Fruitvale, Colorado Well Depth, Yield, and Cost

How deep are wells around Fruitvale?

How much water do wells make near Fruitvale?

Fruitvale well depths are usually shallow, with important exceptions

Among the 672 wells reporting total depth, the median is 20 feet. The middle half runs from 15 to 29 feet, and the 90th percentile is 35 feet. That pattern points to shallow groundwater or shallow completion practices across much of Fruitvale.

The depth mix is unusually concentrated: 96% are under 100 feet, while 2% fall between 100 and 300 feet, 1% between 300 and 600 feet, and 1% exceed 600 feet. A driller's bid should still allow for local changes in alluvial material, sedimentary rock, or fractured bedrock. Nearby properties in Clifton and Orchard Mesa may not predict a specific lot.

Fruitvale well yields call for conservative water planning

Only 27 permits report a pump yield, so the yield statistics are a limited sample rather than a guarantee. The median reported yield is 0.1 gallons per minute, with the middle half from 0.1 to 5.0 gallons per minute. Most importantly for a buyer, 63% of reported wells produce under 1 gallon per minute.

The remaining records are split between stronger results: 15% report 5 to 15 gallons per minute, and 22% report more than 15 gallons per minute. That spread is why storage capacity, pump testing, and intended household demand matter. Do not assume a shallow well will provide irrigation water simply because a nearby well does.

Water levels in Fruitvale are deeper in newer records

The reported median static water level is 18 feet below ground surface, with the middle half between 10 and 22 feet. That is the depth to water when the well is not being pumped, not the total well depth and not the amount of water the well can produce.

The decade pattern deserves attention. Median static water levels were 9 feet in measurements from the 2000s, 10 feet in the 2010s, and 18 feet in the 2020s. That indicates deeper measured water levels in the newer records, although only 60 wells report static water levels and measurement conditions vary. Treat it as a local warning to check current neighboring wells, not as proof of a uniform decline.

Fruitvale permit history shows heavy monitoring activity

The records cover 1,208 permitted wells within 5 miles of Fruitvale, but the use mix is not dominated by household wells. Monitoring accounts for 80% of the permits, while domestic or household use accounts for 3% and irrigation for 1%. Stock use is recorded at 0%.

Permitting increased from 2 permits in the 1950s and 1 in the 1960s to 333 in the 2000s and 337 in the 2010s. There were 145 in the 2020s, with the newest permit year listed as 2025. The most active record name is Authorized, with 522 wells; Da Smith Drilling Company has 11.

What a Fruitvale well may cost to drill and finish

The local cost model uses mixed sedimentary and alluvial ground at roughly $50 to $75 per foot. At the 20-foot median depth, the drilled hole alone models at about $1,000 to $1,500. That is an excavation and drilling allowance, not a complete water system.

A finished well including the pump, pressure tank, trenching, and electrical is modeled at about $7,000 to $13,500. The unusually deep outliers show why a written proposal should explain what happens if the driller must go beyond the expected shallow interval. Ask what casing, grout, pump testing, water-quality work, and difficult access are included before comparing bids.

Fruitvale buyers should investigate water quality, yield, and septic layout

Environmental screening is important here. Within about 10 miles are 66 PFAS sampling or contamination sites, 19 historic mine features, and 37 EPA Superfund or cleanup sites. These mapped sites do not prove that a particular well is contaminated, but they are good reasons to test the water and review the well's location and construction history.

Most permits name an unnamed or fractured-bedrock aquifer, with 1,132 wells in that category, compared with 44 alluvial wells and 1 Mancos well. Fractured rock can be unpredictable, and a dry hole or low-yield result is possible. Confirm setbacks between the well, septic system, replacement area, buildings, and driveways before finalizing a site plan.

A practical Fruitvale plan for buying or building

Before closing on a rural property, obtain the DWR permit, construction report, pump information, and recent water test for the actual well. Compare it with nearby records in Fruitvale, Clifton, Grand Junction, and Orchard Mesa, paying close attention to reported yield and static water level rather than depth alone.

For a vacant lot, have a Colorado water professional review the intended use, legal water supply, access for a drill rig, septic feasibility, and electrical route before you commit to construction. A domestic or household well permit is not the same as an unlimited supply. If the basin is over-appropriated, an augmentation plan may be needed for some uses. Plan around storage when the well yield is low.

Well permits by decade near Fruitvale

What a new well costs in Fruitvale, 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 (29 ft) would run roughly $7,450–$14,175. 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 Fruitvale? 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 Fruitvale 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 Fruitvale

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More in Mesa County

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

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