Lakewood, Colorado Well Depths, Yields, and Costs

How deep are wells around Lakewood?

How much water do wells make near Lakewood?

Lakewood well depth depends on the ground below the lot

Lakewood’s reported depths are unusually spread out for a mountain-area market. Seventy-seven percent of wells are under 100 feet, while 14 percent fall between 100 and 300 feet. Another 6 percent are 300 to 600 feet, and 3 percent exceed 600 feet. The deepest recorded well is 1,997 feet.

The local drilling model describes Denver Basin sedimentary bedrock, while many permits name an unnamed fractured-bedrock aquifer. That combination makes the parcel’s exact geology important. For a bid, do not use the 32-foot median as a promised drilling depth. Ask for nearby completion records, casing and grout assumptions, and a price for additional footage if the target water-bearing zone is deeper.

What Lakewood wells produce for a household

The median reported pump yield is 10.0 gallons per minute. The middle half of reported results is 8.0 to 15.0 gallons per minute, and 29 percent report more than 15 gallons per minute. Those figures are encouraging for ordinary household use, but only 248 wells report a pump yield, so the yield dataset is much smaller than the permit record.

Low-producing wells are present but not common in the reported results: 1 percent are under 1 gallon per minute, and 8 percent are between 1 and 5 gallons per minute. A buyer should still confirm the well’s permitted use, storage setup, pump test, and actual recovery. An exempt household-use well is subject to Colorado rules, including the 35 gpm pumping limit.

Water levels in Lakewood are shallow, with no simple trend

Reported static water levels are relatively shallow. The median depth to water is 16 feet, with the middle half between 11 and 24 feet. That can reduce pumping lift compared with a deep water table, but it also means construction details matter. Proper casing, grout, surface drainage, and a sanitary seal help protect the wellhead from surface water entering the borehole.

The decade series does not show a steady decline. Median measurements were 16 feet in the 1950s, 18 in the 1960s, 13 in the 2000s, 22 in the 2010s, and 12 in the 2020s. Only 138 wells report static water levels, and measurement practices vary, so treat this as local context rather than proof of a changing regional water table.

Permit history points to long-standing drilling activity

Lakewood has a long permit history, with records from the 1950s through the newest permit year, 2025. Permit activity was highest in the 2000s, when 1,504 permits were issued. The 1990s followed with 1,112 permits. The record also includes 729 permits from the 2010s and 472 from the 2020s.

The database lists 6,610 wells in total, 3,547 recorded as constructed, and 3,803 with a reported total depth. The most active listed driller is Authorized (Pe, Pg), with 2,109 records. Adams Water Well Drilling (Adams, George E) appears on 125, and High Plains Drilling (Jecminek, Charles L.) on 68. These names describe permit history, not a recommendation or proof of current availability.

Lakewood drilling cost starts with depth, not the median alone

The local cost model uses a typical drilling rate of $50 to $70 per foot in Denver Basin sedimentary bedrock. At the reported median depth, the drilled hole works out to about $1,600 to $2,200. That is only the hole. A finished well, including pump, pressure tank, trenching, and electrical, is modeled at $7,600 to $14,200.

Those figures should be read as planning ranges, not a fixed bid. A lot that needs a 300-foot or deeper hole will not price like the median Lakewood well. Request separate line items for drilling, casing, grout, pump equipment, trenching, electrical work, water testing, and any difficult access. Ask what happens to the price if the first water-bearing zone is inadequate.

Environmental and building checks belong in the deal

The mapped area within about 10 miles includes 466 PFAS sampling or contamination sites, 157 EPA Superfund or cleanup sites, and 129 historic mine features. A map does not establish contamination on a particular parcel, but it is a reason to review the well location, historic land use, and available water-quality records before closing.

Low yield and dry holes remain possible, especially where fractured rock controls groundwater movement. Check neighboring well depths, yields, static levels, and aquifer names through Colorado DWR records. Confirm septic setbacks, replacement-area requirements, driveway access, and the proposed building footprint before drilling. If the basin or use requires it, investigate augmentation and other water-right requirements early. Do not assume a permit alone guarantees enough water for a future home.

Well permits by decade near Lakewood

What a new well costs in Lakewood, 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 (85 ft) would run roughly $10,250–$17,950. 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 Lakewood? 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 Lakewood 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 Lakewood

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More in Jefferson County

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

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