Lake City, Colorado Well Depth, Yield, and Cost

How deep are wells around Lake City?

How much water do wells make near Lake City?

What drives well depth around Lake City

The median recorded well depth near Lake City is 120 feet. The middle half runs from 37 to 300 feet, meaning the local records include both relatively shallow wells and substantially deeper holes. The 90th percentile is 483 feet, and the deepest record reaches 902 feet.

Depth is spread across the area: 45% of wells are under 100 feet, 29% fall between 100 and 300 feet, 21% run from 300 to 600 feet, and 5% exceed 600 feet. Most permits name an unnamed or fractured-bedrock aquifer, with 505 wells in that category. Granite and gneiss can change quickly across short distances, so a driller's bid should clearly state the assumed depth, footage rate, casing, grout, and what happens if the hole must go deeper.

How much water a Lake City well produces

Among the wells reporting a pump yield, the median is 15.0 gallons per minute. The middle half ranges from 6.0 to 15.0 gallons per minute. Production is stronger in the records than many mountain buyers might assume: 57% report more than 15 gallons per minute, 22% report 5 to 15 gallons per minute, and 19% report 1 to 5 gallons per minute.

Only 2% report under 1 gallon per minute. That is encouraging, but yield data exists for 112 wells rather than all permitted wells. Ask for a pump test and confirm the intended household use with the Colorado Division of Water Resources. An exempt household-use well is generally limited to 35 gallons per minute, and a strong well still needs suitable storage, pump equipment, and water-quality testing.

Water levels and what the records can tell you

The 24 wells reporting a static water level have a median depth to water of 20 feet. The middle half ranges from 12 to 52 feet below ground. Those measurements suggest that water is often encountered relatively shallowly in the reporting set, but they do not establish the water level at every Lake City parcel.

The permit history does not provide enough static-water measurements to show a reliable decade-by-decade decline or rise. Do not treat the 20-foot median as a guaranteed pumping level. A static reading can differ from the level while a pump is running, and seasonal conditions matter. For a purchase, request the well construction report, current static level, pump-test results, and any information on recovery after pumping.

Who has drilled near Lake City, and when

Bob Williams Drilling Co., listed in the records as Williams, Robert F., is the dominant driller in this dataset with 204 permits. Peeples, Clyde L is associated with 20, and permits marked Authorized (Pe, Pg) account for 15. These records can help identify local drilling history, but they are not a recommendation and do not confirm current availability.

Permitting increased from 7 permits in the 1950s to 13 in the 1960s, 40 in the 1970s, 99 in the 1980s, and 122 in the 1990s. The record shows 77 in the 2000s, 40 in the 2010s, and 30 in the 2020s. The newest permit year is 2025. Check the actual DWR permit and construction documents rather than relying only on a map marker.

Lake City well drilling cost and bid planning

Lake City's fractured granite and gneiss are modeled at $65 to $100 per foot for drilling. At the 120-foot median depth, the drilled hole works out to about $7,800 to $12,000. That is the hole only, not a complete water system.

A finished well with pump, pressure tank, trenching, and electrical is modeled at about $13,800 to $24,000 at the median depth. A deeper-than-typical hole can move beyond that range, especially if casing, grout, difficult access, extra trenching, or specialized equipment is needed. Get a written proposal that separates drilling, casing, grout, development, pump testing, pump and tank equipment, electrical work, and trenching. Also ask whether the price changes when the driller encounters poor production.

Risks to check before building near Lake City

Low yield is only one concern. Fractured bedrock can produce water unevenly, and a nearby successful well does not prove the same result on your lot. The records show 2% of reporting wells under 1 gallon per minute, while yield information is missing for most permitted wells. A dry hole or weak production should be addressed in the purchase contract before you close.

Environmental review is also important. Within about 10 miles, the mapped records include 3 PFAS sampling or contamination sites, 124 historic mine features, and 2 EPA Superfund or cleanup sites. Test the well for common drinking-water concerns and site-specific concerns suggested by the property's history. Confirm septic setbacks, suitable soil, driveway access, building envelopes, and power routes before finalizing a house plan.

Well permits by decade near Lake City

What a new well costs in Lake City, 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 (300 ft) would run roughly $25,500–$42,000. 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 Lake City? 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 Lake City 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 Lake City

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

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