Manassa, Colorado Well Depths, Yields, and Costs

How deep are wells around Manassa?

How much water do wells make near Manassa?

Manassa well depths and the ground below

The median recorded well depth near Manassa is 100 feet. The middle half runs from 50 to 120 feet, so many drilling bids should be based on a relatively shallow hole. Half of the recorded wells are under 100 feet, while 40% fall between 100 and 300 feet.

There is still meaningful variation. The 90th-percentile depth is 286 feet, and the deepest record reaches 929 feet. The permit aquifer descriptions include unnamed or fractured-bedrock aquifers for 742 wells, along with confined San Luis Valley aquifer descriptions on other records. Mixed sedimentary and alluvial ground supports a starting cost estimate, but changing materials or bedrock can move the final depth and price.

What a Manassa well may produce

Reported well yields are favorable in this record set, with a 15.0 gallons-per-minute median and a middle half from 12.0 to 15.0 gallons per minute. Of the wells reporting yield, 62% are above 15 gallons per minute and 38% are between 5 and 15 gallons per minute.

No reported wells fall under 1 gallon per minute or between 1 and 5 gallons per minute. That does not eliminate the risk of a weak new well, because only 117 wells report a pump yield and the permit record does not test every property the same way. Ask for the completion report, pump test, storage setup, and intended household or stock use before assuming the well can support expansion or irrigation.

Water levels around Manassa and the recent trend

The median static water level is 18 feet below the surface, with the middle half from 10 to 40 feet. A shallow static level can simplify pumping, but it also makes proper casing, grouting, surface drainage, and septic planning important. Water quality and seasonal performance still need property-specific testing.

The decade figures show a median static level of 14 feet below ground in the 2010s and 18 feet in the 2020s. That is a deeper measured water level in the newer decade, but the records are limited to 78 reported measurements and may not compare identical wells or conditions. It is a reason to review nearby logs rather than claim a basin-wide decline from this series alone.

Who has drilled near Manassa, and when

Permit activity extends across several generations. Records show 40 permits from the 1950s, 12 from the 1960s, 180 from the 1970s, 38 from the 1980s, 108 from the 1990s, 155 from the 2000s, 137 from the 2010s, and 88 from the 2020s. The newest permit year is 2025, so this is not only an old-well area.

The most frequent driller names in the records are Heersink Drilling, also listed as Heersink, Scott, with 76 wells; Rocky Mountain Waterworks LLC, listed with Phythian, Donald L., with 49; and Valley Pump Company, listed with Self, Clinton L., with 48. These counts describe permit records, not a recommendation or a guarantee of current availability.

Manassa well drilling cost and finished-system budget

For the mixed sedimentary and alluvial ground described for this area, the planning rate is $50 to $75 per foot. At the 100-foot median depth, the drilled hole works out to about $5,000 to $7,500. That figure is for drilling, not a ready-to-use water system.

A finished well with pump, pressure tank, trenching, and electrical is estimated at $11,000 to $19,500 at the median depth. A lot requiring a deeper hole, difficult access, extra casing or grout, or more trenching can exceed that range. Get the driller to state what depth is included, how overage is billed, and which pump, tank, electrical, and testing items are excluded.

Risks to check before buying or building

Well records near Manassa include 70% domestic or household use, 37% stock use, 13% irrigation use, and 2% monitoring use. Confirm that the existing permit and well construction match your intended use. A household well is not automatically an irrigation supply, and an exempt household-use well still has Colorado limits on pumping and use.

Environmental screening also matters. Within about 10 miles are 1 PFAS sampling or contamination site, 14 historic mine features, and 1 EPA Superfund or cleanup site. Those mapped sites do not prove contamination at a particular parcel, but they justify a water-quality test and a review of nearby land uses. Check septic setbacks, drainage, access for a rig, electrical routing, and the location of the proposed home before closing or drilling.

Well permits by decade near Manassa

What a new well costs in Manassa, 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 (120 ft) would run roughly $12,000–$21,000. 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 Manassa? 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 Manassa 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 Manassa

Keep researching

More in Conejos County

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

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