What to Expect From a Well in Moffat County

How deep are wells around Moffat County?

How much water do wells make near Moffat County?

A 217-Foot Median Leaves Plenty of Room for a Different Bid

Among the 2,625 wells reporting depth, the median is 217 feet. The middle half runs from 73 to 360 feet. For a buyer, that spread matters more than the midpoint alone: a bid based only on the median can miss a substantial amount of drilling. The 90th-percentile depth is 500 feet.

Mixed sedimentary and alluvial ground helps explain why nearby completion records matter. Aquifer labels are often broad: 4,130 permits fall under unnamed or fractured-bedrock aquifers, compared with 63 Alluvial and 32 Wasatch-Fort Union wells. Those labels do not establish the exact geology beneath your parcel. Ask the driller which nearby logs best match your site.

Reported Yields Center on 8 GPM, Not Unlimited Ranch Water

The 521 wells with reported pump yields have a median of 8.0 gpm, with the middle half between 6.0 and 12.0 gpm. That suggests useful household supply is common among reporting wells, but a recorded pumping rate is not a guarantee of sustained delivery during heavy use.

Reported yields include 11% in the 1–5 gpm range and 70% in the 5–15 gpm range. The under-1-gpm share is 0%; that does not prove dry holes or poorly producing wells are absent. Before buying, get a current pumping and recovery test. Match the results to household demand, livestock needs and storage, and confirm that the permit authorizes the intended uses.

Moffat's Water-Level Records Do Not Show a Steady Decline

Static water level is the depth to standing water in a resting well, not the depth of the drilled hole. Across 205 reporting wells, the median is 77 feet below ground, and the middle half spans 31–140 feet. Pump selection also needs the water level while pumping, not just this resting measurement.

Decade medians are 80 feet in the 1980s, 65 in the 2000s, 82 in the 2010s and 64 in the 2020s. These figures fluctuate rather than showing steadily deeper water. They also represent different reporting wells, not continuous measurements at the same locations. They cannot establish that water levels on a particular Craig, Maybell or Dinosaur property are stable.

A Long Permit History, With Household and Stock Uses Leading

Moffat County's permit history extends from 6 permits in the 1950s to records as recent as 2026. The 1990s account for 820 permits, compared with 659 in the 2000s, 490 in the 2010s and 470 in the 2020s. The latest decade is incomplete, so those totals should not be read as a straight construction trend.

Domestic or household use accounts for 55% of records and stock use for 25%. Prominent driller entries include Craig Drilling (Herod, James Leroy), with 267 records, and Visintainer Co. (Visintainer, Walter), with 251. “Authorized (Pe, Pg)” appears on 348 records but is not a clear business name. Historical entries do not establish current availability or licensing.

Budget Beyond the Drilled Hole in Moffat County

The local cost model uses $50–$75 per foot for mixed sedimentary and alluvial ground. At the 217-foot median depth, that puts the drilled hole at about $10,800–$16,300. A finished well with pump, tank, trenching and electrical is modeled at $16,800–$28,300.

Treat those figures as a planning range, not a site quote. The broad depth spread means the footage allowance deserves close attention. Ask what the bid includes for casing and grout, how additional drilling is priced, and where trenching and electrical allowances stop. Access preparation, septic work and the rest of the building site need separate scope discussions rather than being assumed part of the finished-well estimate.

Check Water Quality and Failure Risk Separately From Depth

The environmental screening inventory lists 68 PFAS sampling or contamination sites, 33 historic mine features and 2 EPA Superfund or cleanup sites within about 10 miles. These are screening flags, not proof that a particular well is contaminated. A PFAS sampling location does not by itself establish a detection or an unsafe household supply.

For an existing well, arrange laboratory testing and use nearby site information to discuss additional analytes with the laboratory or local health officials. Review casing, grout and drainage around the wellhead. Reported yield statistics do not provide a dry-hole rate. On a building lot, coordinate the well location with septic siting, required setbacks, construction access and protection from surface runoff.

Before Closing Near Craig, Maybell or Dinosaur

Start with the parcel's DWR permit, well completion report and pump records. Confirm that the well serving the property matches those documents and that its authorized uses fit your plans. A household-use permit should not be assumed to cover irrigation or livestock simply because neighboring properties have those uses.

Next, compare nearby constructed wells around Craig, Maybell or Dinosaur rather than relying only on the county median. Request a written drilling scope for vacant land, or a current pumping test and water-quality results for an existing home. Settle driveway access, well placement, septic feasibility and utility routing before fixing the house location. These checks turn countywide averages into a practical purchase or building decision.

Well permits by decade near Moffat County

What a new well costs in Moffat County

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 (360 ft) would run roughly $24,000–$39,000. 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 Moffat County? 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 Moffat County 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 Moffat County

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Towns and areas in Moffat County

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