What Lyons Wells Are Like Before You Buy or Build

How deep are wells around Lyons?

How much water do wells make near Lyons?

Lyons well depth follows fractured mountain rock

The median reported well depth near Lyons is 150 feet. The middle half runs from 34 to 405 feet, and the 90th percentile is 600 feet. The deepest well in the records reaches 1,630 feet.

Depth is not evenly distributed. Forty-four percent of wells are under 100 feet, 19% are 100-300 feet, 25% are 300-600 feet, and 13% are 600 feet or deeper. That spread is typical of fractured granite and gneiss: a short distance can change where the drill finds usable fractures.

For a drilling bid, the 150-foot median is only a starting point. A contractor needs to allow for harder ground, casing and grout, access, and the possibility that the hole must go substantially deeper than a nearby shallow well.

Most Lyons wells make usable household volumes

Among wells reporting pump yield, the median is 7.0 gallons per minute. The middle half produces 5.0 to 10.0 gallons per minute. Seventy-three percent fall in the 5-15 gpm range, while 11% report more than 15 gpm.

Low production is possible but not the dominant result: 4% report under 1 gpm and 11% report 1-5 gpm. A buyer should still ask for the actual well report, pump test, storage capacity, and recovery information. A 7.0 gpm median describes the local record; it does not promise that a new hole will hit that rate.

Most permitted use is domestic or household use, at 67%. Stock use is 5% and irrigation is 2%, so a planned larger outdoor demand needs separate review of the permit and water rights.

Recorded water levels vary across Lyons

The median static water level is 20 feet below the surface, with the middle half from 10 to 126 feet. Static level means the water level when the well is not being pumped; it is not the same as well depth or available yield.

The decade comparison does not show a simple dropping water table in these records. The median measured level was 46 feet below surface in the 2010s and 17 feet in the 2020s. Those measurements come from only 63 wells overall, and differences in location, season, construction, and measurement method can affect the comparison.

Before buying, have the current well condition and water level checked rather than treating the area median as a site-specific measurement. In mountain bedrock, fractures can produce sharp local differences.

Lyons permit history shows long local drilling activity

Permit records show drilling activity from the 1950s through the 2020s, with the newest permit issued in 2025. The largest decade totals are 425 permits in the 1990s, 346 in the 1980s, and 274 in the 1970s. There are also 98 permits in the 2020s.

The most active named drillers in these records are Ingram Drilling Inc., also listed as Ingram, Stephen E., with 234 records; Ground Water Systems Inc, also listed as Wilson, Richard R., with 178; and Authorized (Pe, Pg), with 163. These counts describe permit records, not current availability or a recommendation.

Colorado DWR permit history can help confirm the permitted use, construction details, and reported production for an existing well. Have the permit number and well construction report reviewed before relying on a seller’s description.

Budgeting a new well near Lyons

Local ground conditions are fractured mountain bedrock, described in the cost model as granite and gneiss. The drilling rate is estimated at $65-$100 per foot. At the 150-foot median depth, the drilled hole works out to about $9,800-$15,000.

A finished well, including the pump, tank, trenching, and electrical, is estimated at $15,800-$27,000. Those figures are planning numbers, not a fixed bid. Difficult access, extra casing or grout, deeper drilling, water testing, power distance, and site conditions can change the total.

Ask a driller to separate the per-foot drilling allowance from pump equipment and site work. On a steep or rocky lot near Lyons, driveway access and trenching can be as important to the final price as the hole itself.

What to investigate before relying on a Lyons well

Low yield and a dry hole are the main physical uncertainties in fractured mountain rock. The local records include 4% of reported yields under 1 gpm, and the depth range extends to 1,630 feet. A neighboring well can show local conditions, but it cannot guarantee the result on a different fracture system.

Water quality also deserves independent testing. Mapped environmental information within about 10 miles includes 60 PFAS sampling or contamination sites, 258 historic mine features, and 15 EPA Superfund or cleanup sites. Those map layers do not establish contamination at a particular well; they are reasons to test and review site history.

Check septic setbacks, drainfield space, access for a rig, electrical service, and the proposed building location. Confirm the DWR permit allows the intended household, stock, or irrigation use before closing.

A practical plan for a Lyons lot

Start with the DWR permit and construction report for any existing well. Confirm depth, casing, pump information, permitted use, and reported yield. If the well has a low or missing production record, arrange a current flow and recovery evaluation before assigning it much value.

For a vacant parcel, compare several nearby records in Lyons, Altona, Jamestown, Longmont, Lazy Acres, and Niwot, while remembering that fractured bedrock can change quickly. Get a written drilling proposal that explains what happens if the hole must go deeper or does not produce enough water.

Finally, coordinate the well, septic system, driveway, and house pad before construction. If the proposed use exceeds an exempt household-use well’s limits or the basin is over-appropriated, Colorado water-rights and augmentation requirements may affect the project.

Well permits by decade near Lyons

What a new well costs in Lyons, 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 (405 ft) would run roughly $32,325–$52,500. 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 Lyons? 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 Lyons 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 Lyons

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