Gunbarrel, Colorado Well Depth, Yield, and Cost Guide

How deep are wells around Gunbarrel?

How much water do wells make near Gunbarrel?

Gunbarrel well depth depends on the ground beneath the lot

Among permitted wells within five miles of Gunbarrel, the median reported depth is 35 feet. The middle half runs from 20 to 160 feet, so a driller’s bid based only on the median could be misleading. Two-thirds of the recorded wells are under 100 feet, while 26% fall between 100 and 300 feet. Another 8% are between 300 and 600 feet, and none are recorded above 600 feet in that depth mix.

The deepest well on record reaches 3,000 feet, showing how much local conditions can vary despite the shallow median. Permits name unnamed or fractured-bedrock aquifers most often, with alluvial and Laramie Fox Hills wells also present. Denver Basin aquifer wells account for 39% of the records.

What Gunbarrel wells produce for household use

Reported pump yield has a 10.0 gallons-per-minute median, with the middle half between 7.0 and 15.0 gallons per minute. That is a useful planning range for a typical household, but it is not the same as storage in the well or guaranteed daily supply. Only 419 wells report a pump yield, so the available test data is a subset of the full permit record.

Most reported wells fall between 5 and 15 gallons per minute, representing 63% of yield records. Another 26% report more than 15 gallons per minute. Low production is less common but still important: 9% report 1 to 5 gallons per minute and 2% report under 1 gallon per minute. Ask for the pump test and recovery information, not just the permit.

Gunbarrel water levels show a shallower recent pattern

The median static water level is 12 feet below the surface, with the middle half between 8 and 24 feet. That shallow water level can simplify pumping, but it also means the water is relatively close to surface conditions. Proper casing, grout, surface drainage, and septic placement matter.

The decade figures do not show a dropping water table in these records. Median depth to water was 20 feet in the 1950s and 1960s, 14 feet in the 2010s, and 10 feet in the 2020s. Treat that as a pattern in reported measurements, not a promise for one parcel. Water levels can vary with location, season, pumping, and the aquifer used.

Permit history and drillers around Gunbarrel

The records include 3,968 permitted wells, with 2,300 recorded as constructed. Domestic or household use makes up 52% of the use mix; monitoring wells account for 31%, followed by stock and irrigation wells. The newest permit year is 2025, so the area continues to have current permitting activity rather than being represented only by older wells.

The most frequently listed drillers are Authorized (Pe, Pg), Waneka & Son Drilling (Waneka, Don), and Ground Water Systems Inc (Wilson, Richard R.). Their appearance in the records is useful local context, not a recommendation. Confirm current licensing, scope, references, and the proposed casing, grout, testing, and abandonment terms before hiring anyone.

Gunbarrel drilling cost starts with depth, not the whole project

For the Denver Basin sedimentary-bedrock conditions used in the local cost model, a typical drilling rate is $50 to $70 per foot. At the 35-foot median depth, the drilled hole works out to about $1,800 to $2,400. That is only the drilling portion and should not be treated as the finished water-system price.

A completed well with pump, pressure tank, trenching, and electrical is modeled at $7,800 to $14,400. A bid can move outside that range when the actual formation requires more depth, specialized casing, difficult access, longer utility runs, or different treatment and storage equipment. Get the driller to separate depth assumptions from pump, tank, trenching, electrical, testing, and permit costs.

Checks that matter before building near Gunbarrel

Low yield is the main water-supply risk to investigate, even though the median reported yield is 10.0 gallons per minute. A dry hole or a well that produces less than expected can change the entire project budget. Fractured-bedrock wells are especially unpredictable because water may depend on narrow fractures rather than a uniform layer.

Environmental records also deserve review. Within about ten miles, the map includes 435 PFAS sampling or contamination sites, 186 historic mine features, and 19 EPA Superfund or cleanup sites. These records do not prove contamination on a specific lot, but they support ordering a complete water-quality test. Check septic setbacks, available building area, access for a rig, and the legal water use allowed by the DWR permit. Exempt household-use wells still have a 35 gpm pumping limit, and an augmentation plan may be needed in an over-appropriated basin.

A practical lot review for Gunbarrel buyers

Before closing, compare the subject parcel with nearby permits in Gunbarrel, Niwot, Valmont, Leyner, Boulder, Lafayette, and Paragon Estates. Focus on wells in the same geologic setting rather than relying on the nearest record. Look for reported depth, yield, static water level, construction details, and the permitted use.

For a new build, have a Colorado water-rights professional confirm the permit path before design is finalized. Then have a driller review rig access, likely depth, casing and grout, pump sizing, trench routes, and testing. Plan the septic system and house location around well protection and required setbacks. Tri-Lakes Contracting can help with access driveways, site development, new-build septic systems, and custom homes as a licensed Colorado contractor, but the well permit and water-quality decisions should be handled with the appropriate water professionals.

Well permits by decade near Gunbarrel

What a new well costs in Gunbarrel, 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 (160 ft) would run roughly $14,000–$23,200. 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 Gunbarrel? 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 Gunbarrel 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 Gunbarrel

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