Montezuma, Colorado Well Depth, Yield, and Cost

How deep are wells around Montezuma?

How much water do wells make near Montezuma?

Montezuma well depth depends on fractured mountain rock

The recorded median well depth near Montezuma is 74 feet. The middle half runs from 45 to 141 feet, and 61% of reported wells are under 100 feet. Another 32% fall between 100 and 300 feet. The 90th percentile is 232 feet, while the deepest recorded well reaches 3,500 feet.

That spread matters when comparing drilling bids. A 74-foot estimate may fit the local midpoint, but a contractor still has to allow for a deeper hole if the first fractures do not produce water. The records name an unnamed or fractured-bedrock aquifer for 336 wells, with no Denver Basin aquifer wells. Ask for a written per-foot rate, casing and grout assumptions, and the point at which you can stop or revise the work.

What Montezuma wells typically produce

Among the 59 wells with a reported pump yield, the median is 10.0 gallons per minute. The middle half produces 8.0 to 15.0 gallons per minute. No reported wells are under 1 gallon per minute; 7% produce 1 to 5 gallons per minute, 59% produce 5 to 15 gallons per minute, and 34% produce more than 15 gallons per minute.

Those figures are encouraging for ordinary household use, but they are not a promise for an untested lot. Yield is different from storage in the well, and a strong short test does not answer every seasonal question. Have the driller document the pumping test, recovery, static water level, and proposed pump capacity before sizing a home system.

The water-level records are too limited for a trend

The 11 wells with static water-level records show a median depth to water of 40 feet, with the middle half between 25 and 58 feet. That gives a useful local reference for pump setting and trench planning, but the sample is small compared with the 337 permitted wells.

Permit activity by decade does not show the water table rising or falling. It shows 5 permits in the 1960s, 22 in the 1970s, 40 in the 1980s, 66 in the 1990s, 76 in the 2000s, 29 in the 2010s, and 10 in the 2020s. The newest permit year is 2025. Treat a neighboring static level as a site clue, not a long-term groundwater trend.

Who drilled near Montezuma, and when permits were issued

The permit history spans several decades, with the largest recorded issuance period in the 2000s. The newest permit in the area is from 2025, so the records include both older systems and relatively recent work. Most permitted use is domestic or household use at 60%; monitoring accounts for 17%, while stock and irrigation are both 0%.

Among named drillers, Golden Eagle Drilling Corporation, associated in the records with Shelton, Joe Wayne, appears on 38 wells. Buena Vista Drilling, associated with Shelton, William L, appears on 28. Authorized, associated with Pe, Pg, appears on 23. These records identify past permit activity, not current availability or a recommendation. Confirm licensing, insurance, references, and a written scope before hiring.

Montezuma well drilling cost and the finished system

Local drilling is priced for fractured mountain bedrock, described in the cost model as granite and gneiss. A typical drilling rate is $65 to $100 per foot. At the recorded median depth of 74 feet, the drilled hole is estimated at about $4,800 to $7,400.

A finished system with pump, pressure tank, trenching, and electrical is estimated at $10,800 to $19,400 at that median depth. That is a planning range, not a fixed bid. A deeper hole, difficult access, extra casing or grout, and power or trench conditions can change the total. Request separate line items for drilling, casing, development, testing, pump equipment, trenching, electrical, and permits.

Risks to check before building on a Montezuma lot

Low yield is not the only concern. Fractured-bedrock wells can be unpredictable, and a dry hole or poor-producing interval is possible even where nearby wells work. The records also map 6 PFAS sampling or contamination sites, 680 historic mine features, and 12 EPA Superfund or cleanup sites within about 10 miles. Those mapped features do not prove contamination on a specific parcel, but they justify water testing and a site-specific environmental review.

Confirm the well permit and allowed use before relying on the supply. A household well may be exempt, but exempt wells still have limits; Colorado's exempt-well pumping limit is 35 gallons per minute. Check septic setbacks, replacement-area requirements, driveway access, slope, and building envelopes before placing a home. A well location that works on paper may conflict with septic or construction access.

A practical plan for buying or building near Montezuma

Start with the parcel's own permit, then compare nearby wells in Montezuma and surrounding Keystone, Dillon, Silver Plume, Breckenridge, Frisco, and Blue River. Look for depth, yield, static level, construction details, and the permitted use, while remembering that only part of the local record includes each measurement.

Before closing, make the purchase agreement address well inspection, flow testing, water-quality testing, permit verification, and a remedy if the system does not perform. For raw land, have a driller review access and likely drilling conditions before finalizing a house plan. Keep the well, septic field, driveway, and electrical route coordinated from the start; moving one later can add excavation and permitting complications.

Well permits by decade near Montezuma

What a new well costs in Montezuma, 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 (141 ft) would run roughly $15,165–$26,100. 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 Montezuma? 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 Montezuma 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 Montezuma

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

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