Pagosa Springs, Colorado Well Guide

How deep are wells around Pagosa Springs?

How much water do wells make near Pagosa Springs?

Pagosa Springs well depths vary with the mountain geology

Among wells with reported total depth, the median is 150 feet. The middle half runs from 64 to 280 feet, so a typical drilling bid needs to allow for meaningful variation even within the same general area. The 90th-percentile depth is 391 feet, and the deepest record reaches 1,465 feet.

The depth mix gives a useful first look: 35% are under 100 feet, 42% fall from 100 to 300 feet, 19% from 300 to 600 feet, and 4% exceed 600 feet. Permits most often name an unnamed or fractured-bedrock aquifer. In granite and gneiss, water follows fractures rather than a uniform underground layer, so nearby depth is helpful context, not a guarantee for your lot.

What Pagosa Springs wells produce

Reported well yield has a 9.0-gpm median, with the middle half between 5.0 and 14.0 gpm. Sixty percent of reported yields are in the 5-to-15-gpm range, while 25% report more than 15 gpm. At the low end, 6% are under 1 gpm and another 9% fall between 1 and 5 gpm.

That low-yield share matters to a buyer. A well making less than 1 gpm may still serve a carefully managed household with storage, but it offers less margin for irrigation, guests, leaks, or future expansion. Ask for the well construction report and a current pump test. A permit record reports what was documented at the time; it does not replace testing the actual well and pressure system.

Pagosa Springs water levels are unevenly documented

The recorded static water level has a 28-foot median, with the middle half from 5 to 145 feet below ground. That spread is large enough to affect pump installation, storage, and the cost of bringing water into a house. It also shows why one neighbor’s shallow water level should not be treated as a promise for another parcel.

Only 10 wells report a static water level, so this data set is too small to establish a reliable water-table trend by decade. The available records cannot support a conclusion that groundwater is generally dropping or rising around Pagosa Springs. Have the driller check nearby logs, confirm the proposed well location, and measure the completed well after construction.

A long permit history, with several recurring drillers

Pagosa Springs has a substantial well record: 699 wells appear in Colorado DWR permit records, 364 are recorded as constructed, 400 report total depth, and 101 report pump yield. Permits were issued in every decade shown, with the largest group in the 1970s at 177. The record also includes 21 permits from the 2020s, and the newest permit year is 2025.

The most active drillers in these records are Authorized (Pe, Pg), with 72 wells; Smith Water Well Service (Sanders, O L), with 66; and Beeman Bros Drilling Inc (Beeman, J. L.), with 63. Those names help when tracing nearby construction histories. Confirm current licensing, availability, and scope directly, and have a Colorado DWR professional review the permit file for the parcel you are considering.

Estimated drilling cost around Pagosa Springs

The local cost model assumes fractured mountain bedrock, including granite and gneiss, at about $65-$100 per foot. At the 150-foot median depth, the drilled hole alone models to roughly $9,800-$15,000. A finished well including the pump, tank, trenching, and electrical is estimated at about $15,800-$27,000.

These figures are planning ranges, not a fixed bid. Depth is the largest unknown, and hard fractured rock can change drilling time and completion requirements. A quote should state the assumed depth, casing and grout, pump equipment, water line, electrical work, testing, and what happens if the hole is dry or produces too little water. Compare bids on the same scope rather than on footage alone.

Risks to check before buying or building

Low yield and dry holes are the main geology-related concerns in fractured mountain bedrock. The records show 6% of reported yields under 1 gpm, so ask specifically about the weakest nearby wells, not only the median. A well can also make water at completion but have a pump, storage, or pressure-system problem that affects usable supply.

Environmental review matters too. Within about 10 miles, the map includes 11 PFAS sampling or contamination sites and 3 historic mine features. There are 0 EPA Superfund or cleanup sites in the mapped facts, but that does not make every private well automatically safe. Test for contaminants appropriate to the property and local setting. Before construction, confirm septic setbacks, soil suitability, well access, and the location of the house, driveway, and drainfield.

A practical Pagosa Springs lot review

For a property near Pagosa Springs, start with the Colorado DWR permit and construction records for the parcel and nearby wells. Compare depths, reported yields, static levels, aquifer names, and construction details. Nearby areas such as Arboles, Bayfield, South Fork, Southern Ute, and Ignacio may provide broader regional context, but they are not substitutes for records close to the lot.

Before closing, make the purchase decision depend on usable water, not just an existing permit. Inspect the pump and pressure equipment, obtain a current flow or recovery test, and test the water. For a vacant lot, get a driller’s siting opinion and a septic evaluation before finalizing a house plan. Confirm access for a large rig, power availability, storage needs, and any augmentation or water-right requirements that apply to the proposed use.

Well permits by decade near Pagosa Springs

What a new well costs in Pagosa Springs, 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 (280 ft) would run roughly $24,200–$40,000. 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 Pagosa Springs? 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 Pagosa Springs 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 Pagosa Springs

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

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