Orchard Mesa Well Depth, Yield and Drilling Costs

How deep are wells around Orchard Mesa?

How much water do wells make near Orchard Mesa?

Orchard Mesa well depth is usually shallow, but the range is wide

The local depth pattern is strongly weighted toward shallow wells. 94% of reported wells are under 100 feet, while 3% fall between 100 and 300 feet, 2% between 300 and 600 feet, and 2% exceed 600 feet. The median is 21 feet, and the middle half runs from 16 to 29 feet.

For a drilling bid, that middle range is more useful than the median alone. A contractor may price a shallow target, but the rare deep records show that local geology is not uniform. Permits mostly identify an unnamed or fractured-bedrock aquifer, with 38 alluvial wells and 6 Entrada wells. Confirm the planned casing and grout design rather than assuming a neighboring depth will repeat.

Yield is the main Orchard Mesa buying question

Only 35 wells in the records report a pump yield, so the yield sample is much smaller than the depth sample. Among those reports, the median is 4.0 gallons per minute, with the middle half from 0.1 to 11.5 gallons per minute. That is a wide spread for a buyer trying to size a household system, irrigation plan or storage tank.

49% of reported yields are under 1 gallon per minute. Another 3% fall from 1 to 5 gallons per minute, 29% from 5 to 15 gallons per minute, and 20% exceed 15 gallons per minute. Ask for the driller’s test result, recovery information and intended-use permit. A high-yield neighbor is not proof that an adjacent lot will perform the same way.

Orchard Mesa water levels do not show a simple decline

The reported static water level has a median depth of 17 feet below the surface, with the middle half from 13 to 20 feet. This is the water level while the well is not being pumped, not the depth of the well itself. A shallow static level can reduce pumping lift, but it does not establish water quality or sustained production.

The decade pattern is mixed rather than a steady drop: the median was 18 feet in the 2000s, 10 feet in the 2010s, and 18 feet in the 2020s. Only 81 wells report a static water level, so treat this as a local indication, not a complete groundwater trend. Ask for measurements from nearby wells with similar construction and location.

Permit history points to long local use, with monitoring dominating

DWR records show permits from the 1950s through the newest permit year, 2025. The largest groups are 455 permits in the 2000s, 448 in the 2010s, and 198 in the 2020s. There are 1,690 wells in the surrounding record set, with 706 recorded as constructed and 992 reporting a total depth.

Use classification matters here. Monitoring wells account for 81% of the listed use mix, while domestic or household wells account for 4%, stock for 1%, and irrigation for 1%. The most active record listing is Authorized (Pe, Pg), followed by Da Smith Drilling Company and Layne Environmental. Verify the contractor’s current license, scope and permit responsibility before work begins.

A typical Orchard Mesa well budget starts shallow, not simple

The cost model for mixed sedimentary and alluvial ground uses a typical drilling rate of $50 to $75 per foot. At the local median depth of 21 feet, the drilled hole works out to about $1,000 to $1,600. That is only the hole. It does not represent the complete installed water system.

A finished well with pump, pressure tank, trenching and electrical is modeled at about $7,000 to $13,600. A bid should identify casing, grout, development, pump testing, water-quality testing, trench length, electrical work and site restoration. A shallow well can still require costly access or utility work, and a failed target or changed construction plan can move the price outside the initial estimate.

Check water quality, low yield and site conflicts before closing

There are 66 PFAS sampling or contamination sites, 4 historic mine features and 37 EPA Superfund or cleanup sites mapped within about 10 miles. These locations do not prove a specific property is contaminated, but they are a reason to test the existing well and review environmental records. Test for constituents appropriate to the site and proposed use rather than relying on appearance or taste.

Low yield is another material risk because 49% of reported yields are under 1 gallon per minute. Confirm septic setbacks, the proposed building envelope, well access and separation from septic components. Colorado DWR permits control the legal use of a well; an exempt household-use well still has limits, and an over-appropriated basin may require an augmentation plan. Have the well, septic and building plans reviewed together.

Use nearby wells to screen an Orchard Mesa lot

Before buying, pull the DWR permit and construction records for the parcel and compare them with nearby wells in Grand Junction, Clifton, Fruitvale and Redlands. The surrounding record set can show depth, reported yield, static water level, aquifer name and use, but those fields are incomplete. Of the 1,690 records, only 35 report a pump yield and 81 report a static water level.

For a vacant lot, make water availability and testing part of due diligence. Ask a licensed driller for a site-specific estimate, then budget the complete system rather than drilling alone. For an existing home, obtain the well permit, construction report, pump test and recent laboratory results. If the well is weak, plan around storage and demand only after a contractor confirms the system can support the proposed home.

Well permits by decade near Orchard Mesa

What a new well costs in Orchard Mesa, 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 (29 ft) would run roughly $7,450–$14,175. 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 Mesa? 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 Mesa 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 Mesa

Keep researching

More in Mesa County

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

Nearby areas