What Orchard, Colorado Wells Are Really Like

How deep are wells around Orchard?

How much water do wells make near Orchard?

Orchard well depths: shallow on average, but not uniform

Orchard’s recorded wells are much shallower than many mountain or fractured-granite areas. The median total depth is 93 feet, with the middle half running from 53 to 160 feet. About 53% are under 100 feet, while 46% fall between 100 and 300 feet. No recorded wells in this set fall between 300 and 600 feet or above 600 feet, although the deepest record reaches 1,430 feet.

For a drilling bid, the middle-half range is more useful than the median alone. A site near 160 feet can cost substantially more than one near 53 feet. Ground conditions, the target aquifer, casing and grout requirements, and the water right or permit limitations all affect the final design.

Reported yields are strong, but confirm the well type

Only 151 wells report a pump yield, so the yield statistics do not describe every permitted well. Among those reports, the median is 34.0 gallons per minute, and the middle half ranges from 15.0 to 1,200.0 gallons per minute. The records show 93% producing more than 15 gallons per minute, with no reported wells under 1 gallon per minute.

That is encouraging for Orchard, but do not treat a high irrigation-well result as a promise for a household well. Use, construction, testing method and aquifer all matter. A domestic well may need only modest flow, while irrigation can require a much larger supply. Have the driller perform and document an appropriate pump test.

Orchard water levels and the change in recent records

Static water level is reported for only 60 wells. The overall median depth to water is 36 feet, with the middle half from 11 to 54 feet below the surface. That gives a buyer a practical expectation for pumping equipment and trench planning, but the actual level can vary by location, season, pumping nearby wells and measurement conditions.

The decade figures deserve attention. The median reported water level was 14 feet below the surface in the 2010s and 43 feet in the 2020s. That indicates deeper measured water levels in the newer group of records. It is not, by itself, proof of a basin-wide decline, because the wells and measurement locations may differ.

Who has drilled near Orchard, and how old are the records

Orchard has a long permit history. The records include 45 permits from the 1950s, 59 from the 1960s, 57 from the 1970s, 38 from the 1980s, 87 from the 1990s, 100 from the 2000s, 110 from the 2010s and 81 from the 2020s. The newest permit year is 2025.

The most active names in these records are Authorized (Pe, Pg) with 95 wells, Canfield, Leslie George with 93, and Canfield Drilling Company (Canfield, Harold E) with 58. These names help with local research, but they do not replace a current bid or a site-specific evaluation. Ask for references and verify current licensing before hiring.

What a new Orchard well may cost

For Orchard’s Denver Basin sedimentary bedrock, the drilling rate model is $50-$70 per foot. Applying that range to the 93-foot median depth produces an estimated drilled-hole cost of about $4,600-$6,500. That is only the hole. It does not represent the complete water system or every permit and site expense.

A finished well with pump, pressure tank, trenching and electrical is modeled at approximately $10,600-$18,500 at the median depth. A deeper-than-median site, difficult access, extra casing, long utility runs or special treatment can move the price higher. Get a written scope that separates drilling, casing, grout, pump equipment, testing, electrical and trenching.

Orchard risks: water quality, permits and the building site

The mapped area has 60 PFAS sampling or contamination sites within about 10 miles. There are no historic mine features and no EPA Superfund or cleanup sites in the mapped data. That does not establish the quality of an individual well. Test existing water and plan testing for a new well, especially if the property is close to a mapped site or has an uncertain land-use history.

Permits show a mix of domestic or household use at 33%, stock at 18%, irrigation at 33% and monitoring at 19%. Confirm that the permit fits your intended use. Colorado exempt household-use wells have a 35 gallon-per-minute pumping limit, and augmentation plans may matter in over-appropriated basins. Keep the well, septic system and building site separated as required by current rules.

What to do before buying or building near Orchard

Start with neighboring wells, not a countywide average. Records near Jackson Lake, Wiggins, Weldona, Trail Side, Morgan Heights and Log Lane Village can provide useful regional context, but the closest comparable wells are the most valuable. Compare construction dates, depths, aquifer names, reported yields and static water levels, then have a Colorado well professional review the actual permit files.

For a vacant lot, make the well location, septic area, driveway access and house footprint work together before closing. Confirm DWR permitting, water use, electrical access and drilling access. For an existing home, collect a recent water-quality report, pump information and maintenance history. A strong nearby yield is helpful; it is not a substitute for testing and a site-specific well plan.

Well permits by decade near Orchard

What a new well costs in Orchard, 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 (160 ft) would run roughly $14,000–$23,200. 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 Orchard? 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 Orchard 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 Orchard

Keep researching

More in Morgan County

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

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