Fowler, Colorado Well Depth, Yield, and Drilling Costs

How deep are wells around Fowler?

How much water do wells make near Fowler?

Fowler wells are usually shallow, but the outliers matter

The typical Fowler well is shallow. The median recorded depth is 35 feet, while the middle half falls between 28 and 45 feet. Ninety-seven percent of wells are under 100 feet, so a driller bidding a normal residential well will likely be working in that range rather than planning a several-hundred-foot hole.

There are exceptions. Two percent of the wells fall between 100 and 300 feet, and one percent are deeper than 600 feet; the deepest record is 1,520 feet. Most permits identify an unnamed or fractured-bedrock aquifer, while a smaller number identify Alluvial or Quaternary Alluvium. A nearby well is useful evidence, but it is not a guarantee for a new borehole.

Recorded Fowler yields are strong, with limited reporting

Yield records look favorable, but only 64 wells report a pump yield. Among those records, the median is 290.0 gallons per minute, and the middle half ranges from 15.0 to 712.5 gallons per minute. Eighty percent report more than 15 gallons per minute, while 19% report 5 to 15 gallons per minute and 2% report 1 to 5 gallons per minute. No reported well is under 1 gallon per minute.

Those figures should not be treated as a promise for an untested lot. A reported pumping rate may reflect a particular test and well construction. Ask for the well-construction report and pumping information for nearby parcels, and have the driller explain what rate is appropriate for the intended household, stock, or irrigation use.

Fowler’s water levels deserve a closer look

Among the 23 wells that report a static water level, the median depth to water is 20 feet, with the middle half between 12 and 24 feet below the surface. That is consistent with the shallow well depths common around Fowler, but static water level is not the same as the water available while pumping.

The decade comparison shows a deeper median measured water level in the more recent records: 16 feet below surface in the 2010s and 23 feet in the 2020s. That suggests water levels may be lower in the newer measurements, but the sample is small and the wells, locations, and measurement conditions may differ. A buyer should obtain a current level and pumping test rather than assume the decade pattern applies to every property.

Fowler’s permit history shows long-term drilling activity

Colorado DWR records list 671 permitted wells within the study area, with 481 recorded as constructed. Of those, 479 report a total depth, 64 report a pump yield, and 23 report a static water level. Permits span the 1950s through the newest permit year, 2025, so the database reflects both older rural development and recent construction.

The busiest named drillers in these records are Crandall, H A, with 51 wells; Broce Drilling, identified as Broce, Frank R., with 35; and Hoffman, identified as Hoffman, Earl, with 19. These names show who appears most often in the records, not who is available or necessarily best for a current job. Verify licensing, insurance, references, and the proposed casing, grout, pump, and testing scope before signing a contract.

What a new Fowler well may cost

For Fowler’s alluvium and plains sedimentary ground, the drilling rate model is $35 to $55 per foot. At the local median depth of 35 feet, the drilled hole alone models to about $1,200 to $1,900. That is only the borehole portion of the job and should not be confused with a complete water system.

A finished well with pump, pressure tank, trenching, and electrical is modeled at about $7,200 to $13,900 at the median depth. A quote can move outside that range because of access, casing and grout requirements, pump size, water treatment, longer utility runs, difficult ground, or an unexpectedly deep hole. Get the driller to separate drilling, completion, testing, and site work so bids can be compared accurately.

Checks to make before buying or building near Fowler

Low yield is not the main warning in the reported Fowler data, but incomplete reporting means a dry hole or poor-producing location remains possible. Fractured-bedrock conditions can be unpredictable even where nearby records look good. Confirm the permit status and allowed use with DWR; an exempt household-use well is subject to its permit terms, including the 35 gallons-per-minute exempt-well pumping limit. Irrigation or other uses may require different authorization, and an augmentation plan can matter in an over-appropriated basin.

Environmental screening also matters. The mapped area within about 10 miles includes 2 PFAS sampling or contamination sites and 2 EPA Superfund or cleanup sites, with 0 historic mine features. Test the water for local concerns and ordinary household contaminants. Before building, confirm septic setbacks, soil conditions, drainage, access for a rig, and separation between the well, septic system, and proposed house.

A practical plan for a Fowler lot

Start with the neighboring well records, but do not stop there. Compare depths, aquifer descriptions, reported yields, water levels, use types, and construction dates on parcels closest to the lot. Then have a Colorado-licensed driller review the location, access, geology, intended use, and permit path before you rely on a purchase budget.

For a home, make the contract contingent on acceptable well documentation, water quality, and a pumping test when feasible. Budget separately for the well, pump system, electrical work, trenching, septic, and site access. If the property is intended for irrigation, stock, or more than ordinary household use, confirm the legal water supply before closing rather than assuming a shallow, high-yield neighboring well establishes your rights.

Well permits by decade near Fowler

What a new well costs in Fowler, 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 (45 ft) would run roughly $7,575–$14,475. 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 Fowler? 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 Fowler 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 Fowler

Keep researching

More in Otero County

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

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