What Leadville Well Records Show Buyers and Builders

How deep are wells around Leadville?

How much water do wells make near Leadville?

Leadville well depth follows the mountain bedrock

The median reported well depth near Leadville is 126 feet. The middle half runs from 80 to 168 feet, so a driller bidding a typical site will often be working in that range rather than assuming an unusually deep hole. Still, the 90th-percentile depth is 235 feet, and the deepest record reaches 860 feet.

Depth records show 34% of wells under 100 feet and 62% between 100 and 300 feet. Only 4% fall between 300 and 600 feet, with 0% recorded at 600 feet or more. Most permits name unnamed fractured bedrock, consistent with granite and gneiss conditions. Fractured rock can produce water at one location and poor results a short distance away, so neighboring logs are useful but not conclusive.

Most Leadville wells make usable household flow

Among the 360 wells with a reported pump yield, the median is 10.0 gallons per minute. The middle half is 7.0 to 12.0 gallons per minute, which is a solid range for ordinary household use when the well, pump, pressure tank, and storage system are properly sized.

The records show 75% producing between 5 and 15 gallons per minute, while 16% report more than 15 gallons per minute. Low-yield results are less common but still matter: 9% are in the 1-to-5-gallon-per-minute range and 1% are under 1 gallon per minute. Ask for the well completion report and pump test, not just a verbal production estimate. A strong short-term yield does not by itself prove unlimited seasonal supply.

Leadville water levels need a site-specific check

The median reported static water level is 70 feet below the surface, with the middle half between 52 and 100 feet. That information helps a contractor estimate pumping equipment, but it is not the same as well depth. Water may stand at one level and still require a deeper casing, pump setting, or storage arrangement.

The decade figures show a higher median depth to water in the 2020s than in the 2010s: 74 feet below surface compared with 60 feet. That difference is worth reviewing, but only 85 records report a static water level, and measurement conditions may differ. The series is a reason to ask for the original dates, locations, and measurements rather than treating it as proof of a basin-wide decline.

Leadville permit history shows continuing well activity

Leadville’s permit record spans several decades, with the newest permit year listed as 2025. The largest recorded permit totals are 279 in the 1990s and 272 in the 2000s. The records include 111 permits from the 2010s and 87 from the 2020s, along with older permits from the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s.

Domestic or household use accounts for 79% of the listed use mix. Monitoring wells account for 11%, while stock and irrigation make up 2% and 1%. The most active drillers in these records are Golden Eagle Drilling Corporation, associated with Shelton, Joe Wayne, Twin Lakes Drilling Co., associated with Schaffer, James O, and Steve Shelton Drilling, Inc., associated with Shelton, Steve. Permit history helps identify local experience, but confirm current licensing, insurance, and availability before hiring.

A typical Leadville well budget starts with the hole

For fractured mountain bedrock near Leadville, the supplied cost model uses $65 to $100 per foot for drilling. At the 126-foot median depth, that puts the drilled hole at about $8,200 to $12,600. A finished system, including the pump, pressure tank, trenching, and electrical work, is estimated at $14,200 to $24,600.

That is a planning range, not a fixed bid. A difficult access route, extra casing or grout, a deeper-than-expected hole, difficult disposal, or additional electrical work can change the price. Ask the driller to separate drilling, casing, grout, pump equipment, testing, trenching, and electrical items. On a mountain lot, confirm that the rig can reach the proposed location before relying on a per-foot estimate.

Leadville buyers should investigate water and site risks

Within about 10 miles of Leadville, the mapped environmental inventory includes 17 PFAS sampling or contamination sites, 3,981 historic mine features, and 14 EPA Superfund or cleanup sites. Those mapped features do not establish that a particular well is contaminated, but they are enough reason to review the parcel and nearby history before closing.

Have the existing water tested through an appropriate laboratory, and ask for well construction, pump, and maintenance records. Check for low yield, seasonal changes, abandoned or dry holes, and the location of septic components. A new septic system also needs suitable soils, setbacks, access, and a permitted design. Do not assume a productive neighboring well proves your lot will drill the same way, especially in fractured granite or gneiss.

Before building near Leadville, verify the whole water plan

Start with the DWR permit and completion records for the parcel and nearby wells, including Leadville North. Compare reported depth, yield, static water level, aquifer description, and use. The nearby records are dominated by unnamed fractured-bedrock wells, while 38 name an alluvial aquifer and 5 name the Unconfined San Luis Valley Aquifer. No Denver Basin aquifer wells are recorded in this area.

For a buildable lot, make the water decision before finalizing house placement, driveway grades, septic design, and utility routes. Confirm the legal use allowed by the permit; an exempt household-use well is not a general irrigation or commercial supply. If the basin or proposed use requires augmentation, resolve that with the water professionals and authorities before construction. A driller, septic designer, excavator, and electrician should review access and layout together.

Well permits by decade near Leadville

What a new well costs in Leadville, 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 (168 ft) would run roughly $16,920–$28,800. 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 Leadville? 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 Leadville 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 Leadville

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

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