Naturita, Colorado Well Guide

How deep are wells around Naturita?

How much water do wells make near Naturita?

Naturita well depth depends on the ground below the lot

The median reported well depth near Naturita is 104 feet. The middle half runs from 21 to 240 feet, which is a very broad spread for estimating a new well. Nearly half of the reported wells are under 100 feet, while 34% fall between 100 and 300 feet. Another 16% are between 300 and 600 feet, and 2% exceed 600 feet. The deepest record reaches 640 feet.

Most permits identify an unnamed or fractured-bedrock aquifer, with 425 wells in that category. That geology can change quickly over short distances. For a drilling bid, the 104-foot median is a useful starting point, but the 21-to-240-foot middle range matters more than the median alone. Ask for a written estimate that explains what happens if the hole must go deeper.

What Naturita wells produce for household use

Only 23 wells in the records report a pump yield, so the yield statistics are useful but not highly certain for every neighborhood. Among those reports, the median is 10.0 gallons per minute, and the middle half is 7.5 to 12.5 gallons per minute. Seventy percent report 5 to 15 gallons per minute, while 22% report more than 15 gallons per minute.

No reported wells are under 1 gallon per minute, and 9% fall between 1 and 5 gallons per minute. That is encouraging for basic household planning, but a reported yield is not the same as guaranteed storage or sustained production. Confirm the well’s permit limits, pump setting, pressure tank, and any required testing before assuming it will support irrigation, livestock, or a larger home.

The water-level record is too thin to show a trend

Four wells report a static water level, with a median depth to water of 125 feet and a middle half from 39 to 205 feet. That range is large enough to affect pump selection, trenching, and the cost of bringing water into a home. It also shows why a nearby well’s water level can be more useful than a countywide assumption.

There are not enough reported static measurements to establish a reliable water-table trend by decade around Naturita. Do not treat the available records as proof that groundwater is falling or stable. Before buying, obtain the well construction report and recent pumping information for the property, then have a qualified driller evaluate drawdown, pump placement, and recovery.

Recent permits show active drilling around Naturita

The permit history is not limited to older rural homes. Records show 150 permits issued in the 2020s, with the newest permit year listed as 2024. Earlier totals include 70 in the 2010s, 35 in the 2000s, and 87 in the 1990s. The records also include 28 permits from the 1970s and 25 from the 1980s.

The most frequently listed drillers are Authorized (Pe, Pg), with 74 records; Gordon Smith And Company, with 21; and Smith Drilling C/O Gordon R. Smith, with 13. These names describe permit records, not a recommendation. Verify current licensing, insurance, references, and availability. A permit is not proof that a well was completed, since 469 permits appear in the broader record but only 169 are marked constructed.

A Naturita well can cost more than the hole itself

For the mixed sedimentary and alluvial ground modeled around Naturita, the typical drilling rate is $50 to $75 per foot. Applied to the 104-foot median depth, the drilled hole works out to about $5,200 to $7,800. That figure is only the drilling portion and should not be mistaken for a complete water system.

A finished well with pump, tank, trenching, and electrical is modeled at about $11,200 to $19,800 at the median depth. A property with a deeper-than-typical hole, difficult access, additional casing or grout, or longer utility runs can cost more. Request an itemized bid that separates drilling, casing, grouting, development, pump equipment, electrical work, trenching, and testing.

Naturita buyers should check water quality and the building site

Mapped environmental information deserves a closer look before closing. Within about 10 miles, the records show 14 PFAS sampling or contamination sites, 135 historic mine features, and 1 EPA Superfund or cleanup site. These maps do not prove that a particular well is contaminated, but they are good reasons to order a laboratory water test and review the property’s distance from mines, waste areas, and other known sites.

Low yield and dry holes remain possible in fractured bedrock even when nearby wells produce water. Also confirm separation between the well, septic system, reserve leach area, property boundaries, and the proposed building site. Septic approval and a well permit are separate issues. Ask the county and Colorado DWR what the permit allows; an exempt household-use well generally has a 35 gpm pumping limit, and some basins require augmentation plans.

Before buying or building near Naturita

Start with the exact permit number and construction report, not just a listing description. Compare the property’s depth, yield, static water level, pump test, and water-quality results with nearby records in Naturita and Nucla. If you are looking farther out toward Redvale or Norwood, do not assume the same geology or costs apply.

For a vacant lot, make the well location, septic layout, access road, electrical route, and building envelope part of the early site plan. Confirm that drilling equipment can reach the location and that the road can support construction traffic. For an existing home, test the water, inspect the pressure system, and verify that the recorded well matches the equipment and actual use. A local driller can price risk more accurately after seeing the parcel.

Well permits by decade near Naturita

What a new well costs in Naturita, 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 (240 ft) would run roughly $18,000–$30,000. 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 Naturita? 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 Naturita 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 Naturita

Keep researching

More in Montrose County

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

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