Morrison, Colorado Well Depth, Yield, and Cost Guide

How deep are wells around Morrison?

How much water do wells make near Morrison?

Morrison’s well depths reflect fractured mountain rock

Morrison wells are commonly drilled into fractured granite, gneiss, or other mountain bedrock. The recorded median depth is 305 feet. Half of the wells with reported depths fall between 152 and 527 feet, while the 90th percentile is 780 feet. The deepest record reaches 4,095 feet.

The depth mix shows why a single shallow estimate is risky: 15% are under 100 feet, 30% are from 100 to 300 feet, 34% are from 300 to 600 feet, and 21% exceed 600 feet. A driller’s bid should state the assumed footage, what happens if the hole must go deeper, and how casing and grout are handled.

What Morrison wells usually produce

Reported well yields near Morrison have a median of 6.0 gallons per minute, with the middle half between 3.0 and 9.8 gallons per minute. The largest group, 56%, reports between 5 and 15 gallons per minute. Another 34% falls between 1 and 5 gallons per minute.

Only 3% report less than 1 gallon per minute, but that small share still matters when evaluating a specific property. A low-yield well can work with adequate storage and careful household use, while a strong yield does not remove the need for water-quality testing. Ask for the well construction report, pump test information, storage capacity, and permit use limits before assuming the well supports irrigation or additional residences.

Water levels vary across Morrison’s mountain terrain

The current recorded median static water level is 100 feet below the surface, with the middle half from 38 to 189 feet. That is the depth to water when the well is at rest, not the same as the well’s total drilled depth and not a promise that the water level will remain unchanged during pumping.

The decade series is uneven rather than a clean, continuing decline. Median depth to water was 52 feet in the 1960s, 55 feet in the 1970s, 90 feet in the 1980s, and 185 feet in the 2010s, then 100 feet in the 2020s. Because only 126 records report static water level, use the series as context, not a site-specific forecast.

Permit history and drillers active around Morrison

Colorado DWR records contain 3,675 permitted wells within the local search area. Of those, 2,369 are recorded as constructed, and the newest permit year is 2025. Permit activity was highest in the 1970s, with 788 permits, followed by 639 in the 1990s and 461 in the 1980s. The records include 130 permits from the 2020s.

The most frequently listed drillers are Aspen Drilling Company Inc (Beery, Leroy J.) with 294 records, James Drilling Company (Keaton, Michael K.) with 286, and Living Water Systems Inc. (Goble, Robert) with 191. These records show local experience, but obtain current licensing, insurance, scope, and references before hiring.

Morrison well drilling cost at the median depth

Fractured mountain bedrock makes footage the main cost variable. The local drilling model uses $65 to $100 per foot. At the 305-foot median depth, the drilled hole is estimated at about $19,800 to $30,500.

A finished system is more than the hole. Including the pump, pressure tank, trenching, and electrical work, the estimated total is about $25,800 to $42,500 at the median depth. A property requiring a deeper hole, difficult access, longer utility runs, more casing, or additional site work can cost more. Get the bid in writing and ask whether it includes permitting, casing, grout, development, pump installation, water testing, and a production test. The middle-half depth range of 152 to 527 feet is the most useful warning against treating the median as a fixed price.

Risks to investigate before buying or building

Water quantity is only one part of the decision. Within about 10 miles of Morrison, the map shows 107 PFAS sampling or contamination sites, 109 historic mine features, and 60 EPA Superfund or cleanup sites. Those mapped locations do not prove a problem on a particular parcel, but they justify a site-specific water test and a review of nearby land uses.

Most permits are for domestic or household use, representing 87% of the local mix. Stock use is 4%, irrigation is 1%, and monitoring is 4%. Confirm that the existing permit matches your intended use. Also verify well-to-septic separation, available drainfield area, access for a rig, driveway grade, power routing, and building setbacks. In fractured rock, dry holes and sharply different results between neighboring lots are possible.

Buying a lot near Morrison: a practical water check

Start with the exact parcel, then review wells in Indian Hills, Idledale, Dakota Ridge, Genesee, and Kittredge as nearby comparison points. Neighboring records can show depth, yield, water level, aquifer description, and the history of drilling in the immediate mountain setting. They cannot replace a site investigation, but they can expose an unrealistic seller estimate.

Before closing, make the water contingency specific. Request the DWR permit and construction report, confirm the well’s legal use, test the water for ordinary household concerns plus contaminants suggested by local history, and ask a driller to comment on access and likely depth. If building, coordinate the well, septic system, driveway, electric trench, and house location before excavation begins. A lot with a workable well still needs enough usable ground for the complete site plan.

Well permits by decade near Morrison

What a new well costs in Morrison, 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 (527 ft) would run roughly $40,255–$64,700. 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 Morrison? 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 Morrison 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 Morrison

Keep researching

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

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