What to Know About Wells in Gypsum, Colorado

How deep are wells around Gypsum?

How much water do wells make near Gypsum?

Gypsum well depth: shallow records, hard-rock variables

The median recorded well depth near Gypsum is 71 feet. The middle half runs from 41 to 100 feet, 71% of reported wells are under 100 feet, and 25% fall between 100 and 300 feet. The deepest recorded well is 599 feet. That spread matters when you request a drilling bid: a nearby shallow well may not represent your lot if the productive fractures are deeper or absent.

Permits identify unnamed or fractured-bedrock aquifers for 263 wells, with 2 tied to the Leadville Limestone. There are no Denver Basin aquifer wells in this local record set. In granite and gneiss, water commonly depends on fractures, so depth can change over a short distance. Ask the driller to review neighboring completion reports rather than relying on an area average.

How much water can a Gypsum well make?

Reported yields are generally favorable, but the sample is limited to 47 wells. The median pump yield is 20.0 gallons per minute, and the middle half ranges from 15.0 to 107.5 gallons per minute. Seventy-seven percent of reported wells produce more than 15 gallons per minute. The records show 9% between 1 and 5 gallons per minute, 15% between 5 and 15, and 0% under 1.

A strong reported yield does not remove the need for a pump test and a review of the permit’s allowed use. Household wells are subject to Colorado rules, including the 35-gallon-per-minute exempt-well pumping limit. A buyer should also confirm storage, pressure-tank sizing and whether the supply is adequate for the planned home, irrigation or stock use.

Water levels and the local trend

Only 13 permits report a static water level, so the local water-level sample is small. Within those reports, the median depth to water is 21 feet, with the middle half from 6 to 66 feet. That suggests water is often encountered fairly close to the surface in the recorded wells, but it does not establish a dependable water table for every parcel.

The permit counts by decade do not show a water-level trend. They show 26 permits from the 1970s, 38 from the 1980s, 75 from the 1990s, 39 from the 2000s, 23 from the 2010s and 14 from the 2020s, with the newest permit issued in 2025. Treat static levels as site-specific information, not proof that groundwater is rising or falling across Gypsum.

Who has drilled near Gypsum, and when?

Permit activity spans several decades, with the largest recorded group in the 1990s: 75 permits. The records include 39 from the 2000s, 26 from the 1970s, 38 from the 1980s, 23 from the 2010s and 14 from the 2020s. A current permit was recorded in 2025, so this is not only an older well field.

The most active drillers in the records are Shelton Drilling Corporation, listed with 37 wells; Golden Eagle Drilling Corporation, listed with 35; and Steve Shelton Drilling, Inc., listed with 30. These names describe permit history, not a recommendation or proof that a company is available for your job. DWR permit records should be checked for construction details, permit conditions and the legal use of each nearby well.

What a new well costs around Gypsum

For fractured mountain bedrock such as granite and gneiss, the drilling model uses a rate of $65-$100 per foot. At the local median depth of 71 feet, the drilled hole works out to about $4,600-$7,100. A finished well, including the pump, pressure tank, trenching and electrical work, is modeled at about $10,600-$19,100.

That is a planning range, not a fixed quote. The final price can depend on access, casing and grout requirements, drilling conditions, pump depth, trench length and electrical service. A deeper hole than the median can move the bid substantially. Get the drilling and site-work assumptions in writing, including what happens if the first hole does not produce an adequate supply.

Risks to check before building in Gypsum

Low yield is not the main pattern in the reported records, but dry holes and weak fractures remain possible in mountain bedrock. The permit data also identify 15 PFAS sampling or contamination sites, 7 historic mine features and 1 EPA Superfund or cleanup site within about 10 miles. Those mapped sites do not automatically mean a particular parcel has unsafe water, but they justify a location-specific review and laboratory testing.

Ask for a certified water test before closing or before relying on an existing well. Check septic setbacks, soil conditions, drainfield space and the relationship between the well and septic system. Confirm that the proposed home can be served by the well permit and that any irrigation or additional use is legally available.

Buying or building a lot near Gypsum

Start with the nearest well permits, especially around Dotsero, which is 5 miles away, and Eagle, 7 miles away. Records from Wolcott, El Jebel, Fulford and Edwards can provide broader regional context, but they should not replace parcel-level investigation. Look for total depth, static water level, yield, construction details and the permitted use before comparing one lot with another.

For a new build, line up a driller, septic evaluator and excavation contractor early. Confirm road access for a rig, space for trenching, electrical routing and a location that protects the well from septic contamination. If the property is in an over-appropriated basin, ask the Colorado Division of Water Resources about augmentation requirements. The well permit, not a neighbor’s production, controls what you can legally do.

Well permits by decade near Gypsum

What a new well costs in Gypsum, 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 (100 ft) would run roughly $12,500–$22,000. 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 Gypsum? 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 Gypsum 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 Gypsum

Keep researching

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

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