What Grand Lake Wells Are Really Like

How deep are wells around Grand Lake?

How much water do wells make near Grand Lake?

How deep are wells around Grand Lake?

Grand Lake wells have a median reported depth of 130 feet. The middle half runs from 68 to 250 feet, which is the range most useful when asking a driller for an initial bid. It shows that a nearby well may be substantially shallower or deeper than the median without being unusual.

The depth mix adds perspective: 35% are under 100 feet, while 43% fall between 100 and 300 feet. Another 14% are between 300 and 600 feet, and 7% reach 600 feet or more. The deepest recorded well is 1,352 feet. In this mountain setting, fractured granite and gneiss can produce water at very different depths across short distances.

Grand Lake well yield: what can a buyer expect?

Among the 889 wells reporting pump yield, the median is 8.0 gallons per minute. The middle half produces 5.0 to 11.0 gallons per minute, and 74% report between 5 and 15 gallons per minute. That is generally a useful production range for a household well, provided the storage and pressure system are properly sized.

Low producers are present but not common in this record set: 1% report under 1 gallon per minute, while 15% fall between 1 and 5 gallons per minute. A yield test matters more than the regional median. Ask for the well construction report, pump information, and any recovery or pumping records before assuming a particular lot will perform like its neighbors.

What the water levels show near Grand Lake

The median static water level is 60 feet below the surface, with the middle half from 25 to 100 feet. Static level means the water depth after the well has recovered, not the depth at which drilling first encountered water. This distinction matters when estimating pump setting, trenching, and pressure-system work.

The decade series does not show a simple continuing decline. Median depth to water was 60 feet in the 1990s, 80 feet in the 2000s, 76 feet in the 2010s, and 60 feet in the 2020s. The records therefore suggest variation rather than a steady drop. Only 169 wells report static water levels, so treat the series as a local reference, not a complete groundwater trend.

Who has drilled near Grand Lake, and when?

Permit history is long around Grand Lake. The records show 26 permits from the 1950s, 80 from the 1960s, 356 from the 1970s, 371 from the 1980s, and 618 from the 1990s. There were 521 in the 2000s, 171 in the 2010s, and 188 in the 2020s. The newest permit year is 2025.

The most active names in these records are Mcpherson Drilling Company (Mcpherson, Benny Don) with 555 wells, Dale, Genevieve L with 210, and J & J Drilling Inc. (Dale, John U) with 187. These counts describe permit records, not current availability or a recommendation. Confirm licensing, scheduling, scope, and references directly before selecting a contractor.

What does a new well cost at Grand Lake?

Grand Lake drilling is priced around fractured mountain bedrock, commonly granite or gneiss. The cost model uses a drilling rate of $65 to $100 per foot. At the local median depth of 130 feet, the drilled hole works out to about $8,400 to $13,000. That figure is for drilling, not a complete water system.

A finished well with pump, tank, trenching, and electrical is modeled at about $14,400 to $25,000 at the median depth. A bid can move outside that range when the hole is deeper, access is difficult, casing or grouting requirements change, or the pump and electrical layout is more involved. Get pricing that clearly separates drilling, casing, grout, testing, pump equipment, trenching, and electrical work.

Risks to check before building near Grand Lake

The main water risk is uneven production in fractured bedrock. A neighboring well with an 8.0 gallon-per-minute median yield does not guarantee the same result on your parcel. The records include very deep wells and a small share of low-yield wells, so check surrounding permits for depth, yield, static level, aquifer description, and construction details. A dry hole or disappointing yield is a real possibility that should be addressed in the project budget.

There are 2 PFAS sampling or contamination sites and 2 historic mine features within about ten miles, with 0 EPA Superfund or cleanup sites. That is a reason to test, not proof that a specific well is unsafe. Locate the well away from septic components and other contamination sources, verify setbacks with the applicable authorities, and test existing water before purchase. A DWR permit and an exempt household-use well still require proper construction and use compliance.

Well permits by decade near Grand Lake

What a new well costs in Grand Lake, 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 (250 ft) would run roughly $22,250–$37,000. 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 Grand Lake? 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 Grand Lake 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 Grand Lake

Keep researching

More in Grand County

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

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