What to Expect From a Well in Morgan County

How deep are wells around Morgan County?

How much water do wells make near Morgan County?

A 91-Foot Median, With Local Ground Doing the Deciding

Among 6,990 wells reporting depth, the median is 91 feet and the middle half falls between 62 and 126 feet. That makes relatively shallow drilling a reasonable starting assumption, but a bid should still allow for the actual formation encountered. The 90th-percentile depth is 170 feet; the deepest record reaches 1,625 feet and is not a typical household benchmark.

Morgan County's drilling ground includes alluvium and plains sedimentary rock. Permits name Quaternary Alluvium for 571 wells and Alluvial for 438. The large unnamed / fractured-bedrock category is not proof that a particular lot sits over fractured rock. Compare nearby completion logs around Weldona, Orchard or Hillrose before selecting a target depth.

Strong Reported Yields, but Not All From Household Wells

The median reported pump yield is 20 gpm, with the middle half spanning 15-900 gpm. That unusually wide range needs context: irrigation accounts for 27% of recorded uses, stock for 25%, and domestic/household for 38%. A large irrigation-well result is not a sensible promise for a new house well.

Of the 1,910 wells reporting yield, 88% fall in the 15+ gpm category and 2% in the 1-5 gpm category. The reported share under 1 gpm is 0%, but that does not establish that unsuccessful drilling never occurs. For a purchase, get a current sustained pumping test and recovery assessment. A permit's reported output is neither a current performance guarantee nor permission to pump that amount for any use.

Water Below Ground Is Not the Same as Drilling Depth

Static water level is where water stands in a resting well, not the bottom of the hole. Morgan County's median is 33 feet below ground, with the middle half at 17-60 feet. Only 407 records report this measurement, so it is a much smaller sample than the depth records.

The decade medians do not show a steady countywide decline. Depth to water increased from 35 feet in the 1950s to 50 feet in the 1970s, then became shallower, reaching 20 feet in the 2000s. It was 21 feet in the 2010s and 37 feet in the 2020s. That recent deeper reading deserves attention, but these are different groups of measurements—not repeat monitoring of the same wells. Check local history and pumping drawdown before drawing conclusions about your parcel.

Morgan County's Drilling Record Runs Through 2025

Permit activity spans decades: 1,069 permits were issued in the 1970s, 1,044 in the 2000s, 723 in the 2010s and 440 in the 2020s. The newest permit year is 2025, so the latest decade is incomplete and should not be compared as a full period. Permit issuance also does not mean every authorized well was built.

The most frequent named driller entries are Canfield Drilling Company (Canfield, Harold E), with 1,242 records, and Canfield, Leslie George, with 934. Another 563 entries read Authorized (Pe, Pg), which is not a specific drilling-company name. These are historical record counts, not confirmation of current availability. For an existing well near Snyder or Log Lane Village, the original construction report can be more useful than the permit date alone.

Budget Beyond the Hole in Morgan County

The local cost model uses $35-$55 per foot for alluvium and plains sedimentary rock. At the 91-foot median depth, that puts the drilled hole around $3,200-$5,000. A finished well with pump, tank, trenching and electrical is estimated at $9,200-$17,000.

Treat those as planning figures, not a parcel-specific quote. The 62-126-foot middle depth range means a driller needs nearby logs and a clear scope before committing to footage. Ask the bid to spell out casing, grout, development, testing and what happens if more depth is required. Also confirm the assumed trench route and electrical connection. On a rural lot outside Brush or Wiggins, getting water from the well to the building can be a substantial part of the work.

Check Water Quality and Leave Room for Septic

The environmental map lists 35 PFAS sampling/contamination sites and 3 EPA Superfund/cleanup sites within about 10 miles. These are screening flags, not proof that a particular Morgan County well is contaminated. Review the individual site's status and groundwater setting, then ask a qualified laboratory or local health authority which tests fit the property. A clear-looking sample is not a safety determination.

Inspect the wellhead, casing condition, grout documentation and drainage around the well. For a building lot, lay out the well, septic system, replacement septic area, house and access together before drilling. Keep the drilling location accessible for future service. Strong countywide yield reports cannot eliminate a low-yield or unsuccessful hole on an individual parcel; discuss that possibility in the drilling contract.

Before Closing on Land Near Fort Morgan or Wiggins

Start with the actual parcel and its DWR permit, not the listing's description of a “domestic well.” Confirm the authorized uses and any restrictions on outdoor watering or livestock. An exempt household-use permit does not automatically authorize irrigation. Depending on the water source and proposed use, an augmentation plan may be needed in an over-appropriated basin.

For an existing home, obtain the completion report, pump records, current water-quality results and a pumping test. For vacant land around Morgan Heights, Trail Side or Saddle Ridge, compare nearby wells by location, aquifer and use rather than relying on the county median alone. Have the driller and site contractor review access, septic placement and utility routing before you settle the house location or treat the well allowance as final.

Well permits by decade near Morgan County

What a new well costs in Morgan 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 (126 ft) would run roughly $10,410–$18,930. 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 Morgan 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 Morgan 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 Morgan County

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Towns and areas in Morgan County

Neighboring counties