks

The supplied environmental mapping lists 192 PFAS sampling or contamination sites, 35 historic mine features and 54 EPA Superfund or cleanup sites within about 10 miles. These are screening flags, not evidence that every nearby well is contaminated. A sampling location is not automatically a confirmed contamination source.

Review mapped sites relative to the parcel, then arrange laboratory testing appropriate to the property and its surroundings. Neither a permit nor a satisfactory yield establishes drinking-water safety. Inspect the wellhead, casing condition, surface drainage and available grout records.

For construction, confirm room for the well, septic system, replacement area and building footprint. Fractured-bedrock production can be unpredictable; ask how the drilling contract handles an unsuccessful hole or inadequate yield.

Before Closing on Land in Black Forest, Falcon or Peyton

Start with the parcel's DWR permit and supporting records, not the seller's description of a “domestic well.” Domestic or household use appears on 73% of county records, but the individual permit controls what is allowed. An exempt household-use permit does not automatically authorize lawn irrigation, livestock watering or every planned outbuilding use.

Compare nearby constructed wells for depth, aquifer, yield and dated water levels. Keep the comparison local: countywide figures can hide meaningful differences between Black Forest, Falcon, Peyton and Palmer Lake.

Before committing to a building layout, confirm the legal water supply, drilling access, septic feasibility and utility route. In over-appropriated basins, uses outside an available exemption may require augmentation. Resolve that with DWR before treating a vacant lot as build-ready.

Well permits by decade near El Paso County

What a new well costs in El Paso 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 (410 ft) would run roughly $26,500–$40,700. 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 El Paso 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 El Paso 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 El Paso County

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