Palisade, Colorado Well Depth, Yield, and Cost

How deep are wells around Palisade?

How much water do wells make near Palisade?

Palisade well depths are usually shallow

The median reported well depth near Palisade is 31 feet, and the middle half runs from 15 to 46 feet. Ninety percent of the wells with depth data are under 100 feet. The deepest record reaches 520 feet, so shallow ground is common but not guaranteed.

For a drilling bid, that 31-foot median is a useful starting point in the local alluvial and sedimentary ground. It is not a promise that a particular lot will produce water at that depth. The permit records also show 7% of wells between 100 and 300 feet and 2% between 300 and 600 feet. Local changes in gravel, clay, bedrock, and access can move the actual hole well beyond the neighborhood midpoint.

Reported Palisade yields are strong, but the sample is small

The reported yield median is 44.0 gallons per minute, with the middle half from 11.5 to 93.8 gallons per minute. Half of the reported wells fall in the 5-to-15-gallon-per-minute range, and half report more than 15 gallons per minute. No reported well is under 5 gallons per minute.

Those results look favorable for a buyer, but only four wells report pump yield. The dataset is dominated by monitoring permits, which make up 65% of the use mix. A monitoring well's construction and purpose may not match a domestic well. Ask for the well test, permitted use, pump information, and sustained production before treating the local median as an available household supply.

The recorded water level is shallow, with no reliable trend

Seven wells report a static water level. Their median depth to water is 15 feet, and the middle half is 12 to 18 feet. That indicates shallow recorded water levels in the small group with measurements, which is consistent with the shallow well depths found around Palisade.

The records provided here do not establish a water-table trend. A seven-well water-level sample is not enough to show that groundwater is rising, falling, or stable over time. Do not read the increase in permits—from 6 in the 1970s to 62 in the 2010s—as a water-level trend. For a purchase, have the driller review nearby static levels, seasonal conditions, and the intended well location.

Permit activity reaches from the 1970s to 2024

Palisade's permit history is active across several decades. The records show 6 permits from the 1970s, 16 from the 1980s, 48 from the 1990s, 56 from the 2000s, 62 from the 2010s, and 25 from the 2020s. The newest permit year is 2024.

The most frequently named driller or permit party is Authorized (Pe, Pg), appearing on 48 records. Owner appears on 5, and Mccracken Well Drilling Inc (Mccracken, Alan E.) appears on 4. Because many records are monitoring wells and only 10% are domestic or household use, compare actual construction reports from nearby domestic wells rather than relying only on the most common name in the database.

A median-depth Palisade well costs about $7,600-$14,300 finished

For the mixed sedimentary and alluvial ground around Palisade, the typical drilling rate is $50-$75 per foot. At the local median depth of 31 feet, the drilled hole itself is modeled at about $1,600-$2,300. That is only the drilling portion and should not be mistaken for the price of a working water system.

A finished well, including pump, pressure tank, trenching, and electrical work, is modeled at about $7,600-$14,300 at the median depth. A longer hole, difficult access, casing or grout requirements, water treatment, or connection work can change the bid. Get the scope in writing and confirm what is included before comparing prices.

Palisade buyers should check quality, yield, and site limits

Environmental review deserves attention. Within about 10 miles, the mapped information includes 28 PFAS sampling or contamination sites, 25 EPA Superfund or cleanup sites, and 13 historic mine features. These locations do not prove that a particular well is contaminated, but they are a reason to test the water and review nearby land uses before closing.

Low yield and dry holes remain site-specific risks even though the reported yield figures are high. Confirm the DWR permit, permitted use, casing and grout, pump test, and static level. Also plan septic and building locations together. Setbacks, soil, access for drilling equipment, trenching, electrical service, and the required septic design can affect where a home and well can actually go.

Well permits by decade near Palisade

What a new well costs in Palisade, 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 (46 ft) would run roughly $8,300–$15,450. 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 Palisade? 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 Palisade 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 Palisade

Keep researching

More in Mesa County

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

Nearby areas