What Wells Are Like Around Ignacio, Colorado

How deep are wells around Ignacio?

How much water do wells make near Ignacio?

How deep are wells near Ignacio?

The median reported well depth near Ignacio is 200 feet. The middle half runs from 120 to 250 feet, so a driller estimating a conventional site in this area may reasonably start in that range. The depth mix supports that picture: 16% of wells are under 100 feet, and 66% fall between 100 and 300 feet.

There are important exceptions. Six percent are between 300 and 600 feet, while 11% are deeper than 600 feet. The deepest record reaches 3,698 feet, and the 90th percentile is 2,614 feet. Those outliers show why a flat per-foot allowance is safer than assuming every Ignacio lot will match the median. Ground conditions, the target aquifer, and the success of nearby wells matter.

Expected well yield around Ignacio

Among the 103 wells reporting a pump yield, the median is 6.0 gallons per minute. The middle half is 2.0 to 10.0 gallons per minute. Nearly half, 47%, report between 5 and 15 gallons per minute. Another 29% fall between 1 and 5 gallons per minute, while 10% are under 1 gallon per minute and 15% report more than 15 gallons per minute.

For a buyer, that spread is more useful than the median alone. A 6.0-gallon-per-minute well can be workable for household use when the storage and pressure system are properly sized, but a result under 1 gallon per minute deserves careful review. Ask for the well construction report, pump test information, and any storage-tank plan. An exempt household-use well is generally subject to a 35-gallon-per-minute pumping limit.

Water levels and the Ignacio trend

Reported static water levels are relatively shallow in this data set. The median depth to water is 14 feet below the surface, and the middle half is 10 to 35 feet. That is a useful starting point for pump planning, trenching, and understanding how much lift the system may need.

The decade figures do not show a simple dropping water table. The median measured level was 25 feet below surface in the 2010s and 14 feet in the 2020s, meaning the later reported measurements are shallower. Only 24 wells report a static water level, however, so this is a limited record rather than a countywide trend. Seasonal conditions, measurement timing, well location, and different wells can all affect the comparison.

Who has drilled near Ignacio, and when?

Permit activity is not new around Ignacio. The records include 24 permits from the 1950s, 93 from the 1970s, 127 from the 1980s, 216 from the 1990s, 236 from the 2000s, 458 from the 2010s, and 31 from the 2020s. The newest permit year is 2025. That history gives a buyer a substantial group of older neighboring wells to investigate.

The most active drillers in these records are Mortimer Water Well Drilling, with 126 wells; Dak Drilling LLC, with 103; and Beeman Bros Drilling Inc., with 88. These names describe permit history, not a recommendation or proof of current availability. Colorado DWR records can help identify nearby construction reports, but confirm licensing, scheduling, and the proposed scope directly before hiring a driller.

What a new well costs near Ignacio

The cost model for Ignacio assumes mixed sedimentary and alluvial ground. A typical drilling rate is $50 to $75 per foot. At the local median depth of 200 feet, the drilled hole is estimated at about $10,000 to $15,000.

A finished system costs more than the hole. Including the pump, pressure tank, trenching, and electrical work, the model puts a completed well at about $16,000 to $27,000. Treat this as a planning range, not a guaranteed bid. A lot that requires substantially more than 200 feet, difficult access, additional casing or grout, or special electrical and trench work can move outside it. Ask for a written breakdown that separates drilling from equipment and site work.

Risks to check before building near Ignacio

Low yield is the clearest measurable risk in the local record: 10% of reported yields are under 1 gallon per minute. Dry holes and very deep wells are also possible, as shown by the 2,614-foot 90th percentile and 3,698-foot deepest record. The 1,197 permits naming an unnamed or fractured-bedrock aquifer point to ground where results can be difficult to predict from surface conditions alone.

Environmental review matters too. Mapped sites within about 10 miles include 80 PFAS sampling or contamination sites and 1 EPA Superfund or cleanup site. That does not prove a particular well is contaminated. Test existing water and review nearby site information with the appropriate agencies. Confirm septic setbacks, replacement-area requirements, well access, casing and grout details, and building locations before committing to a lot. In an over-appropriated basin, determine whether an augmentation plan is required.

A practical plan for an Ignacio lot

Start with the neighboring wells, not just the listing description. Pull DWR construction reports within the property’s immediate area and compare depths, reported yields, aquifers, water levels, and permit uses. The local data are dominated by domestic or household permits at 56%; stock use is 4%, irrigation is 1%, and monitoring is 2%. A nearby household well is usually more relevant to a home site than an unrelated monitoring well.

Before closing, make the well a due-diligence item. Obtain the permit and construction report, verify the well location, inspect the pump and pressure equipment, and order water testing appropriate to the site history. For a vacant lot, get a driller’s access and depth estimate, price the complete system, and reserve room for the well, septic field, replacement area, driveway, and home. If the proposed use is more than household use, check water rights and augmentation requirements early.

Well permits by decade near Ignacio

What a new well costs in Ignacio, 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 $18,500–$30,750. 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 Ignacio? 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 Ignacio 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 Ignacio

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

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