Hartsel, Colorado Well Depths, Yields, and Costs

How deep are wells around Hartsel?

How much water do wells make near Hartsel?

Hartsel well depths reflect fractured mountain rock

Hartsel wells are commonly drilled into fractured granite, gneiss, or other crystalline mountain bedrock. In the local records, the median total depth is 150 feet. The middle half falls between 71 and 360 feet, while the 90th percentile is 504 feet. The deepest recorded well is 900 feet.

Depths are spread widely: 34% of reported wells are under 100 feet, another 34% are between 100 and 300 feet, and 26% fall between 300 and 600 feet. That range matters when comparing drilling bids. A bid based only on the median could be low for a lot where the first productive fracture is much deeper.

What Hartsel wells produce for a household

Among wells with a reported pump yield, the median is 7.0 gallons per minute, with the middle half between 3.0 and 10.0 gallons per minute. The records show 56% producing between 5 and 15 gallons per minute, while 29% are between 1 and 5 gallons per minute. Only 2% report less than 1 gallon per minute, and 14% report more than 15 gallons per minute.

For a typical home, a moderate well can work when the pump, pressure tank, storage, and household demand are properly matched. Do not treat a neighboring yield as a promise. Fractured rock can change sharply from one lot to the next, so ask for the well construction report and pumping information before relying on a specific flow rate.

Hartsel water levels and the local trend

Reported static water levels have a median depth of 90 feet below the surface, with the middle half between 50 and 150 feet. That is the resting water level, not the same thing as a well’s total depth or its pumping yield. A pump installer needs to account for drawdown and the finished well’s actual water level.

The decade comparison does not show a simple decline in these records. The median static level was 110 feet below the surface in the 2010s and 90 feet in the 2020s. Because only 53 wells report a static water level, use that comparison as local context rather than proof of a basin-wide rise or fall. Water-level data are especially worth checking near Como, Jefferson, and Fairplay when those areas are relevant to a property search.

Who has drilled around Hartsel, and when

Hartsel’s permit history shows continued well construction over many decades. The records include permits from the 1950s through the 2020s, with the newest permit year listed as 2025. Permit counts were 4 in the 1950s, 15 in the 1960s, 26 in the 1970s, 61 in the 1980s, 94 in the 1990s, 75 in the 2000s, 61 in the 2010s, and 85 in the 2020s.

The most active named driller in the records is Allen Drilling & Excavating Co., Inc. (Allen, Jack R.), with 99 records. Whitewater Drilling Inc (Benkufski, John D.) appears on 34, and Authorized (Pe, Pg) appears on 24. Verify current licensing, availability, and scope directly before hiring.

What a new Hartsel well can cost

Hartsel drilling is priced around fractured mountain bedrock, including granite and gneiss. The supplied local cost model uses a typical drilling rate of $65 to $100 per foot. At the local median depth of 150 feet, the drilled hole works out to about $9,800 to $15,000.

That is not the complete project price. A finished well including the pump, pressure tank, trenching, and electrical is estimated at about $15,800 to $27,000 at the median depth. Deeper drilling, difficult access, casing and grout requirements, power distance, and storage choices can move the bid beyond that range. Ask each driller to separate footage, casing, grout, testing, pump equipment, trenching, electrical, and any standby or mobilization charges.

Hartsel risks: contamination, low yield, and site limits

Low yield and a dry hole are the main uncertainties in fractured bedrock. A nearby successful well helps, but it does not prove that the same fracture crosses your lot. Only 133 wells report a pump yield, and only 303 report a total depth, so the mapped record is useful but incomplete.

Environmental screening also matters. Within about 10 miles are 4 PFAS sampling or contamination sites, 73 historic mine features, and 2 EPA Superfund or cleanup sites. These locations do not automatically mean a property’s water is unsafe. Test the well water through a qualified laboratory and review nearby mine, septic, and cleanup information. Confirm setbacks, access for a rig, septic suitability, and the building envelope before drilling or buying.

A practical Hartsel lot-buying plan

Start with the exact parcel, then compare wells on neighboring properties and in the same road corridor. Look for total depth, static water level, yield, use, and aquifer description rather than relying on a countywide average. In Hartsel, 71% of permits are for domestic or household use and 20% are for stock use; the permit type still needs to match your intended use and current Colorado DWR requirements.

For a new build, confirm the well permit path before finalizing the house location. Price the driveway, drilling access, well equipment, septic system, trenching, and electrical as one site plan. If water service will include more than ordinary household use, check water rights and augmentation requirements. A DWR permit review, a driller’s site assessment, and independent water testing are sensible before closing or spending on construction.

Well permits by decade near Hartsel

What a new well costs in Hartsel, 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 (360 ft) would run roughly $29,400–$48,000. 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 Hartsel? 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 Hartsel 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 Hartsel

Keep researching

More in Park County

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

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