Garfield, Colorado Well Depth, Yield, and Cost

How deep are wells around Garfield?

How much water do wells make near Garfield?

How deep are wells around Garfield?

Garfield-area wells have a median reported depth of 124 feet. The middle half runs from 76 to 199 feet, so a driller bidding a typical residential well will usually be working in that range, while still allowing for a materially deeper hole. The 90th-percentile depth is 270 feet, and the deepest record reaches 500 feet.

Depth records are concentrated between 100 and 300 feet, which accounts for 64% of wells. Another 32% are under 100 feet, while 5% fall between 300 and 600 feet. Only 130 of the 178 permitted wells report a total depth, so these figures are a planning guide rather than a promise. Fractured granite and gneiss can produce water at different depths on neighboring lots.

What water yield can a Garfield well make?

Among the 73 Garfield-area wells reporting pump yield, the median is 14.0 gallons per minute. The middle half is 10.0 to 15.0 gallons per minute. Sixty percent report yields from 5 to 15 gallons per minute, and 34% report more than 15 gallons per minute. No recorded well in this set is listed below 1 gallon per minute.

That is a stronger local yield profile than many mountain areas, but it is still not a guarantee for an unbuilt well. A reported pumping yield is a test result for one well, not a permanent promise of household supply. Ask for the well construction report, pump test information, and any production history. A domestic permit also has specific legal limits; an augmentation plan may be needed for uses beyond the permitted right.

What does the water table show near Garfield?

The median static water level is 34 feet below ground surface, with the middle half from 22 to 50 feet. That gives a useful expectation for pump and casing planning, but the water level can vary with season, recharge, pumping, and the exact bedrock fracture reached by the well.

The decade comparison does not show a simple decline in these records. The median measured depth to water was 42 feet in the 2010s and 20 feet in the 2020s, meaning the later measurements were shallower on this dataset. Only 26 wells report a static water level, however, and the measured wells may not represent the same locations or conditions. Treat the series as local context, not proof of a rising regional water table.

Who has drilled wells near Garfield?

Permit records show activity across several decades, with 5 permits in the 1950s, 2 in the 1960s, 11 in the 1970s, 15 in the 1980s, 25 in the 1990s, 44 in the 2000s, 32 in the 2010s, and 21 in the 2020s. The newest permit year is 2025. Most use is domestic or household use, accounting for 87% of permits.

American Drilling Service, listed with Dewberry, Bradford W., appears on 85 records. Bill Mccoy Enterprises, listed with Mccoy, William C., appears on 11, and High Peaks Well & Pump, listed with Jones, Allen, appears on 7. These are permit-record patterns, not endorsements. Confirm current licensing, availability, access requirements, and the scope of each written bid before hiring.

What does a new well cost in Garfield?

Local drilling conditions are fractured mountain bedrock, described as granite and gneiss. The drilling model uses a rate of $65 to $100 per foot. At the 124-foot median depth, that puts the drilled hole at about $8,100 to $12,400.

A finished well costs more than the hole. The local estimate for a completed system, including pump, pressure tank, trenching, and electrical work, is $14,100 to $24,400 at that median depth. A deeper-than-typical hole, difficult access, casing and grout requirements, ledge, water storage, or long utility runs can move the bid higher. Have the contractor separate drilling, casing, pump equipment, trenching, electrical, testing, and permits so competing estimates cover the same work.

What risks should a Garfield buyer check?

Water quantity is only one part of due diligence. Within about 10 miles are 3 PFAS sampling or contamination sites, 628 historic mine features, and 3 EPA Superfund or cleanup sites. Those mapped locations do not establish contamination at a particular parcel, but they are a reason to review the well location, drainage, land-use history, and available water tests before closing.

Ask for testing appropriate to the property and its surroundings, including basic potability testing and any site-specific concerns identified by the records. Also check septic setbacks, replacement-area needs, driveway access, and the building site before drilling. A good yield does not remove the need for proper casing and grout, a compliant septic design, and enough space for construction and future maintenance.

Buying or building near Garfield

Start with the DWR permit file for the parcel and nearby properties, not only a seller's verbal estimate. Compare wells in Garfield with records near Maysville, 4 miles away, and use the broader context around Poncha Springs, Pitkin, Smeltertown, Salida, and Nathrop when local records are thin. Neighboring wells can help reveal likely depth, yield, water level, and drilling conditions, but they do not replace a site-specific investigation.

Before buying, make the contract contingent on reviewing well construction, pump testing, water quality, and septic information. Before building, confirm the legal use of the permit, access for a rig, electrical routing, tank location, and the full site-development cost. In fractured bedrock, keep a realistic allowance for a deeper hole or an unsuccessful drilling result rather than treating the median as a guaranteed outcome.

Well permits by decade near Garfield

What a new well costs in Garfield, 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 (199 ft) would run roughly $18,935–$31,900. 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 Garfield? 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 Garfield 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 Garfield

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More in Chaffee County

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

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