Marble, Colorado Well Depth, Yield, and Cost Guide

How deep are wells around Marble?

How much water do wells make near Marble?

Marble well depths reflect fractured mountain bedrock

The median reported well depth near Marble is 100 feet. The middle half runs from 55 to 200 feet, while the deepest recorded well reaches 500 feet. About 46% of wells are under 100 feet, and another 43% fall between 100 and 300 feet. The remaining 11% are in the 300-to-600-foot range.

That spread is important when reviewing a drilling bid. A nearby shallow well may not predict your result if the fracture network changes across the property. Permits name an unnamed or fractured-bedrock aquifer for 482 wells, with only 2 tied to alluvial aquifers and 10 to Mancos. Granite and gneiss can produce water through fractures rather than a uniform layer.

Most Marble wells make useful household flow

Among the 90 wells with reported pump yields, the median is 12.0 gallons per minute. The middle half ranges from 5.2 to 15.0 gallons per minute. About 44% report between 5 and 15 gpm, and 38% report more than 15 gpm.

Only 1% of reported wells are under 1 gpm, while 17% fall between 1 and 5 gpm. That is a favorable record for ordinary household use, but the sample is much smaller than the permit count and reported yields are not a promise for an unbuilt well. Ask for the neighboring well construction reports, pump test information, and intended use before relying on a yield assumption.

Water levels are commonly within the upper part of the well

The 32 wells reporting static water levels show a median depth to water of 41 feet. The middle half runs from 18 to 50 feet. Static water level is not the same as well depth or pumping yield: it describes where water stood when measured, while pumping can lower the level temporarily.

There are not enough reported water-level records here to establish a reliable decade-by-decade decline or rise. Do not treat the median as a site-specific guarantee, especially on fractured bedrock. A driller can evaluate the local geology, and a buyer can compare nearby permits and request current information where available.

Marble permit history shows long-term drilling activity

Permit activity is established around Marble, with records beginning in the 1960s and the newest permit issued in 2024. The records list 7 permits in the 1960s, 47 in the 1970s, 71 in the 1980s, 168 in the 1990s, 78 in the 2000s, 49 in the 2010s, and 35 in the 2020s.

The most active names in these records are Shelton Drilling Corporation with 183 wells, Collins Drilling Co with 107, and Steve Shelton Drilling, Inc. with 41. Those records can help identify local experience around Redstone, Snowmass Village, and the upper Crystal River area, but an old permit still needs to be checked for construction details and current condition.

What a new Marble well may cost

Marble drilling means working in fractured mountain bedrock, commonly granite or gneiss. The cost model uses a typical drilling rate of $65 to $100 per foot. At the local median depth of 100 feet, the drilled hole is estimated at about $6,500 to $10,000.

A finished system, including the pump, pressure tank, trenching, and electrical work, is estimated at $12,500 to $22,000. That is a planning range, not a fixed bid. Depth, access, casing and grout requirements, difficult rock, water testing, and site layout can change the total. Ask for separate line items so you can see what is included and what happens if the hole must go deeper.

Check mines, septic layout, and low-yield risk before closing

The mapped area has 192 historic mine features within about 10 miles of Marble. It has 0 PFAS sampling or contamination sites and 0 EPA Superfund or cleanup sites in the same mapped search. Those findings do not replace a water test. Historic mining, local geology, and old site activities still deserve review, particularly if a property is near a mine feature.

Most permits are for domestic or household use at 87%, but a well permit does not solve every building issue. Confirm the permitted use, septic reserve area, driveway access, and space for the well and septic system before designing a home. In an over-appropriated basin, an augmentation plan may be needed. A Colorado exempt household-use well also has a 35 gpm pumping limit.

Use nearby permits to plan a Marble purchase or build

Before making an offer, pull the closest DWR well permits and compare depths, reported yields, static levels, construction, and dates. The local record is strongest for basic household wells, not necessarily for irrigation or larger demands. If the lot is near Redstone, Snowmass Village, or another mountain community, use the closest comparable wells rather than assuming results from farther away in the valley.

For a new build, have a driller review access, pad location, casing and grout, power routing, storage, and the septic layout together. Budget using the finished-system range, then confirm the contractor's exclusions. If an existing well is present, test the water, verify the permit and use, inspect the equipment, and ask for a current production evaluation before treating it as a dependable supply.

Well permits by decade near Marble

What a new well costs in Marble, 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 (200 ft) would run roughly $19,000–$32,000. 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 Marble? 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 Marble 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 Marble

Keep researching

More in Gunnison County

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

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