What Gilcrest Wells Are Really Like

How deep are wells around Gilcrest?

How much water do wells make near Gilcrest?

Gilcrest well depths are usually shallow

The median reported well depth near Gilcrest is 50 feet. The middle half runs from 22 to 70 feet, so a driller bidding a typical residential well may be working in that general range rather than automatically planning a deep hole. The 90th-percentile depth is 105 feet.

Depths are not uniform. About 88% of reported wells are under 100 feet, while 7% fall between 100 and 300 feet and 5% between 300 and 600 feet. The deepest record reaches 568 feet. Permits identify unnamed or fractured-bedrock aquifers most often, with 1,791 wells, while 566 name the Alluvial aquifer and 125 name Laramie Fox Hills. That mix is a reason to check nearby logs instead of relying only on the town-wide median.

Reported Gilcrest yields are generally strong

Among the 391 wells that report a pump yield, the median is 15.0 gallons per minute. The middle half is listed from 14.2 to 750.0 gallons per minute, a very wide spread that tells you the local records are not all measuring the same practical water situation in the same way.

Three quarters of reported wells show yields of 15 gallons per minute or more. Another 23% fall between 5 and 15 gallons per minute, and 2% fall between 1 and 5 gallons per minute. No reported well is under 1 gallon per minute. A strong reported yield still does not promise that a new hole will match it, so ask for the pumping-test method, recovery information, storage capacity, and the full completion report before treating a yield number as dependable household supply.

The Gilcrest water table appears closer to the surface

Static water level means the depth from the ground surface to water in a well when it is not being pumped. The local median is 11 feet, with the middle half between 6 and 19 feet. That is shallow enough to affect drilling, casing, trenching, and construction planning.

The decade series does not suggest a dropping water table in these records. The median measured depth to water was 18 feet in the 1960s, 12 feet in the 2010s, and 8 feet in the 2020s. These are measurements from different wells and locations, not a controlled monitoring network, so they should not be read as proof that groundwater is rising everywhere. Seasonal conditions, well construction, pumping, and the mix of measurement sites can change the comparison.

Gilcrest permit history shows steady recent activity

Permit records go back to the 1950s, with 142 permits issued in that decade and 226 in the 1960s. Activity was lower in the 1970s and 1980s, then increased to 353 permits in the 1990s and 348 in the 2000s. There were 278 permits in the 2010s and 579 in the 2020s. The newest permit year in the records is 2026.

The most active names in the records are Authorized (Pe, Pg), with 707 wells, Clement, Glenn A., with 193, and R & R Well & Pump Inc. (Rank, Samuel C), with 90. These are record associations, not a recommendation. Confirm current licensing, availability, insurance, scope of work, and who will handle the permit and pump installation.

A typical Gilcrest well budget starts shallow

The cost model for Gilcrest uses a typical drilling rate of $50-$70 per foot in Denver Basin sedimentary bedrock. At the 50-foot median depth, the drilled hole alone models to about $2,500-$3,500. That is the excavation and drilling portion, not the finished water system.

Including a pump, pressure tank, trenching, and electrical, the modeled finished-well cost is about $8,500-$15,500. A shallow median does not eliminate cost differences: access, casing and grout requirements, water-system layout, power distance, difficult ground, testing, and site conditions can move the bid. Request a written scope that separates drilling from casing, development, pump work, tank, trenching, electrical, testing, and permit-related work.

Check water quality, septic space, and dry-hole risk

Well quantity is only one part of due diligence. Mapped environmental data within about 10 miles includes 2,506 PFAS sampling or contamination sites, 14 historic mine features, and 2 EPA Superfund or cleanup sites. Those mapped sites do not prove contamination at a particular lot, but they are a clear reason to test existing water and obtain site-specific guidance before closing.

Only 213 wells report a static water level and 391 report a pump yield, so the available performance data cover a fraction of the records. Fractured or variable formations can produce different results on adjacent parcels, including a low-yield or dry hole. Confirm septic setbacks, replacement-area requirements, well-to-septic separation, building envelopes, access for a rig, and the final location of the house, driveway, and utility trenches before drilling.

Use nearby records before buying a Gilcrest lot

Start with the closest comparable wells, not the broadest statistic. Look around Gilcrest and nearby Milliken, Evans, Platteville, La Salle, Johnstown, and Greeley for construction depth, aquifer name, yield, static water level, use, and permit age. A neighboring 50-foot well can be informative, but it is not a promise for your parcel.

Ask the seller for the well permit, construction report, pump information, water tests, and any records of shortage or repairs. Domestic and household wells make up 25% of the local use mix, while irrigation accounts for 28%, monitoring 31%, and stock 9%; that means a high-yield irrigation record may not represent a household installation. If you are building, have a Colorado driller and septic professional review the lot together, then price the complete water system rather than drilling alone.

Well permits by decade near Gilcrest

What a new well costs in Gilcrest, 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 (70 ft) would run roughly $9,500–$16,900. 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 Gilcrest? 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 Gilcrest 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 Gilcrest

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

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