What La Junta Well Records Tell You Before You Buy

How deep are wells around La Junta?

How much water do wells make near La Junta?

La Junta well depths vary sharply across the plains

Most reported La Junta wells are shallow: 70% are under 100 feet. That pulls the median down to 40 feet. The rest of the records show why a simple average would be misleading: 18% fall between 300 and 600 feet, and 11% exceed 600 feet. Only 1% are in the 100-to-300-foot range.

The local geology is described as alluvium and plains sedimentary rock, with many permits naming an unnamed or fractured-bedrock aquifer. A driller should still price the specific lot, not assume the median. For a bid, ask what happens if the hole must go substantially deeper than 40 feet, and confirm which casing and grout work is included.

Reported La Junta yields are generally strong, with limited records

The 81 wells that report pump yield show a median of 18.0 gallons per minute. The middle half runs from 12.0 to 119.0 gallons per minute, a broad spread that reflects different uses and formations. In that reporting group, 68% produce more than 15 gallons per minute, while 31% fall between 5 and 15 gallons per minute.

No reported wells are under 1 gallon per minute, and 1% fall between 1 and 5 gallons per minute. That is encouraging, but it is not a guarantee of household performance because yield reporting is incomplete. Have an existing well tested, and ask a driller about sustained production, storage and recovery rather than relying only on a short pump test.

La Junta water levels look shallow, but the record is too thin for a trend

Only 21 permits report a static water level. Their median depth to water is 15 feet, with the middle half between 4 and 48 feet. Those measurements suggest that water can be relatively shallow in parts of the local area, but they do not establish the water level at a particular property.

The permit counts by decade describe drilling activity, not a water-table trend. Records rise to 204 permits in the 1990s, then show 135 in the 2000s, 39 in the 2010s and 32 in the 2020s. That pattern cannot prove that the water table is dropping or stable. Request current measurements and review nearby wells before closing.

Permit history runs from older irrigation wells to current work

La Junta’s permit record reaches back to the 1950s, when 62 permits were issued. The record shows 64 in the 1960s, 54 in the 1970s, 45 in the 1980s, and the largest decade total, 204, in the 1990s. The newest permit year in the data is 2025.

The most frequently listed drillers are Authorized, shown as 89 wells, Hoffman, Earl, with 75, and Crandall, H A, with 55. These are permit-record names, not endorsements. A new project still requires a Colorado DWR permit review, site-specific access planning and confirmation that the proposed use is allowed. Domestic, stock and irrigation uses appear in the local records, so the permit type deserves close attention.

A La Junta well budget depends more on depth than the median suggests

For alluvium and plains sedimentary rock near La Junta, the drilling model uses a typical rate of $35 to $55 per foot. At the local median depth of 40 feet, the drilled hole works out to about $1,400 to $2,200. That is only the hole, not a functioning water system.

A finished well with pump, pressure tank, trenching and electrical is modeled at about $7,400 to $14,200 at the median depth. The middle-half depth range of 30 to 462 feet shows why two nearby lots can receive very different bids. Ask for separate line items for drilling, casing, grout, pump equipment, power, trenching and testing. Confirm how the contractor handles a dry hole or a hole that must be deepened.

What to check around a La Junta property

Water quantity is only one risk. Within about 10 miles, the mapped records include 18 PFAS sampling or contamination sites, 8 historic mine features and 7 EPA Superfund or cleanup sites. A mapped site does not automatically mean a property’s well is contaminated, but it is a reason to test the water and understand the direction of groundwater movement.

Have a buyer’s water test cover the concerns appropriate to the property and its history. Inspect the wellhead, casing, grout, pressure system and records. Check septic setbacks, available building area, access for a rig and power costs before buying. A shallow water level does not remove the need for proper sanitary protection, and a good yield does not make untreated water safe.

Due diligence for a lot in La Junta, North La Junta or nearby

Start by pulling the DWR permit and construction records for the parcel and neighboring wells. The local area includes La Junta Gardens and North La Junta, both about 2 miles away, Swink at about 5 miles, Cheraw at about 9 miles, Rocky Ford at about 11 miles and Sugar City at about 19 miles. The closest wells usually provide the most useful comparison, especially when their depths, uses and aquifers match the proposed site.

For a home, verify the permit allows the intended household use and ask whether an augmentation plan is needed in an over-appropriated basin. Colorado exempt household-use wells have a 35 gallons-per-minute pumping limit. Before building, obtain a written drilling estimate, confirm septic and driveway layouts, and budget for a range rather than the 40-foot median. For an existing house, make the sale contingent on records, inspection, water testing and a production test.

Well permits by decade near La Junta

What a new well costs in La Junta, 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 (462 ft) would run roughly $22,170–$37,410. 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 La Junta? 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 La Junta 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 La Junta

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