Lamar, Colorado Well Depth, Yield and Cost

How deep are wells around Lamar?

How much water do wells make near Lamar?

Lamar well depths reflect shallow plains geology

Lamar’s recorded wells have a 41-foot median total depth. The middle half runs from 25 to 105 feet, so a driller bidding a typical residential well here may be looking at a relatively short hole compared with many mountain or fractured-granite locations. Still, the range is wide: the 90th-percentile depth is 356 feet, and the deepest recorded well is 3,900 feet.

The depth mix explains why averages can mislead. Seventy-four percent of reported wells are under 100 feet, while 12% fall from 100 to 300 feet and another 12% from 300 to 600 feet. A parcel can differ because of local alluvium, sedimentary layers, target aquifer, permitted use, or the need to improve water quality or reliability.

What Lamar wells produce at the pump

Among the 71 wells that report a pump yield, the median is 15.0 gallons per minute. The middle half ranges from 15.0 to 150.0 gallons per minute. Seventy-six percent report more than 15 gallons per minute, while 23% are in the 5-to-15 range. Only 1% report under 1 gallon per minute, and none fall in the 1-to-5 range.

Those figures are encouraging for this plains setting, but a yield record is not a guarantee for a new hole. Ask for the original well test and confirm whether the reported rate is a short test result or a sustainable pumping rate. A domestic exempt well is generally limited to 35 gallons per minute, and the permit’s use controls what the water can legally serve.

Lamar water levels are shallow, with a slight recorded change

Reported static water levels are shallow. The median depth to water is 8 feet, with the middle half from 8 to 9 feet. That can simplify pumping, but it also means groundwater is close to surface conditions. Proper casing and grout, a sanitary seal, and a wellhead protected from surface drainage are important.

The decade series shows a small change rather than a dramatic documented decline: the median was 8 feet below surface in the 2010s and 9 feet in the 2020s. Only 41 wells report a static water level, so do not treat the series as a complete basin trend. Measure the well on the property and review nearby records before relying on it for a home or irrigation plan.

Permit history shows long use around Lamar

Lamar has a long permit history, with records beginning in the 1950s and the newest permit issued in 2023. The largest decade was the 1990s, with 141 permits, followed by 103 in the 2000s. There were 49 permits in the 2020s, so nearby activity has continued rather than ending with older agricultural development.

The records include domestic or household wells at 34%, irrigation at 21%, monitoring at 20%, and stock use at 10%. Most named aquifers are unnamed or fractured-bedrock aquifers, with 800 wells; 24 identify the Dakota and 14 identify the Alluvial aquifer. No Denver Basin aquifer wells appear in this local set.

The most frequently listed drillers are Hoffman, including Hoffman, Earl, with 113 records; Authorized, including Pe and Pg, with 97; and Ark Valley Pump & Supply, including Smith Jr., William, with 28. These are record names, not a recommendation or a current availability check.

A Lamar well budget starts with the hole, not the whole system

For Lamar’s alluvium and plains sedimentary rock, the drilling model uses $35 to $55 per foot. At the 41-foot median depth, the drilled hole works out to about $1,400 to $2,300. That is only the drilling portion. A finished well with pump, pressure tank, trenching, and electrical is modeled at about $7,400 to $14,300.

A bid should state what is included: permit work, casing and grout, drilling through difficult layers, development and testing, pump sizing, controls, trench length, electrical service, and restoration. The shallow median keeps some Lamar projects affordable, but an unusually deep hole or a more demanding site can move the price well beyond the local median example.

Check Lamar contamination, setbacks, and building constraints

Water quantity is not the only risk. Within about 10 miles of Lamar, the mapped environmental records include 13 PFAS sampling or contamination sites, 1 historic mine feature, and 1 EPA Superfund or cleanup site. Those mapped sites do not prove a specific parcel is contaminated, but they are a reason to review the property’s location, prior uses, and available water-quality results.

Low-yield wells and dry holes are uncommon in the reported yield records, but the sample is limited because only 71 wells report a pump yield. Before closing, obtain the well permit, construction report, pump test, static water level, and recent laboratory testing. Confirm septic setbacks from the well and property lines, room for a replacement system, driveway access for a rig, and whether the planned home and water use fit the permit.

What to do before buying or building near Lamar

Start with the exact parcel, not a countywide assumption. Compare nearby permitted wells in Lamar and, where useful, records from Wiley, McClave, and Granada. Pay attention to depth, aquifer name, reported yield, water level, well age, and permitted use. A neighboring well can improve your estimate, but it cannot substitute for a site-specific investigation.

For a purchase, make well and septic records part of due diligence and use inspection or testing deadlines that allow time to investigate. For a new build, have a Colorado water professional confirm the permit path before choosing the house location, septic area, driveway, and utility route. If the basin is over-appropriated, an augmentation plan may be required for some uses. Keep the driller’s scope and the pump, trenching, and electrical allowances separate in the construction budget.

Well permits by decade near Lamar

What a new well costs in Lamar, 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 (105 ft) would run roughly $9,675–$17,775. 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 Lamar? 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 Lamar 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 Lamar

Keep researching

More in Prowers County

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

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