What Empire, Colorado Wells Are Really Like

How deep are wells around Empire?

How much water do wells make near Empire?

Empire well depths depend on fractured mountain rock

Among 483 wells reporting total depth, the median is 80 feet. The middle half runs from 50 to 195 feet, while the 90th percentile reaches 385 feet and the deepest record is 1,100 feet. Depths are distributed unevenly: 55% are under 100 feet, 28% fall between 100 and 300 feet, 13% between 300 and 600 feet, and 4% exceed 600 feet.

For a drilling bid, the 80-foot median is a starting point, not a promise. Fractured crystalline mountain rock can change quickly across short distances. Neighboring wells in Empire, Georgetown, Silver Plume, and St. Mary's are useful evidence, but your driller still needs to evaluate the actual access, geology, casing, and grout requirements on your parcel.

Most Empire wells report usable household yields

Only 165 wells report pump yield, so the yield data is less complete than the depth data. Those reports show a 10.0 gpm median, with the middle half between 6.0 and 12.0 gpm. Seventy-six percent report between 5 and 15 gpm, and 15% report more than 15 gpm. Nine percent fall between 1 and 5 gpm, while 1% are under 1 gpm.

That distribution is generally encouraging for domestic use, but a yield test is still important. A low-producing well may work for a modest household with storage, yet be a poor fit for extensive irrigation or a large home. Ask for the well construction report, pump test, and any production limits before relying on a seller's verbal estimate.

Empire water levels vary, and the recent record is higher

Only 44 permitted wells report a static water level. The median depth to water is 30 feet, with the middle half between 18 and 60 feet. That is useful for estimating pump placement and trench work, but it is not a complete groundwater map for Empire.

The median measured level was 30 feet below ground surface in the 1970s, 22 feet in the 2010s, and 45 feet in the 2020s. The small reporting set does not establish a simple long-term decline. It does show that measured conditions vary, with the 2020s median deeper than the earlier decade values. Have a driller review nearby levels and confirm pump settings for the specific lot.

Empire's permit history shows long-running domestic use

Colorado DWR records include 942 permitted wells within 5 miles of Empire, with 482 recorded as constructed. Domestic or household use accounts for 78% of the listed use mix. Permits were issued across several decades, including 134 in the 1970s, 125 in the 1980s, 166 in the 1990s, and 230 in the 2000s. The newest permit year is 2025.

The most active drillers in these records are Mcpherson Drilling Company, including Benny Don Mcpherson, with 88 wells; Living Water Systems Inc., including Robert Goble, with 44; and Aspen Drilling Company Inc., including Leroy J. Beery, with 37. Permit history helps identify local experience, but verify current licensing, references, and the scope of any proposed work.

What drilling and a finished well cost near Empire

Empire's fractured granite and gneiss are priced differently from easy alluvial ground. The drilling model uses $65 to $100 per foot. At the 80-foot median depth, the drilled hole alone works out to about $5,200 to $8,000.

A finished system, including the pump, pressure tank, trenching, and electrical work, is modeled at about $11,200 to $20,000 at that median depth. A deeper hole, difficult access, extra casing or grout, and challenging utility routes can change the final bid. Ask contractors to separate drilling, casing, pump equipment, electrical, trenching, testing, and permits so competing estimates are comparable.

Mine history, water quality, and building constraints deserve a close look

Within about 10 miles of Empire, the mapped environmental inventory includes 10 PFAS sampling or contamination sites, 3,113 historic mine features, and 18 EPA Superfund or cleanup sites. These mapped features do not prove that a particular well is contaminated, but they are a reason to check the lot's history, nearby drainage, and available water-quality records.

Low yield and dry holes remain practical risks in fractured bedrock, even where nearby wells perform well. Check well spacing, septic setbacks, building envelopes, access for a rig, and room for tanks and electrical service. A Colorado DWR permit controls the authorized use; an exempt household-use well also has a 35 gpm pumping limit. In an over-appropriated basin, an augmentation plan may be required.

A sensible Empire lot review starts with nearby wells

Before buying, collect the DWR permit and construction reports for wells closest to the property, including records around Downieville-Lawson-Dumont, Central, and Idaho Springs when they are geologically relevant. Compare reported depths, yields, static levels, aquifer descriptions, and drilling dates. The local records mostly identify unnamed or fractured-bedrock conditions: 905 wells use that description, while 6 identify Fractured Crystalline and 4 identify Quaternary Alluvium. No reported wells use a Denver Basin aquifer.

For a buildable lot, get a site-specific drilling opinion before closing if possible. Confirm access, likely casing and grout, septic layout, storage needs, and the cost of getting power to the well. If the property already has a well, make the sale contingent on reviewing the permit, pump test, water quality, and equipment condition.

Well permits by decade near Empire

What a new well costs in Empire, 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 (195 ft) would run roughly $18,675–$31,500. 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 Empire? 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 Empire 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 Empire

Keep researching

More in Clear Creek County

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

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