Olathe Colorado Well Depth, Yield, and Cost Guide

How deep are wells around Olathe?

How much water do wells make near Olathe?

Olathe well depths: shallow locally, with exceptions

Olathe’s reported well depth is 35 feet at the median, and the middle half of records falls between 21 and 71 feet. That is a useful starting point for a drilling estimate because 76% of the reported depth records are under 100 feet. Still, the local range is wide: 7% are 100 to 300 feet, 11% are 300 to 600 feet, and 5% are deeper than 600 feet. The deepest record is 933 feet.

The permits mostly identify an unnamed or fractured-bedrock aquifer, with 210 wells in that category. Two name the Mancos, and one names the Morrison. Mixed sedimentary and alluvial ground can change quickly across a property. Ask a driller to compare nearby logs, not just use the 35-foot median when preparing a bid.

What Olathe wells produce

Only five wells in the records report a pump yield, so the yield statistics are based on a small sample. Among those reports, the median is 15.0 gallons per minute, and the middle half is also 15.0 to 15.0 gallons per minute. Eighty percent report more than 15 gallons per minute, while 20% report 5 to 15 gallons per minute. No reported wells fall under 1 gallon per minute or in the 1 to 5 gallon-per-minute range.

That looks favorable, but it is not a promise for an untested lot. A driller’s test and a properly sized pump, pressure tank, and storage system matter more than a map summary. Confirm the permitted use as well: the local records include domestic, stock, irrigation, and monitoring wells, and those uses do not all represent household supply performance.

Water levels near Olathe and what the records show

The five reported static water levels have a median depth to water of 32 feet, with the middle half between 14 and 37 feet. For a buyer, that suggests water may be encountered relatively close to the surface in some parts of the area, but it should not be read as the expected drilling depth. A well can pass through shallow water-bearing material and still require different construction for dependable production.

The available water-level sample is too small to establish a reliable long-term decline or rise. The permit history shows wells from the 1950s through the 2020s, with the newest permit issued in 2025, but that does not create a decade-by-decade water-table trend. Request the well log, static level, pumping test, and recent water-quality results for the specific property.

Who has drilled around Olathe, and when

The permit record is spread across many decades, with 11 permits in the 1950s, 5 in the 1960s, 15 in the 1970s, 9 in the 1980s, 23 in the 1990s, 22 in the 2000s, 47 in the 2010s, and 4 in the 2020s. The newest permit year is 2025. More recent activity gives you additional nearby logs to compare, while older wells can still show how ground conditions vary across the valley and nearby uplands.

The most active driller listed is Authorized (Pe, Pg), with 35 records. K. W. Anderson Drilling, recorded as Anderson, Kermit W, has 11, and Johnson Brothers, recorded as Johnson, Chester T, has 7. These are permit-record names, not recommendations. Verify current licensing, insurance, references, access requirements, and the proposed well construction before hiring.

What a new Olathe well may cost

For the mixed sedimentary and alluvial ground described in this area, the drilling model uses a typical rate of $50 to $75 per foot. At the 35-foot median depth, the drilled hole is estimated at about $1,800 to $2,600. That is only the drilling portion, not the complete water system.

A finished well with pump, pressure tank, trenching, and electrical is estimated at about $7,800 to $14,600 at the median depth. A deeper-than-typical hole, difficult access, extra casing or grout, testing, treatment, or a longer utility run can move the final bid higher. Ask for a written breakdown separating drilling, casing, grout, pump equipment, electrical, trenching, permits, and testing so competing bids describe the same work.

Olathe risks to check before you commit

Low yield is not the only concern. The records include a small yield sample, and the depth range runs from shallow wells to 933 feet, so a dry hole or a costly deeper well remains a site-specific possibility. Fractured-bedrock conditions can be unpredictable even where neighboring wells perform well. Have the driller review nearby logs and explain the stopping, casing, and testing plan before work starts.

Water quality also deserves attention. Within about ten miles, the mapped environmental information includes 17 PFAS sampling or contamination sites, one historic mine feature, and one EPA Superfund or cleanup site. That does not prove a problem on your property, but it supports testing for the contaminants relevant to the site. Keep the well, septic system, and future building area separated as required, and confirm that the lot can meet Colorado septic and setback requirements.

Buying or building on an Olathe lot

Before closing, obtain the DWR permit, well construction report, pump information, water-quality results, and any recorded production or static-level data. Compare the property with nearby wells in Olathe and the surrounding areas, including Delta, Montrose, Orchard City, Lazear, Hotchkiss, and Cedaredge. Local comparison is more useful than relying on a countywide assumption.

If you plan to build, check the water right and permitted use early. An exempt household-use well has limits, including the 35-gallon-per-minute pumping limit, and an over-appropriated basin may require an augmentation plan. Confirm the intended domestic, stock, irrigation, or other use with Colorado DWR. Price access for a drill rig, power, trenching, septic, and construction equipment before making the offer.

Well permits by decade near Olathe

What a new well costs in Olathe, 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 (71 ft) would run roughly $9,550–$17,325. 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 Olathe? 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 Olathe 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 Olathe

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

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