Georgetown, Colorado Well Depth, Yield, and Cost

How deep are wells around Georgetown?

How much water do wells make near Georgetown?

Georgetown well depths depend on fractured mountain rock

The recorded median well depth near Georgetown is 70 feet. The middle half runs from 38 to 121 feet, so a driller’s bid near the median may be reasonable for a favorable site, but it should not be treated as a guarantee. Sixty-six percent of reported wells are under 100 feet, while 24% fall between 100 and 300 feet. Another 6% are 300 to 600 feet, and 4% are deeper than 600 feet.

The deepest recorded well is 1,201 feet. The spread reflects fractured granite and gneiss rather than a uniform shallow aquifer. A neighboring well in Silver Plume or Empire can provide useful context, but it does not remove the need for a site-specific estimate. Ask what depth range the bid covers and what happens if the first fracture zones do not produce.

Most Georgetown wells report useful household-scale yields

Among the 86 wells with pump-yield records, the median is 10.0 gallons per minute. The middle half is 7.4 to 12.8 gallons per minute. Eighty percent report yields from 5 to 15 gallons per minute, and 15% report more than 15 gallons per minute. No recorded well in this dataset is under 1 gallon per minute, while 5% fall between 1 and 5 gallons per minute.

That is a generally workable production range for a household, but a yield test is still important. A pump rating is not the same as dependable storage in the well or a guarantee during drought. Confirm the permitted use, tested yield, pressure tank arrangement, and any storage system. Most permits are for domestic or household use, at 70% of the listed use mix.

The water table is often reachable, but the trend is not proven

Reported static water levels have a median depth of 34 feet, with the middle half from 18 to 65 feet. In practical terms, many recorded wells had water standing relatively close to the surface when measured, even though the completed well may be deeper. Static level is not the same as pumping level, and it can change with season, recharge, and nearby use.

The records contain static water-level information for only 24 wells. They do not provide enough reported measurements here to establish a reliable long-term decline or rise in the water table. Ask for the well’s static and pumping levels, the measurement date, and a recent production test. A driller should also explain how the pump will be set below the expected pumping level without overestimating available storage.

Permit history shows steady development around Georgetown

Permit activity began in the records in the 1950s, with one permit issued in that decade. Activity increased through the following decades: 9 in the 1960s, 65 in the 1970s, 71 in the 1980s, 97 in the 1990s, 191 in the 2000s, 61 in the 2010s, and 32 in the 2020s. The newest permit year is 2025.

The most active drillers named in these records are Authorized (Pe, Pg), with 33 wells; Mcpherson Drilling Company (Mcpherson, Benny Don), with 29; and James Drilling (Keaton, Jordan K.), with 23. These names describe recorded permit history, not a recommendation or proof of current availability. Before closing, pull the DWR permit and construction records for the property and ask who completed the well, when it was tested, and whether the permit matches the intended household use.

A Georgetown well budget starts with the rock

For fractured mountain bedrock around Georgetown, the drilling rate model is $65 to $100 per foot. At the recorded median depth of 70 feet, the drilled hole works out to about $4,600 to $7,000. That is only the drilling portion. A finished well including the pump, pressure tank, trenching, and electrical is estimated at about $10,600 to $19,000.

Deeper-than-expected drilling is the main reason a bid can move beyond the initial allowance. Access, casing and grout requirements, difficult ground, electrical distance, trenching, and pump equipment can also change the final invoice. Have the contractor separate drilling, casing, grout, development, pump installation, storage, trenching, and electrical work. A low per-foot number is not a complete project price.

Mines, water quality, and site layout deserve a close check

The area within about 10 miles contains 2,136 historic mine features, 14 EPA Superfund or cleanup sites, and 7 PFAS sampling or contamination sites. Those mapped features do not prove that a particular well is contaminated, but they are a reason to test rather than assume the water is safe. Request a complete potable-water panel appropriate to the parcel’s history, and ask for any prior laboratory reports.

Low yield and dry holes remain possible in fractured rock even when nearby wells are productive. Check casing, grout, wellhead protection, and the distance between the well and proposed septic components. The property also needs a workable access route for drilling equipment, a building location that protects the well, and enough room for septic installation and replacement areas. Confirm DWR requirements and any water-rights or augmentation issue before construction.

What to verify before buying or building near Georgetown

Start with the parcel’s own permit, well construction report, pump test, water-quality results, and recorded use. Then compare nearby wells in Georgetown, Silver Plume, Empire, and Idaho Springs for depth, yield, static level, and aquifer description. Neighboring records help frame the geology, but the property’s fracture zones control the result.

For a vacant lot, get a driller’s access review and a written budget that includes the complete well system, not just the hole. Confirm that the proposed house, driveway, septic system, and well can fit together on the site. For an existing home, have the well and pressure system inspected, test the water, and verify that the permit and actual use agree. Colorado’s 35-gallon-per-minute exempt-well pumping limit does not remove the need to understand the permit’s specific conditions.

Well permits by decade near Georgetown

What a new well costs in Georgetown, 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 (121 ft) would run roughly $13,865–$24,100. 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 Georgetown? 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 Georgetown 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 Georgetown

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

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