Colorado Well Finder › Wells by county › Ouray County › Ouray
Buying land around Ouray means planning for a mountain well, not assuming a shallow or predictable water source. Permit records within five miles show a wide range of depths and production, with most wells completed in unnamed fractured bedrock. That local geology can change quickly from one lot to the next.
This guide uses Colorado Division of Water Resources permit records for Ouray and nearby areas including Portland, Ridgway, and Telluride. It also covers likely drilling costs, water-level information, permit history, and the checks that matter before you purchase or build.
Figures are computed from Colorado Division of Water Resources permit records for permitted wells within 5 miles of Ouray. Not every permit reports every field; each statistic uses the wells that report it.
| Depth statistic | Feet |
|---|---|
| 25th percentile | 95 |
| Median | 200 |
| 75th percentile | 345 |
| 90th percentile | 630 |
| Deepest on record | 842 |
| Aquifer named on permits | Wells |
|---|---|
| unnamed / fractured-bedrock aquifer | 144 |
| Dakota | 4 |
| Unconfined San Luis Vall | 1 |
| Yield statistic | gpm |
|---|---|
| 25th percentile | 4.5 |
| Median | 10.0 |
| 75th percentile | 12.2 |
| Median depth to water | 144 ft |
| Median water level by decade | Depth to water |
|---|---|
| Not enough dated measurements | — |
Among the Ouray-area wells that report depth, the median is 200 feet. The middle half runs from 95 to 345 feet, so a typical drilling bid needs room for substantial variation. A well at the median depth pencils out very differently from a hole near the deeper end of the local record.
The spread is broad: 32% of wells are under 100 feet, while 28% fall between 100 and 300 feet and another 28% between 300 and 600 feet. The 90th percentile is 630 feet, and the deepest recorded well is 842 feet. Most permits identify unnamed fractured-bedrock aquifer conditions, so granite and gneiss drilling can be unpredictable across short distances.
Reported well yield has a 10.0 gallons-per-minute median, with the middle half from 4.5 to 12.2 gallons per minute. That is a reasonable local planning range for a household, but it is not a guarantee for an individual lot. Production depends on intersecting water-bearing fractures, not simply drilling to a standard depth.
The records show 59% of reported yields between 5 and 15 gallons per minute. Another 15% report more than 15 gallons per minute, while 22% fall between 1 and 5 gallons per minute. Four percent are under 1 gallon per minute. A low-yield well may still work with storage, but the buyer should have the driller explain recovery and storage requirements before relying on the well for a home.
Only 7 permitted wells report a static water level, so the local water-level sample is too small to show a dependable community trend. The reported median depth to water is 144 feet, with the middle half from 50 to 242 feet. Those figures are useful for discussing pump setting and construction, but they do not predict the water level on every parcel.
The permit counts by decade also do not measure groundwater decline. They show 1 permit in the 1960s, 21 in the 1970s, 24 in the 1980s, 26 in the 1990s, 18 in the 2000s, 18 in the 2010s, and 11 in the 2020s. A site-specific water-level check remains important.
The records include 150 permitted wells within the study area, with 83 recorded as constructed and 81 reporting total depth. The newest permit year is 2025, so the area continues to see well activity rather than relying only on older installations.
Valley Drilling Co. (Stoy, Kenneth) appears most often, with 26 wells in the records. B & B Drilling (Jones Jr., Bruce G.) appears on 10, and Mccracken Well Drilling Inc (Mccracken, Alan E.) on 6. These records show local permit history, not a guarantee of current availability, pricing, or workmanship. Ask for a current written scope covering casing, grout, pump testing, and what happens if the hole does not meet the expected production.
Ouray drilling is priced for fractured mountain bedrock, described in the cost model as granite and gneiss. The typical drilling rate is $65 to $100 per foot. At the local median depth of 200 feet, the drilled hole alone is modeled at about $13,000 to $20,000.
A finished system adds the pump, pressure tank, trenching, and electrical work. The modeled total at that depth is about $19,000 to $32,000. A deeper hole can move beyond that range, especially when access, casing, grouting, difficult drilling, or site conditions add work. Get the bid separated into drilling, casing and grout, pump equipment, testing, trenching, and electrical so competing proposals can be compared accurately.
Environmental and site history matters around Ouray. Within about ten miles, the mapped information includes 6 PFAS sampling or contamination sites, 5,129 historic mine features, and 14 EPA Superfund or cleanup sites. A map hit does not by itself prove that a parcel or well is contaminated, but it is a reason to investigate the specific property and test the finished water.
Low yield, dry holes, and changing bedrock conditions are the main drilling risks. Review neighboring permits, ask about well construction and water quality, and confirm the proposed well location can be separated from septic components and building areas under applicable requirements. A septic designer should evaluate the lot before the well location is fixed, because steep ground and limited workable space can make the site plan difficult.
Start with the well permits closest to the parcel, not just the countywide median. Compare reported depths, yields, static water levels, aquifer descriptions, and construction details. Nearby records from Portland, Ridgway, Telluride, and other mountain communities can provide context, but they should not replace evidence from the same drainage or bedrock zone.
Before closing, have a Colorado well professional review the permit status and intended use. Domestic and household use accounts for 77% of the local use mix, while stock accounts for 8%, irrigation 3%, and monitoring 9%. Confirm that the existing permit or a new permit supports your plans. For a new build, budget the well together with access, septic, storage, electrical service, and site excavation rather than treating drilling as a standalone cost.
| Decade permitted | Wells |
|---|---|
| 1960s | 1 |
| 1970s | 21 |
| 1980s | 24 |
| 1990s | 26 |
| 2000s | 18 |
| 2010s | 18 |
| 2020s | 11 |
| Most active drillers on record | Wells |
|---|---|
| Valley Drilling Co. (Stoy, Kenneth) | 26 |
| B & B Drilling (Jones Jr., Bruce G.) | 10 |
| Mccracken Well Drilling Inc (Mccracken, Alan E.) | 6 |
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 (345 ft) would run roughly $28,425–$46,500. See the full Colorado well cost guide.
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.
The numbers above are the area average. Your lot is one point on the map. Search the address to see the real depth, yield and aquifer of each permitted well around it.
Map wells near OurayTri-Lakes Contracting is a licensed Colorado contractor serving Ouray-area projects with access driveways, site development, new-build septic systems, and custom homes. Their team can help coordinate the ground work that follows a well decision.
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A listing photo can't tell you whether a lot is a dream or a money pit. Two parcels near Ouray 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.
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.
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The median reported well depth around Ouray is 200 feet. The middle half runs from 95 to 345 feet, but local wells range much farther: 32% are under 100 feet, the 90th percentile is 630 feet, and the deepest recorded well is 842 feet. Fractured mountain bedrock makes the exact depth parcel-specific.
The local cost model uses $65 to $100 per foot for fractured granite and gneiss. At the 200-foot median depth, drilling the hole is estimated at $13,000 to $20,000. A finished system with pump, tank, trenching, and electrical work is estimated at $19,000 to $32,000, before unusual access or construction problems.
Reported yields have a 10.0 gallons-per-minute median, with the middle half from 4.5 to 12.2 gallons per minute. Most reported wells, 59%, produce between 5 and 15 gallons per minute. However, 22% are between 1 and 5 gallons per minute and 4% are under 1 gallon per minute, so storage and recovery should be discussed.
Permit records do not establish that every well is safe to drink. Within about ten miles, mapped information includes 6 PFAS sampling or contamination sites, 5,129 historic mine features, and 14 EPA Superfund or cleanup sites. Test the specific well for relevant contaminants, including concerns identified by the property’s mining or environmental history.
The available data cannot establish a dropping water table. Only 7 wells report static water levels. Those reports have a median depth to water of 144 feet, with the middle half from 50 to 242 feet. The decade permit totals describe drilling activity, not groundwater decline. A nearby well review and parcel-specific measurement are more useful.
All wells in Ouray County — county-wide depth, yield and cost figures.
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