Garden City, Colorado Well Depth, Yield, and Cost

How deep are wells around Garden City?

How much water do wells make near Garden City?

Garden City well depth is usually shallow

Garden City’s reported well depths are concentrated near the surface. Ninety-two percent are under 100 feet, while 7% fall between 100 and 300 feet and 1% fall between 300 and 600 feet. The deepest record reaches 554 feet, so a shallow local median is not a promise for every parcel.

The 44-foot median, with the middle half from 27 to 65 feet, gives a driller a useful starting point for a bid. It also means a quote based on a much deeper hole deserves an explanation tied to the lot, target aquifer, casing, geology, or nearby well results. Permits identify unnamed or fractured-bedrock aquifers most often, followed by alluvial and Quaternary Alluvium records. Denver Basin aquifer wells account for 36% of the records.

Most Garden City wells report strong yields

Reported pumping results are favorable, but the yield data are limited to 321 wells. The median reported yield is 15.0 gallons per minute, and 83% of reported wells produce more than 15 gallons per minute. Another 16% fall between 5 and 15 gallons per minute, while 2% are in the 1-to-5 range. No reported wells are under 1 gallon per minute.

For a buyer, the important distinction is between a reported test result and a guaranteed household supply. Ask for the completion report and pumping test for the specific well, including test duration and recovery. A domestic well still has a legal pumping limit of 35 gallons per minute for an exempt household-use well. Irrigation, stock, and other uses can involve different permit conditions.

Water levels are shallow in the current records

The median static water level is 16 feet below ground surface, with the middle half from 9 to 34 feet. That is a useful planning fact for pump setting, trenching, and septic layout, but static level is not the same as available well yield. Water can stand near the surface while the formation produces poorly, or pumping can lower the level around the well.

The decade series does not show a simple decline in the reported local data. The median measured level is 46 feet below surface for the 2010s and 15 feet for the 2020s. Those measurements may represent different locations, seasons, construction types, and aquifers, so do not treat the change as proof that the water table is rising everywhere. Compare nearby wells from La Salle, Evans, and Greeley only when their depths and aquifers are reasonably comparable.

Garden City’s permit history spans decades

Garden City has a long and continuing well record. Permits were issued in every decade from the 1950s through the 2020s, with the newest permit year recorded as 2025. The busiest periods in the supplied records are the 1990s, with 501 permits, the 2010s, with 468, and the 2020s, with 492.

Records identify several recurring drillers. Authorized (Pe, Pg) appears most often, followed by Clement, Glenn A., and Lesh Drilling Inc. (Lesh Jr., Ed). A driller’s presence in the historical record does not establish current availability or performance on your parcel. Before relying on an old well, obtain the DWR permit, construction report, pump information, and current flow test. Confirm that the permitted use matches the house, livestock, irrigation, or proposed project.

What drilling can cost near Garden City

The local cost model uses a typical drilling rate of $50 to $70 per foot in Denver Basin sedimentary bedrock. At the 44-foot median depth, the drilled hole is modeled at about $2,200 to $3,100. That is not the complete installation price.

A finished well with pump, pressure tank, trenching, and electrical is modeled at about $8,200 to $15,100 at that median depth. Actual bids can move outside that range because of access, casing and grout requirements, pump size, electrical distance, site conditions, water testing, and a deeper-than-expected hole. Ask for a written allowance for unsuccessful drilling, additional casing, surface restoration, and connections to the house. A shallow well can reduce drilling footage without eliminating the other parts of a functioning water system.

Check contamination, septic, and dry-hole risk

Environmental screening deserves attention around Garden City. The mapped area within about 10 miles includes 2,375 PFAS sampling or contamination sites, 13 historic mine features, and 5 EPA Superfund or cleanup sites. A mapped site is a reason to investigate, not proof that a particular well is contaminated. Test existing water for the contaminants relevant to the location and intended use, and review agency records before relying on an old test.

Low yield and a dry hole remain possible even where nearby records look strong. Confirm setbacks between the well, septic system, replacement leach area, property lines, and proposed building. Shallow water levels can complicate excavation and construction. If the property is in an over-appropriated basin, ask a water attorney or engineer whether an augmentation plan is needed for the proposed use.

Before buying or building on a Garden City lot

Start with the nearest completed wells, not the countywide median. Compare their depth, aquifer name, permitted use, reported yield, static level, and construction date. La Salle, Evans, and Greeley are close reference areas, while Kersey, Gilcrest, and Eaton can provide broader context, but distance and geology still matter.

For an existing home, verify that the well serves the property legally and that the pump, pressure system, storage, electrical service, and water quality are functional. For vacant land, get a permit review before assuming a domestic well is available. Have the well location and septic reserve area staked against the house plan, driveway, and access route. Price the complete system, not just drilling, and make the purchase decision after reviewing the actual permit and test records.

Well permits by decade near Garden City

What a new well costs in Garden City, 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 (65 ft) would run roughly $9,250–$16,550. 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 Garden City? 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 Garden City 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 Garden City

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