What Oak Creek Well Records Show Buyers

How deep are wells around Oak Creek?

How much water do wells make near Oak Creek?

Oak Creek well depths vary sharply in mountain rock

The median reported well depth near Oak Creek is 140 feet, but the middle half of wells runs from 20 to 340 feet. That spread matters when you ask for a drilling bid. A driller who prices only to the median may not be allowing enough for a difficult fractured-rock hole. The ninety-percentile depth is 480 feet, and the deepest record reaches 991 feet.

Depth records are also unevenly distributed. Forty-four percent of wells are under 100 feet, while 23% fall from 100 to 300 feet, 25% from 300 to 600 feet, and 7% exceed 600 feet. Most permits name an unnamed fractured-bedrock aquifer, so granite and gneiss fractures, not a uniform sand-and-gravel layer, control the result.

Most Oak Creek wells make usable household rates

Among the 52 wells reporting pump yield, the median is 6.5 gallons per minute. The middle half produces 5.0 to 9.0 gallons per minute, which is generally a workable range for a household when the storage tank and plumbing are sized properly. Seventy-five percent of reported wells fall between 5 and 15 gallons per minute.

Low-producing wells are present but not common in the records: 2% report under 1 gallon per minute, and 21% report from 1 to 5 gallons per minute. Only 2% exceed 15 gallons per minute. A yield test is still essential because only a fraction of constructed wells report pump yield. An exempt household-use well also has a 35-gallon-per-minute pumping limit, regardless of what the hole might produce.

Oak Creek water levels show a notable decade difference

Reported static water levels have a median depth of 16 feet below the surface, with the middle half from 7 to 100 feet. That is a broad range, and static level is not the same as a sustained pumping rate. A shallow water level can still occur in a low-yield fracture system, while a deeper level can support a productive well if the fractures are connected.

The decade series deserves attention. The median measured water level was 9 feet below ground in the 2010s and 90 feet in the 2020s. That difference suggests lower reported water levels in the newer measurements, but it does not by itself prove a regional groundwater decline. Measurement locations, seasons, well depths and pumping conditions may differ. Ask for the original well construction and water-level records before drawing a conclusion about a specific lot.

Recent permitting keeps Oak Creek drilling history active

The records include 395 permitted wells within the study area, with 207 recorded as constructed. Permits were issued in every decade from the 1960s through the 2020s, and the newest permit year is 2025. The busiest periods in the record were the 1990s, with 96 permits, and the 2020s, with 87.

The most active named entries are Authorized (Pe, Pg), with 60 records; Aztec Drilling Company (Branstetter, Keith), with 39; and Arrow Drilling (Berglund, Peter R.), with 31. These records identify activity, not an endorsement or a guarantee of current availability. Review the Colorado DWR permit, construction report and pump information for the nearest comparable wells, including properties toward Phippsburg and the Oak Creek valley.

A median-depth Oak Creek well costs about $15,100-$26,000 finished

Local drilling is priced as fractured mountain bedrock work, with a typical drilling rate of $65-$100 per foot. At the 140-foot median depth, the drilled hole alone models to about $9,100-$14,000. That is not the complete water system.

A finished well including the pump, pressure tank, trenching and electrical is modeled at about $15,100-$26,000 at the median depth. A deeper hole can move well beyond that range, and difficult access, casing, grouting, blasting or added site work can change the bid. Ask each driller to separate footage, casing, grout, pump equipment, electrical, trenching, water testing and any dry-hole terms. Because the middle half of local wells extends to 340 feet, compare bids using more than one depth assumption.

Check water quality, dry-hole exposure and the building site

Yield is only one risk. Mapped sites within about ten miles include 4 PFAS sampling or contamination sites, 34 historic mine features and 2 EPA Superfund or cleanup sites. Those maps do not prove contamination at a property, but they justify a location-specific water test and a review of nearby land uses. Test before closing when possible, then test again after construction if the well or plumbing changes.

Also check casing and grout, wellhead drainage, septic setbacks, access for a rig, and the location of the house, driveway and leach field. Fractured granite and gneiss can produce a dry hole or a lower yield than a nearby permit. Confirm the permit allows the intended use. Domestic wells make up 70% of the local use mix, while stock accounts for 15% and irrigation only 2%. Over-appropriated basins may require an augmentation plan for some uses.

Use neighboring permits before buying an Oak Creek lot

Start with the nearest comparable wells, not the local average. Compare depth, aquifer name, static water level, reported yield and construction details. The database has 219 wells reporting total depth, but only 52 reporting pump yield and 46 reporting static water level, so missing data is common. A driller should inspect the site and explain the likely depth range, casing and grout requirements before you rely on a budget.

For a building lot, make the well location and septic layout work together. Confirm legal access for drilling and future service, obtain the correct DWR permit, and include water-quality and flow contingencies in the purchase contract. If the site is near Phippsburg, Yampa or another nearby area, use those records as supporting context rather than substituting them for Oak Creek neighbors. Plan storage and conservation around the tested yield, not the best number in the county.

Well permits by decade near Oak Creek

What a new well costs in Oak Creek, 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 (340 ft) would run roughly $28,100–$46,000. 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 Oak Creek? 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 Oak Creek 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 Oak Creek

Keep researching

More in Routt County

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

Nearby areas