Ordway, Colorado Well Depths, Water and Drilling Costs

How deep are wells around Ordway?

How much water do wells make near Ordway?

Too few permits here report a pump yield to chart.

Ordway wells are usually very shallow

The recorded median well depth near Ordway is 18 feet. The middle half runs from 15 to 40 feet, and 98% of the depth records are under 100 feet. For a driller, that pattern suggests many bids may involve a short hole through alluvium or plains sediment rather than a deep production well.

There are exceptions. The 90th-percentile depth is 68 feet, and the deepest record reaches 1,736 feet. One unusually deep permit should not set your budget, but it does show that local geology is not uniform. Ask for a site-specific estimate and confirm casing, grout, access and completion assumptions before comparing bids.

The records do not tell you the well yield

None of the 133 permitted wells reports a pump yield in the available records. That is the most important limitation for a buyer: the 18-foot median describes depth, not how much water a well can deliver. A shallow well may be adequate for an existing household, while another lot may need testing, rehabilitation or a different completion plan.

Use neighboring permits as clues, especially around Sugar City, Crowley and Rocky Ford, but do not treat them as a guaranteed water supply. Have a driller evaluate the proposed point, ask how the well will be tested, and make sure the intended household, stock or irrigation use matches the permit conditions.

No local water-level series is available

The Ordway-area records contain no reported static water levels. Because there is no water-level-by-decade series here, the data cannot establish that the water table is dropping, stable or rising. A shallow median depth may reflect local conditions in the completed wells, but it does not replace a measurement on the property you are considering.

Most permits name an unnamed or fractured-bedrock aquifer, covering 130 wells, while 3 name an alluvial aquifer. That naming pattern reinforces the need for a site-specific evaluation. Before closing, ask for any existing well tests, production history and maintenance records, then verify the permit and allowed use with Colorado DWR.

Ordway drilling records are concentrated in the 2000s

Permit history is heavily weighted toward the 2000s, when 66 permits were issued. The records also show 16 permits from the 1970s, 9 from the 1990s, 5 from the 1950s, 3 from the 1980s and 2 from the 1960s. The newest permit year is 2020.

Authorized (Pe, Pg) is the most active driller in these records, with 53 wells. Hoffman (Hoffman, Earl) appears on 7, and Eastwood Drilling (Eastwood, Francis) on 3. Those names describe recorded permit history, not a recommendation or proof that any driller is available now. Confirm licensing, insurance, references and the proposed completion method.

A shallow Ordway well can still have a full project cost

The local cost model uses a typical drilling rate of $35-$55 per foot for alluvium and plains sedimentary rock. At the 18-foot median depth, the drilled hole is modeled at about $600-$1,000. That is only the hole, not the complete water system.

A finished well with pump, tank, trenching and electrical is modeled at about $6,600-$13,000. Get a written bid that separates drilling from casing, grout, pump equipment, pressure tank, power, trenching, water testing and permits. The deepest recorded well is 1,736 feet, so a lot with different geology could fall far outside the median-depth example.

Check water quality, yield and the building plan

Environmental review matters around Ordway. Within about 10 miles, the mapped records show 2 PFAS sampling or contamination sites and 2 EPA Superfund or cleanup sites. That does not prove a private well is contaminated, but it is a reason to test existing or new water and learn the local site history before relying on it.

There are also no reported yields, so low production and an unsuccessful hole remain risks that a permit count cannot remove. Confirm the well location, septic layout, setbacks, access for a rig and the electrical route before building. A household well permit is not automatically authorization for irrigation or other uses; check the DWR permit and any augmentation requirements that apply.

Buy the lot only after verifying its water plan

For an existing home, inspect the well equipment, pressure behavior, storage, treatment and recent water test rather than relying on the 18-foot area median. Request the permit number, construction record and service history. For vacant land, have a Colorado-licensed driller review the proposed location and give a written drilling and completion estimate before your inspection deadline.

Compare nearby records in Ordway with properties toward Sugar City, Crowley and Manzanola, but keep the comparison practical: the available data gives depth patterns and permit history, not a dependable yield or water-level forecast. Price the complete system, plan septic and access together, and make the purchase contract protect you if the well is dry, weak or unsuitable for the intended use.

Well permits by decade near Ordway

What a new well costs in Ordway, 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 (40 ft) would run roughly $7,400–$14,200. 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 Ordway? 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 Ordway 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 Ordway

Keep researching

More in Crowley County

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

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