Glenwood Springs Well and Drilling Guide

How deep are wells around Glenwood Springs?

How much water do wells make near Glenwood Springs?

Glenwood Springs well depth follows the local ground

The median reported well depth near Glenwood Springs is 128 feet. The middle half runs from 60 to 215 feet, so a driller bidding a typical site may be working in that range, while a deeper contingency remains sensible. The recorded range extends to 910 feet, and 3% of wells are deeper than 600 feet.

Depth is not evenly distributed: 39% are under 100 feet, 43% fall between 100 and 300 feet, and 15% are between 300 and 600 feet. The permits mostly name unnamed or fractured-bedrock aquifer conditions, with 781 wells in that category and 11 in alluvial material. Fractured rock can change quickly from one parcel to the next.

Reported well yields are generally useful, but verify the lot

Among the wells that report a pump yield, the median is 15.0 gallons per minute, with the middle half from 10.1 to 15.0 gallons per minute. The records show 64% producing more than 15 gallons per minute, 32% producing between 5 and 15 gallons per minute, and 4% between 1 and 5 gallons per minute. No reported wells are under 1 gallon per minute.

That is encouraging for ordinary household use, but only 142 wells report a yield. A pump test and neighboring well review matter more than the area median for a specific purchase. Colorado exempt household-use wells also have a 35-gallon-per-minute pumping limit, so a high drilling yield is not the same as unlimited legal use.

Water levels near Glenwood Springs may be getting deeper

The reported median static water level is 59 feet below the surface, with the middle half from 17 to 110 feet. That gives a rough planning range for pump setting and trench work, but static level can vary with season, pumping, recharge, and the measurement method.

Measurements from the 2010s show a median depth to water of 17 feet, compared with 35 feet in the 2020s. The change suggests water levels may be deeper in the newer measurements, but it is not proof of a basin-wide decline. Only 61 wells report a static water level, and the wells and conditions measured may not be comparable. Ask for a current measurement on the property or nearby wells before sizing equipment.

Permit history shows long local drilling experience

Glenwood Springs has a long permit record, with permits issued from the 1950s through the newest recorded year, 2025. The busiest period in the records was the 1990s, with 238 permits, followed by 135 in the 2000s, 96 in the 1980s, and 74 in the 2020s.

The most common driller listed is Shelton Drilling Corporation, associated with Shelton, Wayne, on 283 records. Authorized (Pe, Pg) appears on 98, and Collins Drilling Co, associated with Collins, F. E. “Bodie,” appears on 50. These names help locate comparable permits around No Name and other nearby areas, but an old permit does not confirm present well condition.

What a Glenwood Springs well may cost to drill

The local cost model assumes mixed sedimentary and alluvial ground. A typical drilling rate is $50-$75 per foot. At the 128-foot median depth, the drilled hole models to about $6,400-$9,600.

A finished well is more than the hole. Including the pump, tank, trenching, and electrical, the modeled total is about $12,400-$21,600 at the median depth. A bid can move outside that range when the hole is deeper, access is difficult, casing or grout requirements change, or the site needs more trenching and electrical work. Ask the driller what depth assumption is included, what happens if the hole is dry or low-yield, and which completion items are excluded.

Check water quality, dry-hole risk, and the building site

Mapped environmental information within about ten miles includes 18 PFAS sampling or contamination sites and 35 historic mine features. There are 0 EPA Superfund or cleanup sites in that mapped set. Those figures do not certify a particular well as safe. Test existing or new well water for contaminants relevant to the property’s location and history, and review nearby mine and industrial land uses.

Low yield and dry holes remain possible even where area statistics look strong, especially in fractured bedrock. Confirm well location, casing, grout, pump capacity, and water-quality results. Septic setbacks, drainfield soil, driveway access, and the house footprint must work together. In an over-appropriated basin, an augmentation plan may be required for new uses, so check the permit conditions with Colorado DWR before designing the project.

A practical purchase plan for Glenwood Springs land

Start with the Colorado DWR permit map and compare wells close to the parcel, especially around No Name, Chacra, Cattle Creek, and New Castle. Look for reported depth, yield, static level, aquifer description, construction details, and the permitted use. The local records are mostly domestic or household permits at 51%; monitoring wells make up 35%, while irrigation is 4% and stock is 2%. A monitoring well is not a household-water comparison.

Before closing, make the purchase contingent on a qualified well inspection, water test, and septic evaluation. If building, obtain a written drilling estimate that states access, depth assumptions, completion components, and low-yield terms. Confirm the permit allows the intended use and that an augmentation plan is not needed. The median is useful for budgeting, but the closest comparable wells are the better guide for this lot.

Well permits by decade near Glenwood Springs

What a new well costs in Glenwood Springs, 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 (215 ft) would run roughly $16,750–$28,125. 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 Glenwood Springs? 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 Glenwood Springs 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 Glenwood Springs

Keep researching

More in Garfield County

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

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