What Erie, Colorado Wells Are Really Like

How deep are wells around Erie?

How much water do wells make near Erie?

Erie well depths vary sharply across the plains

The median reported well depth near Erie is 50 feet. The middle half runs from 24 to 250 feet, which is a wide spread for a drilling estimate. About 62% of reported wells are under 100 feet, while 16% fall between 100 and 300 feet, 15% between 300 and 600 feet, and 7% exceed 600 feet. The deepest record is 1,282 feet.

That spread matters when reviewing a driller's bid. A nearby shallow well can be encouraging, but it does not prove your lot will match it. Erie sits over Denver Basin sedimentary bedrock, and the aquifer named on every listed well is a Denver Basin aquifer. Nearby records in Leyner, Lafayette, Dacono, Frederick, Broomfield, and Gunbarrel can add context, but the closest comparable wells are the most useful.

Most Erie wells report a workable household yield

Among the wells with a reported pump yield, the median is 10.0 gallons per minute. The middle half runs from 9.0 to 14.0 gallons per minute. Seventy-two percent report yields from 5 to 15 gallons per minute, and 24% report more than 15 gallons per minute. No reported well is under 1 gallon per minute, while 3% fall between 1 and 5 gallons per minute.

That is a solid local record for ordinary household use, but only 230 wells report a pump yield. A yield number is not the same as storage in the well or guaranteed pressure at the house. Ask for the completion report and pumping information for nearby domestic wells. An exempt household-use well is still subject to its permit terms and the applicable Colorado limits.

Erie water levels are relatively shallow in the records

The reported static water level has a median depth of 12 feet below ground surface, with the middle half from 7 to 27 feet. That suggests water is commonly encountered fairly close to the surface in the available records. It can reduce pumping lift, but it also means shallow groundwater may be more exposed to surface conditions if a well is poorly constructed or a site is poorly managed.

The decade figures do not show a dropping trend in this dataset. The median measured water level was 18 feet below surface in the 2010s and 10 feet in the 2020s, meaning the later reported measurements are shallower. Only 90 wells report a static water level, so treat that comparison as a record summary, not a basin-wide forecast for your property.

Erie has a long permit history and several recurring drillers

Permits appear throughout the record, with 43 issued in the 1950s, 77 in the 1960s, 284 in the 1970s, 209 in the 1980s, 284 in the 1990s, 231 in the 2000s, 310 in the 2010s, and 303 in the 2020s. The newest permit year is 2026. That history shows sustained well development around Erie rather than a small, isolated group of permits.

The most frequent driller entry is Authorized (Pe, Pg), followed by Waneka & Son Drilling and Ground Water Systems Inc. Those names identify patterns in the permit records, not a recommendation. Of the 2,507 permits, 1,268 are recorded as constructed, 1,372 report depth, and only 230 report pump yield. Check the actual permit and construction report for any property under contract.

What drilling a well costs near Erie

For Erie’s Denver Basin sedimentary bedrock, the drilling rate model is typically $50 to $70 per foot. At the 50-foot median depth, the drilled hole works out to about $2,500 to $3,500. That is only the hole. A finished well with pump, pressure tank, trenching, and electrical is estimated at about $8,500 to $15,500.

The final bid can move outside that range because depth, casing and grout, access, trench length, power requirements, and site layout are property-specific. A shallow neighboring well is useful evidence, not a fixed price. Have a driller review the permit records and inspect access before relying on a drilling allowance in a purchase contract or construction budget.

Check contamination, construction, and septic constraints

Mapped environmental records within about ten miles include 950 PFAS sampling or contamination sites, 61 historic mine features, and 20 EPA Superfund or cleanup sites. A map point does not automatically mean a particular parcel’s well water is unsafe, but it is a reason to order a well-water test and investigate the site history. Pay attention to the well’s casing, grout, cap, and location relative to drainage and waste systems.

Low yield is not the main pattern in the reported Erie records, but dry holes and poor construction remain possible on an individual lot. Septic setbacks, replacement-area requirements, access for drilling equipment, and the location of the house, driveway, and utility trenches should be reviewed together. Water rights also matter: confirm the permit allows the intended household, livestock, or irrigation use before closing.

Use the nearby records before buying or building

Start with the exact parcel, then compare the closest constructed wells by depth, aquifer, use, yield, and static water level. The overall Erie median is encouraging, but the 24-to-250-foot middle range shows why a single nearby record should not set your expectations. A licensed driller can assess access and give a better site-specific allowance after reviewing those records.

For a home purchase, make the well permit, construction report, pump equipment, and water test part of the investigation. For a new build, place the well, septic system, house, and driveway as one site plan rather than solving each later. The same review applies around Leyner, Lafayette, Dacono, Frederick, Broomfield, and Gunbarrel, where conditions may differ from the closest Erie parcel.

Well permits by decade near Erie

What a new well costs in Erie, 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 (250 ft) would run roughly $18,500–$29,500. 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 Erie? 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 Erie 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 Erie

Keep researching

More in Weld County

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

Nearby areas