What Meeker, Colorado Wells Are Really Like

How deep are wells around Meeker?

How much water do wells make near Meeker?

Meeker well depths depend on the ground under the lot

Meeker wells have a median reported depth of 63 feet. The middle half runs from 38 to 155 feet, which means many drilling bids should be based on a relatively shallow hole, while still allowing for substantial variation. The 90th percentile is 280 feet, and the deepest recorded well reaches 1,220 feet.

Depth records show 59% of wells under 100 feet, 32% between 100 and 300 feet, 8% between 300 and 600 feet, and 1% above 600 feet. That spread matters when comparing bids. A quote built around the 63-foot median may not cover a difficult site. The local records identify 339 wells in unnamed or fractured-bedrock aquifers and 12 in alluvial aquifers, so the exact geology beneath the parcel remains important.

Most Meeker wells make useful water, but yield still varies

Among the 59 Meeker-area permits that report pump yield, the median is 12.0 gallons per minute. The middle half runs from 7.0 to 18.0 gallons per minute. That is generally a workable range for a household well, but the permit sample is limited and does not represent every constructed well.

Forty-six percent of reported wells produce 15 or more gallons per minute, while 44% fall between 5 and 15 gallons per minute. Ten percent are in the 1-to-5-gallon-per-minute range, and none of the reported wells are under 1 gallon per minute. A buyer should still ask for the actual well test, pump size, storage capacity and recovery behavior. A strong nearby well is encouraging evidence, not a guarantee for a new hole.

Water levels are shallow, with no simple long-term pattern

The median reported static water level near Meeker is 16 feet below the surface, with the middle half from 6 to 80 feet. A shallow static level can reduce pumping lift, but it does not by itself prove that the well will produce a strong flow. Static level, pumping level and recovery should be reviewed separately.

The decade figures do not show a steady decline. The median was 35 feet below the surface in the 1970s, 6 feet in the 2010s and 18 feet in the 2020s. Those measurements come from different wells and locations, so they are not a continuous monitoring record. Treat the series as local context rather than proof that the water table is rising or falling across Meeker.

Meeker’s permit history shows continuing well activity

Permit activity stretches from the 1950s through 2025. The records show 1 permit in the 1950s, 4 in the 1960s, 42 in the 1970s, 35 in the 1980s, 52 in the 1990s, 53 in the 2000s, 25 in the 2010s and 75 in the 2020s.

The most frequently listed drillers are Water Pump Supply & Service, Day, Travis, with 43 records; Water Pump Supply And Service, Day, Winfred C., with 34; and Shelton Drilling Corporation, Shelton, Wayne, with 15. These are permit-record names, not a recommendation or proof that they are available today. Ask for the construction report, casing and grout details, pump test and any work performed after the original permit.

A Meeker well may cost more than the drilling line item

For the mixed sedimentary and alluvial ground modeled around Meeker, the typical drilling rate is $50-$75 per foot. At the local median depth of 63 feet, the drilled hole works out to about $3,200-$4,700. That is only the hole, not a functioning water system.

The modeled finished-well cost is about $9,200-$16,700 after adding the pump, pressure tank, trenching and electrical work. A real bid can change with access, casing and grout requirements, pump setting, trench length, power availability and site conditions. Ask each contractor what is included, how extra footage is charged, and what happens if the hole has low yield or must be deepened.

Check water quality, dry-hole risk and the building layout

Local yield statistics are encouraging, but a new well can still miss the productive zone or produce water that needs treatment. The mapped area within about 10 miles includes 19 PFAS sampling or contamination sites, 13 historic mine features and 1 EPA Superfund or cleanup site. That does not establish contamination at a specific parcel, but it is a reason to test existing well water and investigate the site history.

Septic and well locations must be planned together. Confirm required setbacks, available space, slope, access for a rig, and room for a replacement septic area before finalizing a building site. Ask about casing, grout and sanitary protection, and have the finished water tested for the contaminants relevant to the parcel. A water-right review is also necessary, especially if the intended use goes beyond ordinary household needs.

Use nearby Meeker wells as evidence, not a promise

For a lot near Meeker, start with the Colorado DWR permit and construction records for the parcel and neighboring properties. Compare reported depths, aquifer descriptions, yields and static levels, then ask a local driller how those records relate to the exact ground at the site. The nearby records include shallow wells as well as much deeper exceptions, so one neighbor should not control the budget.

Before closing, make the well permit, pump test, water-quality results and septic feasibility part of the investigation. If building, price access, power, trenching, storage and the complete well system rather than drilling alone. Colorado exempt household-use wells still have limits and conditions, and an augmentation plan may be needed in an over-appropriated basin. Confirm the permitted use with Colorado DWR before relying on the water for a planned home, livestock or irrigation.

Well permits by decade near Meeker

What a new well costs in Meeker, 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 (155 ft) would run roughly $13,750–$23,625. 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 Meeker? 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 Meeker 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 Meeker

Keep researching

More in Rio Blanco County

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

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