What Wells Are Like in Idledale, Colorado

How deep are wells around Idledale?

How much water do wells make near Idledale?

Idledale well depths reflect fractured mountain rock

Most Idledale-area wells are drilled into unnamed or fractured-bedrock aquifers. The median completed depth is 305 feet, while the middle half runs from 148 to 556 feet. That spread is large enough to matter when comparing drilling bids. A shallow estimate based on one nearby well may not fit the next lot.

The depth mix shows the same variability: 18% of reported wells are under 100 feet, 27% fall from 100 to 300 feet, 32% from 300 to 600 feet, and 23% exceed 600 feet. The deepest record is 4,095 feet, although that is not a normal planning assumption. Fractured granite and gneiss produce water through cracks, so the driller may need to continue below a dry or weak zone.

What an Idledale well may produce

Among the wells reporting pump yield, the median is 6.8 gallons per minute, with the middle half between 3.0 and 10.0 gpm. That is generally a workable range for a household when the well, pressure system, storage, and demand are properly matched.

Reported results are spread across the area: 3% produce under 1 gpm, 29% are between 1 and 5 gpm, 61% between 5 and 15 gpm, and 7% exceed 15 gpm. A buyer should not treat the median as a guaranteed flow rate. Ask for the well construction report and pumping test, then confirm how the result compares with neighboring wells in Idledale, Kittredge, Genesee, or Indian Hills.

The Idledale water-level record is not a simple trend

Static water level means the depth from the ground surface down to the water when the well is not being pumped. The median for reported measurements is 100 feet, with the middle half from 48 to 180 feet. Those figures help with pump planning, but they are not the same as well depth or guaranteed available water.

By measurement decade, the median was 30 feet in the 1960s, 45 feet in the 1970s, 74 feet in the 1980s, 150 feet in the 1990s, 137 feet in the 2010s, and 125 feet in the 2020s. The series suggests water levels became deeper than early records, but it does not show a continuing decline in the latest decades. Different locations and measurement conditions limit the comparison.

Permit history and drillers around Idledale

The permit record is substantial: 4,389 permitted wells are mapped within 5 miles, 2,801 are recorded as constructed, 2,912 report total depth, and 1,299 report pump yield. Most listed uses are domestic or household at 85%; stock is 3%, irrigation is 1%, and monitoring is 6%.

Permitting was busiest in the 1990s, with 956 permits, after 721 in the 1970s and 589 in the 1980s. The newest permit year is 2025, so this is not only an historic record. The most active names are James Drilling Company, Aspen Drilling Company Inc, and Living Water Systems Inc. Verify current availability, scope, and references directly before selecting a driller.

Estimated cost to drill and finish an Idledale well

For fractured mountain bedrock, the drilling model uses $65-$100 per foot. At the 305-foot median depth, that puts the drilled hole at about $19,800-$30,500. This is the hole only, not the complete water system.

A finished well including pump, pressure tank, trenching, and electrical is estimated at $25,800-$42,500 at the median depth. A bid can move outside that range if the lot requires more drilling, difficult access, extra casing or grout, deeper pump setting, or longer utility trenching. Ask what happens if the hole is dry or produces less than the target yield. Also request separate prices for testing, permits, water treatment, storage, and site restoration so the comparison is meaningful.

Environmental and building checks before buying

Low yield and dry holes are the main water-supply risks in fractured mountain rock. A nearby producing well does not prove that the same fracture system crosses your building site. Review neighboring construction reports, pump tests, static levels, and any recorded history of deepening or replacement.

Water quality deserves its own investigation. Within about 10 miles, the mapped record includes 106 PFAS sampling or contamination sites, 182 historic mine features, and 58 EPA Superfund or cleanup sites. These locations do not establish contamination at a particular parcel, but they are a reason to test the existing well and understand the site's position relative to mines and cleanup areas.

Before building, confirm well access, electrical service, casing and grout condition, septic setbacks, and a suitable septic replacement area. Colorado DWR permits and water-right restrictions also matter; an exempt household-use well is not permission for every type of use.

A practical plan for an Idledale lot

Start with the parcel's surrounding permits, not a broad county average. Compare wells in Idledale with the closest useful records in Genesee, Indian Hills, Morrison, Kittredge, and Golden, giving more weight to similar bedrock and elevation. Have a Colorado well professional review depth, yield, water level, casing, grout, and pump information before you remove an inspection condition.

For a vacant lot, confirm that a driller can reach the site and that the proposed well and septic fields can coexist with the driveway, house, drainage, and utility routes. Budget using the local median range, but keep room for a deeper hole or lower yield. If the planned use involves more than ordinary household needs, verify the permit and water-right requirements early. The goal is to prove that water, wastewater, access, and construction can all fit before buying.

Well permits by decade near Idledale

What a new well costs in Idledale, 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 (556 ft) would run roughly $42,140–$67,600. 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 Idledale? 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 Idledale 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 Idledale

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

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