What Nucla Well Records Show Buyers

How deep are wells around Nucla?

How much water do wells make near Nucla?

Nucla well depth and the ground below

Nucla wells are often shallower than buyers expect, but the spread is wide. The median reported depth is 108 feet. The middle half runs from 22 to 223 feet, while the 90th percentile reaches 306 feet and the deepest record is 640 feet.

Depth records show 48% under 100 feet, 41% from 100 to 300 feet, 10% from 300 to 600 feet, and 1% at 600 feet or more. That mix is useful for a preliminary driller's bid, not a promise. Permits most often name an unnamed or fractured-bedrock aquifer, with Dakota and Dakota Sandstone also present. Fractured rock can change abruptly over a short distance, so nearby well depth is one of the best first checks before buying.

How much water a Nucla well may produce

Only 29 Nucla-area records report a pump yield, so the yield statistics are based on a small subset. Among those reports, the median is 10.0 gallons per minute, and the middle half is 7.0 to 12.0 gallons per minute.

The recorded mix is encouraging for ordinary household planning: 72% report 5 to 15 gallons per minute, 17% report more than 15, and 10% report 1 to 5. No reported well is under 1 gallon per minute. That does not eliminate low-yield risk on an untested lot. Ask for the well completion report, pump test information, storage capacity, and any history of shortages. An exempt household-use well is generally limited to 35 gallons per minute under Colorado rules, and water rights still control use.

Nucla water levels and what the records reveal

Static water-level information is limited around Nucla. Just 3 records report a static water level, producing a median depth to water of 50 feet and a middle half from 28 to 135 feet. That is not enough evidence to call a regional water-table trend upward or downward.

A static level is also different from the water level while pumping. A buyer should ask when the measurement was taken, whether the well had rested beforehand, and whether the number came from a completion report or a later inspection. The aquifer names and fractured-bedrock setting suggest that water conditions can vary locally. Test the actual well rather than relying on the median, especially for a larger home, livestock, or irrigation plan.

Who has drilled around Nucla, and when

Permit activity is not evenly spread through the decades. The records show 3 permits in the 1960s, 36 in the 1970s, 19 in the 1980s, 85 in the 1990s, 30 in the 2000s, 58 in the 2010s, and 153 in the 2020s. The newest permit year is 2025. Many permits are for monitoring rather than household supply: the use mix is 60% monitoring, 29% domestic or household, 10% stock, and 1% irrigation.

The most active names in these records are Authorized (Pe, Pg), Gordon Smith And Company, and Smith Drilling C/O Gordon R. Smith. Those records identify past activity, not current availability or a recommendation. Confirm licensing, insurance, references, mobilization charges, and what the bid includes before hiring a driller.

What a new Nucla well may cost

For Nucla's mixed sedimentary and alluvial ground, the supplied cost model uses $50 to $75 per foot. At the 108-foot median depth, that puts the drilled hole at about $5,400 to $8,100.

A finished system is more than the borehole. Including a pump, pressure tank, trenching, and electrical, the estimated total at the median depth is $11,400 to $20,100. Treat that as a planning range, not a fixed quote. A deeper hole, difficult access, casing and grout requirements, water testing, rock, or a longer utility run can change the final bill. Have the driller separate drilling, casing, grout, development, pump equipment, trenching, electrical, and testing so competing bids can be compared honestly.

Risks to check before building near Nucla

Environmental review deserves attention here. Within about ten miles, the records map 13 PFAS sampling or contamination sites, 122 historic mine features, and 1 EPA Superfund or cleanup site. These mapped features do not prove that a particular well is contaminated, but they are a reason to obtain a current water test and review the well location, groundwater flow, and past land use.

Low yield, dry holes, poor casing or grout, and pump problems are separate risks. Septic setbacks, replacement-area requirements, access for drilling equipment, and a suitable building site should be checked before closing. Colorado DWR permit conditions and local water-right requirements may limit household, stock, or irrigation use. Do not assume a permitted well supplies every planned use.

A practical plan for a Nucla lot

Start with the parcel's permit number and completion report, then compare nearby wells in Nucla and Naturita rather than relying on a countywide average. Look for reported depth, yield, static level, aquifer, casing, and well use. If records are incomplete, budget for an inspection, pump test, and laboratory water testing before removing contingencies.

For a vacant lot, have a driller evaluate access, likely well location, drilling depth, and the relationship between the well and proposed septic system. Confirm the permit path with Colorado DWR before construction. On an existing home, verify that the pump, pressure tank, electrical service, storage, and treatment equipment are included in the sale and working under demand. The strongest decision combines the paper record with an on-site inspection and a realistic finished-system budget.

Well permits by decade near Nucla

What a new well costs in Nucla, 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 (223 ft) would run roughly $17,150–$28,725. 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 Nucla? 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 Nucla 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 Nucla

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

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